Tim Rotanz leads SWR boys to state title

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. -- Tim Rotanz had watched the DVDs of the previous two Shoreham-Wading River state titles. "On bus rides with the team, at home," said the son of SWR coach Tom Rotanz.

There will be a new DVD added to the Rotanz's home video library, and Tim will be the marquee performer. Rotanz, a junior, scored five goals and added two assists to lead the Wildcats to a 10-6 victory over Penn Yan (20-3) Saturday in the Class C boys lacrosse state championship game at Middletown High School.

"That'll be neat," Tom said of having his son be forever captured on DVD leading SWR (18-3) to the third state championship in school history and extending the Wildcats. overall Class C winning streak to 30.

Shoreham-Wading River's boys' victory made it a lacrosse sweep, as the SWR girls also won the state Class C title Saturday. "There will be a lot of partying in Shoreham tonight," coach Rotanz said.

The boys' party will be a little bit more somber because star midfielder Trevor Brosco was removed from the game in the first minute after absorbing an elbow to the head from a Penn Yan player. He was being evaluated for a possible concussion. Brosco had already made a contribution, scoring unassisted 13 seconds into the game and drawing a penalty for the blow to the head. Thirteen seconds later, Rotanz scored an extra-man goal for a quick 2-0 lead.

"Losing Trevor made it a lot tougher. He brought us to this point. He speeds up the offense and draws double and triple teams," Tim Rotanz said. "I knew, as the only other offensive captain, I had to step up. Without Trevor, we slowed it down and tried for better looks."

The more deliberate Wildcats, normally a fast-break team, built a 5-0 lead early in the second quarter on two more goals by Rotanz and one by Troy Miller. But Rion Davison scored twice in the last two minutes of the first half to cut it to 5-2, then added a goal with 5:14 left in the third making it a two-goal lead. The loss of Brosco was taking its toll.

"It was very upsetting to Tim and everyone else when Trevor went out," Tom Rotanz said. "Trevor and Tim work well together. We could have folded but you could see that wasn't going to happen. Look how many kids stepped up. Troy Miller is a sophomore. Ryan Bray is a freshman. Mike Loscalzo is a sophomore. It was a gut-check."

No one was gutsier than Tim Rotanz, who worked some end-of-quarter magic of his own to turn the game in favor of the Wildcats. He took a feed from James Higgins to score with 26.9 seconds left in the third, and after a faceoff win by Loscalzo, Rotanz found Bray (two goals, one assist) on a back-door cut with 14.2 seconds left for a 7-3 lead.

"I had to look their goalie in the eye and hit the corners," Rotanz said.

Penn Yan reduced the deficit to 8-5 on a goal by Jordan Owen with 7:38 left. But Rotanz answered with his fifth, whistling a low shot into the back of the net after circling out from behind the cage and beating his man. Fifty-one seconds later, Rotanz made a spectacular pass from behind the cage to the stick of Bray cutting down the lane. Bray whipped it past Brandon Maciejewski for a 10-5 edge with 4:06 left. The Wildcats were not going to be stopped.

"I've seen the 2002 and 2007 videos enough times," Tim Rotanz said. "I've always dreamed of being a state champion myself."