With senior midfielder Andrew Steger scoring three early unassisted goals, visiting Orchard Park led 4-0 over coach Mike Messere's two-time defending state champion Wildcats.

There were 5 minutes, 35 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

Not to worry.

Erupting for 14 goals over the closing 42 minutes of the game as the estimated 1,500 Wildcats fans roared with approval, West Genesee thwarted the upset bid by the Section 6 champion Quakers with a 14-6 victory. Orchard Park had won 19 straight games prior to facing off against the 'Cats.

With the win, No. 2 state-ranked West Genesee (22-1) will meet No. 1-ranked West Islip (22-0) for the state Class A crown at 4 p.m. Saturday at Hofstra University. West Islip downed Shenendehowa 12-5 in the other state Class A semifinal at West Point Thursday night.

In Saturday's game, West Genesee will seek a state-leading 13th state crown. West Islip will be bidding for the school's first state championship.

Leading the strong West Genny comeback were shotmakers Brian Cost (four goals), Andrew Hanover, (3), Tom Donahue (3) and Alex Bily (2 goals, 4 assists). Hanover, headed to Duke University in the fall, was among the WG players who refused to panic when the scoreboard showed a 4-0 lead for the Quakers.

"We had lots of confidence that we would come back," Hanover said. "We just had to buckle down. We were sort of feeling them out in the first quarter. Once we started scoring, I knew we would be OK."

It was Hanover who netted an unassisted goal with five minutes left in the opening period, closing the gap to 4-1.

However, with 4:02 left in the first period, Orchard Park junior middie Brian Lalley responded with an unassisted goal of his own and the Quakers led 5-1.

At that point,fired-up West Genesee began to take control both offensively and defensively. For the remainder of the game, the 'Cats outscored the Quakers 13-1.

Credited with eight saves, WG junior goalie Dan McKeon played near-perfect over the closing three periods, allowing only a solo goal by senior middie Sean McMahon, which came with 3:20 left in the third period.

With Wildcats midfielders Brian Stanton and Brian Griffin teaming up to win nine of 13 faceoffs in the first half, West Genesee controlled of the ball and dominated the rest of the opening half after falling behind 5-1.

Griffin's only goal of the game, followed by two consecutive goals by senior attacker Cost late in the opening period got West Genesee to within 5-4 to end the first quarter. Then, consecutive goals by Mark Cometti and Donahue pushed West Genesee into a 6-5 halftime lead. Donahue's tally, coming with 7:27 left before intermission, gave West Genesee the lead for keeps.

"I thought we tired them out as the game went on," Messere said. "We've had our problems defensively all season, and we started the game playing very sloppy defense. But, I thought the kids at that end of the field did a much better job over the last three periods. I'm very proud of the way the whole team kept its composure."

West Genesee 14, Orchard Park 6

Orchard Park: Andy Steger 3-0, Brian Lalley 1-0, Shawn McMahon 1-0, Andy Pace 1-0, Andrew Behm 0-1. Saves: Geoff Lehman 12.

West Genesee: Brian Cost 4-1, Tom Donahue 3-2, Andrew Hanover 3-2, Alex Bily 2-4, Mark Cometti 1-0, Brian Griffin 1-0, Jake Moulton 0-1, Brian Stanton 0-1. Saves: Dan McKeon 8. Wildcats: 11-1 (22-1) Orchard Park5 0 1 0 - 6 West Genesee4 2 4 4 - 14

© 2004 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.