Animated Lacrosse
Plays and Drills for
your Team

Rye Country Day goaltender Chandler Grinnel breaks through for a one on one scoring opportunity against Iona Prep (top). After he scored a goal, he celebrates with teammates.
(Photos by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com)

It probably won’t surprise you to hear I’ve been to countless lacrosse games.

But this might. In just about every game, I’ve wound up seeing something I’ve never witnessed before.

Today’s 13-6 Iona Prep win over Rye Country Day in the Metro tournament semifinals was no exception.

Well that’s not exactly correct.

• For a gallery of photos from the RCDS-Iona Prep game, click here.

You see, I have seen a goaltender score a goal before at the varsity level — but not for six years. (The last I can recall personally seeing before today was Ethan Vedder of Yorktown scoring in 2003. If you can remember others you witnessed, please post the info.)

Today, junior goaltender Chandler Grinnel scored a goal for RCDS. What’s even more unusual — and pretty unheard of — is the fact that the goaltender who allowed it, Kevin Kaiser, scored a goal himself this season.

What are the odds of that?

First, Grinnel’s goal. It came with RCDS trailing Iona Prep 8-3 with 2:54 left in the third quarter.

“I was clearing the ball and no one picked me up, so I just kept going,” Grinnel said. “Once I got to midfield and there weren’t any defensemen near me, I kept going.”

Seconds later, Grinnel bounced home a shot past Kaiser.

“When he was at the 40-yard line and no one was around him, I knew he was going to shoot,” Kaiser said. “I just thought, ‘Here he comes.’ ”

Kaiser knew from experience.

In the Gaels’ second game of the season — a 12-7 victory over Don Bosco — he was in a similar situation. Only that time, he was the one with the ball.

“I made a save off a rebound,” said the 5-foot-10, 160-pound junior. “Then I started walking it up and no one came toward me. So I picked up the pace and just kept going toward the goal before shooting it from about 12 yards out. I was so excited.”

That’s how Grinnel felt after he scored today.

“I was hoping it would spark my team,” he said. “Unfortunately it didn’t.”

Iona Prep was sparked by the performance of Drexel-bounjd senior attackman Nick Trizano, who scored eight goals today (one shy of a career high.) He now has 70 goals for the season and 289 for his career. He has a strong shot of being one of three players in state history to hit the career 300-goal mark.

Just as important as Trizano’s eight goals was the play of an Iona Prep defense, led by Kaiser and junior Chris Jackson. The Gaels limited Rye Country Day’s Cornell-bound Cody Levine and Dartmouth-bound J.P. Garry, who entered the game with 71 and 42 goals this season, respectively, to a combined two goals and one assist.

Fieldston edged Fordham Prep 13-12 in the other semifinal.

Iona Prep plays Fieldston at 6 p.m. on Wednesday for the Metro championship at either Gaelic Park at Manhattan College or Poly Prep in Brooklyn.

Reach Joe Lombardi at joe@laxlessons.com.

• LaxLessons.com interview videos

• LaxLessons.com recruit profiles: Is yours up and working for you?

• Sign up now for the Velocity/LaxLessons recruiting combine/showcases — separate sessions June 21 or June 28