BUFFALO — Dan Behm knows all about the pedigree of the Orchard Park boys lacrosse program. The second-year Lewiston-Porter/Niagara Falls coach played for the Quakers during his high school days.
So Behm was well aware of the contrast in traditions when his Lancers faced OP in the Section VI Class A final Friday evening at All-High Stadium.
On one side were the Quakers, seeking their 29th sectional title in 35 years. Then there were the Lancers, in their second year as a combined team, making their first finals appearance for either school.
There was no fairytale upset. The result was what was expected. Orchard Park rolled to another championship, winning 22-7. But that didn’t really matter to Behm and his players. This moment was about the progress of their program. The fact that they were even on the field with the Western New York powerhouse and playing for a title said everything.
“These guys were 0-11 two years ago,” said Behm, who took over the program the next season. “For them just to continue to keep coming out each year, each practice, wintertime, summertime, fall … this was the culmination of the work. I’m super proud of these guys.”
Said junior attacker Joshua Steimer: “We worked hard, we tried our best, and hopefully they thought we competed a little bit.”
The top-seeded Quakers (15-2) put on a clinic from the start. Although No. 2 Lew-Port/Niagara Falls (11-7) scored the game’s first goal less than two minutes in, OP would rattle off 18 unanswered before halftime. The Quakers scored 11 times in the first quarter alone, with senior Penn State commit Luke Danna logging two goals and six assists in the period.
“It’s like Whac-A-Mole,” Behm said. “If you try to take one down, four more pop up. That’s just a really talented team right over there. We were just saying, that’s the best since our 2009 state championship runner-up team, for sure. They’re just unbelievable.
“Give them credit — they’re well-coached, those players know the game inside and out. They just understand lacrosse. It’s their second nature.”
Orchard Park had eight different players score multiple goals, led by Oliver Cromwell and Joe Campion with four apiece. The Quakers, who have outscored opponents 284-89 this season, including 61-16 in three meetings with LP/NF, move on to next Saturday’s Far West Regionals against the Section V (Rochester area) champion at Churchville-Chili.
For the Lancers, Steimer, Trevor Ingham and Liam Farnham had two goals each. All are juniors and ranked in the top 10 in scoring in the section. Steimer finished the season with 105 points (70 goals, 35 assists), Ingham 97 points (41 goals, 56 assists) and Farnham 93 points (64 goals, 29 assists).
“Our program was in dire straits two years ago,” Behm said. “We almost didn’t have enough guys (at Lew-Port) to have two teams (JV and varsity) — that’s why we combined. It’s come from the brink of struggling to field teams to being in the sectional title game. That’s a credit to all of them. They’ve worked very hard.”