Forks Boys Lacrosse Looks For First State Title
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The Chenango Forks Blue Devils came into the postseason and rattled off two dominant victories in the Section IV Class D Tournament. They used those wins and wins against Section III and X to propel them to the regional title where they now sit two wins away from their first state title.
From day one, head coach Dave Pavlick knew his team was talented, but that you need more than that to hang banners.
"Since day one we're preaching you got to play together, you got to play as a team once you play as that good cohesive unit-- six guys on offense, six guys on defense, nobody's gonna stop you so really coming together and playing as a team is where they're at right now," Pavlick said.
That unit did so with hard work.
"We've worked really hard to get here," said senior attack Caden Olmstead. "Obviously the job isn't done yet so we're just trying to do better every day."
Team leaders like Olmstead and senior midfielder/faceoff Zander Arnold are trying to keep their teammates during both games and practice.
"Keep your head in the game, stay focused, play hard on the field, in practice," said Arnold. "You play how you practice is what they say."
One of the bigger focuses of the team has been:
"The physicality of how we play," Pavlick said. "We knew we were gonna have to take it up a notch at the state level so going up there to play two teams that are known for the box style of play, we knew that they were going to be physical and take it to us, and we went up and we handled it well."
To bring a state title to Chenango Forks would:
"Mean everything, mean a lot," Olmstead said.
"It'd be awesome to do it with this team these guys, it'd be a memorable moment for sure," Arnold said.
But, not just for those on the team, but for the whole community.
"Absolutely awesome for these kids, these parents, this community, and the time and effort that's put in all the way from the K2 group all the way up through the varsity it would just solidify everything as to why we do what we do," Pavlick said.
The Blue Devils had to beat Elmira-Notre Dame and Chenango Valley to win Section IV and so far have beaten Lafayette of Section III, who took down Forks in 2019, and Salmon River to get to the State Semifinal. They will play Akron of Section VI on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at SUNY Cortland.