Ryan Hoyt has been doing special things as a member of the Johnstown lacrosse team since his freshman year when, among his highlights, he notched the game-winning overtime goal against Schuylerville in the Section 2 Class D title game.
The star attackman notched another noteworthy goal this past Saturday, the 200th of his four-year varsity career, in a 15-10 non-league win at Greenwich/Cambridge.
While there is no official Section 2 record book for boys’ lacrosse, according to Gazette files 2008 Schenectady graduate Aaron Lupo scored exactly 200 goals, while Dan Sipperly, who played for Greenwich and CBA before graduating in 2010, totaled 212 goals. Justin Carte graduated from Schuylerville in 2019 with a Section 2-record 296 goals.
“He’s not the type of kid who focuses on that,” Johnstown coach Rob Berju said the day after Hoyt produced four goals and two assists against Greenwich/Cambridge. “We are trying to get ourselves situated for a sectional run. We were coming off a loss Thursday [against South Glens Falls], and it was all business. There was a little celebration on the sideline [after Hoyt;s 200th], but if we didn’t do that, he probably would have been OK with it.”
Hoyt scored two goals in the opening quarter, and his third goal that came in the second quarter pushed his career mark to 200. The humble sniper knew he was close to achieving the rare plateau, but didn’t have an exact number in his head coming into the contest.
“I didn’t even know. When I hit the goal everyone was cheering, and I was confused at first,” Hoyt said. “I’m just glad we won.”
Hoyt ran from behind the cage, dodged a sliding defender, and ripped a shot to produce No. 200. He tacked on another goal in the fourth frame.
“When I got 100 my sophomore year, I knew it [200] would be coming sometime, but I never paid too much attention to it,” the 17-year-old Hoyt said. “It is cool, though.”
“He goes out there and plays. He doesn’t go out there thinking about hitting a milestone. He cares about winning, and does what he has to do to help us win the game,” said Berju, the Sir Bills’ second-year coach. “He could have had all 15 assists, and the fact that we won 15-10, that would have been fine with him.”
Hoyt produced school one-season records with 66 goals and 100 points as a junior when he was named a Foothills Council first team all-star, and after Saturday, through eight games, the uncommitted senior had 23 goals and 12 assists.
“He’s a really proficient dodger. He’s a natural lefty, but he’s worked really hard to develop his right hand and he can be effective both ways,” Berju said. “And he’s just as lethal as a feeder as he is as a shooter. He always gets assists.”
“If I draw two guys I’ll feed it to someone else on my team,” Hoyt said. “I love getting assists.”
It was his goal 21 seconds into overtime that lifted Johnstown to one of its greatest wins in the 2021 Section 2 Class D final. Hoyt said he played that day for his brother Joshua, who was a senior on a talented 2020 Johnstown team that never got a chance to go after a title when the season was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was definitely my favorite lacrosse experience,” Hoyt said of his OT goal. “We called a timeout and drew up a play for me to shoot it, and I’m nervous. I’m a freshman. It was all kind of a blur from there, and all of a sudden everyone is running out on the field.”
Hoyt played basketball and football for Johnstown, and last fall was named an all-state second team Class C running back for his grid exploits. He holds Johnstown football records for rushing yards in a game, season and career.