The JV Dons were forced to play another 7v7 match against Piedmont on Wednesday night, but what Piedmont lacked in numbers they made up with in size and physicality.  But, our Dons were not swayed one bit as they matched their physical play and dominated on the defensive side.  The Dons attackers and middies did what they always do… attack and score.  But, it was the defense and our goalies who made it so the match would end in such a dominant fashion.

Luke Spinelli started in goal while Emerson Boudreau and Owen Hulst held the defense down.  The Dons got on the board early when Andrew Iams found Anthony Quinn for a score; 1-0.  Piedmont then held position as they attacked with a couple shots that went off the bar or were blocked by Spinelli.  The Dons got their offense going again when Luke Dafferner passed up to Mason Lanphere who then found Iams for a shot saved by the Piedmont goalie.  Lanphere picked up the rebound and sent it right back in to the net; 2-0.  Hulst and Boudreau dominated on defense by repeatedly knocking the ball out of the Piedmont player’s sticks.  Quinn scooped up one loose ball and found Jackson Tseng who found net; 3-0.  At the next faceoff, Dafferner won the ball and found Tseng again for a goal; 4-0.  The Dons continued their attack when Tseng then found a cutting Curtis Sanders to score; 5-0.  Middies TJ Cronin and Harrison Mracheck seemed to be everywhere and forced a pass that Spinelli was able to intercept.  He then passed up to Iams who found Tseng for his hat trick of the quarter; 6-0.

The second quarter saw more of the same Dons attack, but Piedmont seemed to come out with a renewed energy and aggressiveness.  This time the Dons tasked Evan Rohrbough and Jacob Stephen with protecting Spinelli in goal, and they did great against this higher aggression.  Spinelli saved the first two shots Piedmont took in the quarter, but a cutter was able to find the net; 6-1.  The Dons countered when Quinn found a cutting Logan Houston for a shot just over the goal.  As Piedmont ran it back, Houston knocked the ball loose and scooped it up for a shot that the goalie saved.  The Dons defense forced another errant pass resulting in Iams finding a cutting Quinn for a score: 7-1.  Lanphere and Ryan Yun held up the midfield allowing Lanphere to run up for a strong goal; 8-1.  Unfortunately, a Piedmont player hit him in the head after the score and Lanphere had to leave the game with a possible concussion.  The Dons weren’t deterred as they countered with another goal when Iams weaved his way through for the score; 9-1.  Dafferner was able to knock the ball down after the faceoff and run up for another score; 10-1.  However, Piedmont snuck one in before time was up by finding an attacker in front of our goal for a score; 10-2

The Dons would not allow the Piedmont team to find the net again for the rest of the game.  Miguel Carmena and Mracheck started the half on defense.  Spinelli seemed to make save after save as well.  The Dons got on the board again when Houston set a screen to allow Tseng to weave around and find a cutting Quinn for the first goal of the second half; 11-2.  Cronin then found an opening for a long shot that found net; 12-2.  Houston got off another shot that was saved by the Piedmont goalie.  After a timeout, Nathan Ricci found himself in goal to continue the strong defense against the Piedmont attack – and he was tested immediately but made the save.  Dafferner found another path and weaved in for another goal; 13-2.  Tseng found another opportunity and made a beautiful fake as if he was going for the lower corner but found the upper corner instead for the easy score; 14-2.  The quarter ended with a Piedmont save as Houston shot off the post and scooped it back up and found Yun who got a shot off as time expired, but the goalie blocked it.

Dafferner started the fourth quarter off by winning the faceoff and running up for another goal; 15-2.  Sanders immediately countered with his own run-up for a goal; 16-2.  Piedmont got off a barrage of shots that either bounced over or Ricci saved.  The highlight of the quarter was when the Dons found themselves down by two players due to penalties.  Boudreau and Cronin were left to defend four Piedmont players on offense.  They and Ricci did not allow a score during this time!  Dafferner held up his end staying with a running Piedmont player the whole length of the field and finally knocked the ball loose, which allowed Sanders to scoop it up.  He found Tseng who then found Iams for the final goal of the match; 17-2.  Way to go JV Dons!  Amazing defense and scoring in this match!