Midfielders boost SWR boys past Rocky Point

It was a case of middie mania last night for Shoreham-Wading River.

The Wildcats remained unbeaten with a 10-4 victory over host and neighborhood rival Rocky Point, with seven of their goals scored by midfielders.

Mike Malave, Trevor Brosco and Kris Miller scored two goals each for SWR (7-0 Division II). Rocky Point fell to 5-2.

"They pressed out on our attack so the scoring came from up top,'' SWR coach Tom Rotanz said. "We don't have a first midfield. We run two of them out there and the other team gets gassed."

The Wildcats had their foot on the accelerator from the start, scoring four goals in less than five minutes and taking a 5-0 lead after the first quarter.

"We looked to set the tone early," said Malave, who scored the first goal 35 seconds into the game on a slick pass from another middie, Dalton Crossan. "They locked down our attack so our middies stepped up."

Much of the SWR offense this season has revolved around attack Tim Rotanz, the coach's son. But Rocky Point defenseman Mike Muller did a good job of containing the high-scoring freshman, affording the midfielders plenty of opportunities.

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"Once they locked down on Timmy and we couldn't get to the X , the middies got to the slot," said Crossan, who scored the second goal on a solo dash to the net after scooping up a loose ball. "We were really aggressive on ground balls and we had all the momentum early. They couldn't come back."

The ground-ball advantage led to some open-field, fastbreak opportunities, as five straight SWR goals were unassisted, including one by Miller that was a coast-to-coast beauty. He corralled a groundball deep in his own end and raced the length of the field to beat Nick Gibaldi with an accurate low bouncer.

Peter Vivonetto scored two goals for Rocky Point, but the Wildcats built the lead to 10-2 before the Eagles scored twice late against the backup goalie. Starter Gerald Logan was on his game, with 17 saves, though Rocky Point made it easier by shooting to his strength.

"Their goalie played well, but we didn't shoot well," Rocky Point coach Mike Bowler said. "We told them to shoot high; instead they shot low. And Shoreham won the groundball war. They were really good."

And really balanced, as seven Wildcats scored. "That's nice to see and we've been doing it all year," Tom Rotanz said. "In our first game, we scored 19 goals and had 15 assists."

In that one, a 19-11 win over Glenn, SWR's attack did most of the damage with 12 goals and eight assists. Last night, it was middies gone wild.