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Mustangs score five unanswered goals in second half to secure 6-5 win over Shoreham

Mount Sinai teammates huddle around Meaghan Tyrrell after she scores what would be the game-winning goal. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Mount Sinai’s motto this season has been “proving people wrong.”

And again, the girls’ lacrosse team did just that. Despite being down 5-1 at halftime, the Mustangs rallied back to score five unanswered goals en route to a 6-5 win over Shoreham-Wading River in the game’s final minutes Monday.

Mount Sinai's Caroline Hoeg scores over Shoreham's Sophia Triandafils. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Mount Sinai’s Caroline Hoeg scores over Shoreham’s Sophia Triandafils. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“It was a great turnaround,” Mount Sinai head coach Al Bertolone said. “Everything that you wanted to have happen in the first half happened in the second half. It was the way I thought we could play.”

But the girls came out flat.

While the Mustangs had trouble getting started, the Wildcats were off to the races. Isabella Meli and Erin Triandafils tacked on two goals each, and Mikayla Dwyer scored once while Jesse Arline assisted twice, to put Shoreham up 5-0.

With 3:28 left in the first half, Mount Sinai senior midfielder Caroline Hoeg dodged opponents as she made her way up the middle and scored unassisted to break the ice for her team.

“I think we started off rocky, but we came out at halftime and knew what we had to do,” she said. “Everyone knew they had to play for the girl next to them and we played our hearts out.”

Mount Sinai's Camryn Harloff reaches between Shoreham defenders for the loss ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Mount Sinai’s Camryn Harloff reaches between Shoreham defenders for the loss ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Hoeg helped win possession off the draw to open the second, and from the left side of the cage, passed to junior midfielder Lisa Nonnenmann who scored through traffic up top.

“It’s a gut-check time,” Bertolone said of his team being down. “I told them, ‘are we just going to let someone come in and push us around? Are we going to respond?’ And they did.”

At the 11:12 mark, sophomore attack Meaghan Tyrrell took matters into her own hands when she swiveled around the back of the cage and fired a shot across the front of the net to the far left side. Minutes later, she passed the ball to Hoeg up the middle, who beat out defenders and bounced in a shot that close the gap, 5-4.

“At halftime, our coach was pep-talking us and our captains were great,” she said. “When we came out we knew we had to win the draws to come back, so that was our motive.”

Bertolone called for a timeout and before sending his team back onto the field, the girls shouted “heart,” and continued to play with a lot of it.

The Mustangs won possession off the next draw, and although Nonnenmann had a free position shot soon after, she failed to capitalize. At 3:50, she got another shot, and made it count, tying the game 5-5.

Mount Sinai's Erica Shea makes her way around Shoreham's Isabella Cortes. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Mount Sinai’s Erica Shea makes her way around Shoreham’s Isabella Cortes. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“It was nerve-wracking but we’ve been working really hard this season and it was just great to get out there after we dug ourselves into a little bit of a hole to really work all together, settle the ball and pull it out,” she said. “I think we practice more than anyone else around, we get down to business and it helps us get the job done.”

With 2:06 left on the clock, the Mustangs proved that hard work pays off. From outside, Hoeg passed to Tyrrell at the front of the net, who bounced a shot into the open right side after a goalkeeper misstep, for the 6-5 lead.

“Caroline knew I was open, she knew that was the play, and I saw the goalie’s stick come out and I thought she was going to save it, but I got in there, went around her and shot,” she said. “It was very nerve-racking, but it also felt really great.”

Bertolone called for another timeout, and told his team, “You don’t want to lose this after coming all the way back. We need to win this draw.”

The Mustangs won the draw, and despite turning the ball over, forced a turnover and held the ball until time expired.

Mount Sinais' Leah Nonnenmann makes her way to the cage ahead of Shoreham's Erin Triandafils and Megan Daly. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Mount Sinais’ Leah Nonnenmann makes her way to the cage ahead of Shoreham’s Erin Triandafils and Megan Daly. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The 2015 state championship-winning team is hoping to get back to Cortland this year, and the team’s resiliency may take them there.

“We practice for days like this,” Hoeg said. “This is what we have to do if we want to get to the next level and we want to get back upstate. We knew that we all had to come together and show people that we can come back from losing our top players and prove people wrong. That was the motto this year — coming out and doing what people think we cant.”

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Senior midfielder Justin Eck fires at the cage. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Middle Country countered Half Hollow Hills West’s four unanswered goals with four of their own to close within one in the second quarter of Division I boys’ lacrosse action Thursday afternoon, but the Mad Dogs couldn’t maintain the same level as the Colts and fell 15-9 in their second to last game of the season.

Trailing by two, Middle Country finally got on the scoreboard when junior Ryan Wheeler dished the ball to classmate and midfielder Michael Benasutti, who drove his shot home to cut the lead in half, to 2-1, at the 4:30 mark of the opening quarter.

The Colts countered by rattling off four unanswered goals in the next two minutes for a 6-1 advantage in the opening minute of the second quarter, but the Mad Dogs found a rhythm and scored four of their own, beginning with senior midfielder Kyle Stemke, to pull within one goal. Next to score was senior attack Ty Tracey, who connected for the score on a pass from senior attack David Garcia, the cutter, and Stemke struck again with a blast just outside the crease with six minutes left in the half to help his team close within two, 6-4.

Senior attack David Garcia gets checked. Photo by Bill Landon
Senior attack David Garcia gets checked. Photo by Bill Landon

“They’re a strong team — it just comes down to heart and that plays a major role in the game,” Stemke said.

Garcia’s stick spoke next when his shot stretched the net to shave the deficit to 6-5 at the 2:33 mark.

Garcia said knowing his teammates since childhood has helped the team developed a bond both on and off the field.

“We knew that they were a very good team, we worked hard and we’ve played our whole lives together,” Garcia said, adding that his team was able to come back because “we kept each other up and we stayed positive the whole way.”

The Mad Dogs came no closer though, as the Colts rattled the cage with five more goals in less than two minutes, to surge ahead 11-5 at the halftime break.

Middle Country opened the third quarter able to hold the Colts in check, and junior attack Matthew Gensinger’s drilled one past the goalie to stop the onslaught. Unlike the final minutes of the second quarter, the Middle Country defense was able to hold its opponent, limiting the Colts to just two goals in the third, but the Mad Dogs failed to score again until the final quarter.

With less than five minutes left in the game, junior midfielder Jessie McKeever fed senior midfielder Justin Eck on a cut, and he drilled his shot just inside the pipes to trail 13-7.

Middle Country kept pace the rest of the way, with junior Nicholas Belmonte and sophomore Daniel Hogan countering two Half Hollow Hills goals, but the team’s efforts were not enough to catch the Colts.

Middle Country head coach Christopher Siragusa said he thought his team would have been able to keep up with its opponent if it weren’t for the last two minutes of the second quarter.

Senior midfielder Kyle Stemke sprints to the crease. Photo by Bill Landon
Senior midfielder Kyle Stemke sprints to the crease. Photo by Bill Landon

“I thought that we could handle them,” he said. “It depended on what team we had on the field — we’re a strong character team, we fought with every team we faced this season, even the top dogs. We thought we had a good shot at it.”

Senior goalkeeper Christian Brody said he wasn’t surprised by Half Hollow Hills West, and knew he would have a busy day between the pipes.

“They’re what we expected — they’re heavy shooters and they swing the ball very well,” said Brody, who finished with 11 saves. “But it’s all about how our defense sets up, and we had great stops on defense. They did a good job.”

Stemke said he’s felt honored to play on the same field as his goalkeeper, who has worked hard to keep the team in games this season.

“Our goalie played great,” he said. “He’s having a great year and I can’t thank him enough for getting in that cage every game.”

With the loss, Middle Country drops to 4-9, and will finish out the season hosting Lindenhurst on Thursday at 7 p.m.

 

This version corrects the Half Hollow Hills West mascot.

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Miller Place's Alyssa Parrella moves around John Glenn’s Amelia Biancardi. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Miller Place dominated over visiting Elwood-John Glenn amid light rain Tuesday afternoon. The Panthers outscored their opponent 9-1 after 25 minutes of play in Division II girls’ lacrosse action, and despite the Knights scoring six goals in the second half, Miller Place was able to extinguish the rally and put the game away 17-7 to improve to 8-3 in the league and secure a solid playoff position.

The Panthers spread the scoring around in the first half, but senior Kristin Roberto led the way, as the midfielder and captain scored twice. Attacks Olivia Angelo, Julia Burns, Loren Librizzi and Allison Turturro each found the cage, as did midfielder Danielle Plunkett. The two other co-captains, junior midfielder Arianna Esposito and senior midfielder Alyssa Parrella, also split the pipes to dominate the game early.

Arianna Esposito cuts downfield for Miller Place. Photo by Bill Landon
Arianna Esposito cuts downfield for Miller Place. Photo by Bill Landon

Senior captain Amelia Biancardi scored the lone goal of the first half for the Knights 12 minutes into the contest.

To combat the deficit, Elwood-John Glenn head coach Janine Bright made a change in her team’s strategy for the second half. Bright said she knew Miller Place was a formidable opponent and that her team would have to fight from whistle to whistle for any chance of winning.

“We have to play a full 25 minute half — not just show up for six minutes in the first half, seven minutes in the second half — we have to play the entire game with full intensity from start to finish,” Bright said. “If we did that, today’s score could’ve been very different.”

Parrella opened the second half by lighting up the scoreboard with two quick goals — the first off an assist by Plunkett and then a solo shot for her hat trick goal, putting her team out front 11-1.

Miller Place head coach Thomas Carro said the leadership from his team’s captains is the reason for the team’s success this season.

“I think we’re peaking at the right time, and the girls are firing on all cylinders right now,” Carro said. “Their positive attitude on and off the field is just contagious. The girls are starting to believe in themselves and as a result of that, they can play with anybody this season.”

Biancardi, from a free position shot, scored again to make it a nine-point game with 16:03 left to play, but Parrella, unassisted, buried another one two minutes later to reopen the gap. Biancardi answered back at the 11:45 mark with a hat trick goal of her own, to bring the score to 12-3.

Miller Place's Loren Librizzi passes the ball. Photo by Bill Landon
Miller Place’s Loren Librizzi passes the ball. Photo by Bill Landon

“In previous years, we’ve played them closer, but they played amazing today,” Biancardi said. “They have so much speed on that team and you could see the difference.”

After another Panthers goal, Biancardi struck again after circling the cage and slipping an underhand shot in for the score. On the Knights’ next possession, Biancardi fed the ball to Madisyn Hausch, who found the net as momentum began to shift.

“[The Knights] have a couple of really good players who are not afraid to take it to cage,” Roberto said. “We had to step up and put pressure on them because they can score. We couldn’t take them lightly at all.”

Victoria Tsangaris drove one home from the free position, followed by Hausch’s second goal a minute later, to shave the Panthers’ lead to 13-7, but the Panthers capped off the game by scoring four more goals.

“Early on they were beating us to the ball, so we had to step it up — they came at us strong,” Parrella said. “Everyone’s fighting to make playoffs and we knew that if we played our game we’d come out on top.”

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Warriors win their third of six one-goal games this season

Huntington's Tara Wilson and Comsewogue's Hannah Dorney fight for possession. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Despite four yellow cards that forced Comsewogue to play a man down in the final minutes of the game, the Warriors were able to hold on to a 9-8 win over the Huntington girls’ lacrosse team in a must-win match to keep their playoff hopes alive.

“We’re [5-6 in Division II], but our record doesn’t show how good we can play,” Comsewogue sophomore Hannah Dorney said. “We’ve had [six] one-goal games and we knew this game would be close.”

Huntington broke the ice two minutes in when senior attack Emma DeGennaro found the cage unassisted, but Comsewogue’s Dorney dished the ball to junior midfielder Jamie Fischer on a cross, and she too buried her shot to tie the game minutes later.

Comewogue's Julia Tuohy cuts upfield. Photo by Bill Landon
Comewogue’s Julia Tuohy cuts upfield. Photo by Bill Landon

At the 12-minute mark, freshman attack Julia Fernandes scored next to put the Warriors ahead 2-1, but the advantage continued to change sides. The Blue Devils put away the next two goals, with junior midfielder Ryann Gaffney scoring first, and DeGennaro following with her second goal of the game, to put her team ahead 3-2. Seconds after, Dorney got the call and hit her mark to again even the score.

With 18 seconds remaining in the first half, junior attack Julia Tuohy took matters into her own hands and darted from behind the net, firing a shot that put the Warriors out front 4-3 heading into the halftime break.

Tuohy said her team lost a tough game two years ago to Huntington, a 15-1 loss, and were thirsty for revenge.

“The game was close — another one-goal game for us — but this time, we won,” she said of her team that has now been a part of six one-goal games this season. “We were a little nervous in the first half, but after our coaches talked to us at halftime, we really picked it up, got it into gear.”

DeGennaro recorded her hat trick goal a minute into the second half with a solo shot that retied the game.

“Coming into it we knew they were going to be close to us, and we expected a good matchup,” DeGennaro said. “It was a big game — we played hard, we played well on defense, and we’ve been working on that in practice.”

Three minutes later, after an unintended deflection from one of its defensive players, the ball squeezed past the Huntington goalkeeper Allison Berejka to hand Comsewogue a 5-4 lead.

Again, Huntington had an answer though, as DeGennaro split the pipes, to even the score at the 22:15 mark.

After receiving its second yellow card, Comsewogue struggled to stay at full strength, but were able to retake the lead when Tuohy scored, to edge ahead 6-5 with 15 minutes left.

Comsewogue's Jamie Fischer and Huntington's Ryann Gaffney fight for possession at the draw. Photo by Bill Landon
Comsewogue’s Jamie Fischer and Huntington’s Ryann Gaffney fight for possession at the draw. Photo by Bill Landon

To continue the back-and-forth battle, Huntington hit the scoreboard next with two unanswered goals. First, senior attack and midfielder Katie Reilly served one up to sophomore midfielder Emma Greenhill, who drove her shot home, and Reilly, with her third assist of the afternoon, followed with a pass to Gaffney, who scored the goal that gave her team the lead, again.

“Coming in I knew it was going to be an important game,” Gaffney said. “We stepped up to the plate and I’m proud of how our team played. We have to work on our transition, [but] I thought our defense played strong and I thought we played a great game.”

The Warriors countered with three successive scores for a 9-7 advantage with just under 10 minutes left, and A third yellow card against Comsewogue gave Huntington a chance to come back, but the team struggled to capitalize as the clock wound down to six minutes.

Comsewogue head coach Jim Fernandes drew his team’s fourth yellow card, which by rule left his team down a player the rest of the way.

“We overcame not only the other team, but [we overcame] the officials in my opinion,” he said. “I got carded and I asked them to play for me and pull this thing out, and they did.”

Huntington took advantage of the extra player on the field and Reilly erased the insurance goal when her shot split the pipes, but Comsewogue played keep away in the final two minutes, and held on to improve to 5-6 in Division II with three conference games left to play.

Huntington slipped 4-7 with four league games left on its schedule.

“We beat some of the teams that beat them,” Huntington head coach Jessica Maggio said. “We were unsure of how the matchup would be, but we had some throw aways and mistakes. We’re young and we’re dealing with injuries, [but] I thought it was pretty even, as it was a one-goal game the whole way.”

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Rocky Point’s Sara Giammarella beats a swarm of players to the ground ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The team may be young, but Rocky Point girls’ lacrosse is mighty.

With 13 seconds left on the clock in sudden-death overtime, sophomore midfielder Madison Sanchez scored her fourth goal of Tuesday’s game to give the Eagles what is believed to be their program’s first win over Shoreham-Wading River in school history.

Shannon Maroney makes a save for Rocky Point. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Shannon Maroney makes a save for Rocky Point. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“I thought, ‘I have to do this,’ I put my heart into it, I knew I needed to get it in, and I did,” Sanchez said of the final goal that gave her team the 10-9 victory. “Relief — that’s what it feels like. I’m speechless. It felt really good, especially considering we’ve never beat Shoreham before.”

As her team toppled her to the ground, there was another shining star for the Eagles out on the field being celebrated. Sophomore goalkeeper Shannon Maroney made 20 stops in goal, including one with three seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, and another 30 seconds into the three-minute session.

“We were really great on defense and we moved the ball quick on offense,” she said. “We pulled for each other when we needed to. We came through when we needed the ball. We worked really hard today.”

Rocky Point (6-3 in Division II) struggled to win the draw all evening, but when the Eagles gained possession, they made it count. With 13:49 left in the game, Sanchez scored her hat trick goal when she gained possession at midfield and charged up to the front of the cage to put her team up by two, 8-6.

Shoreham-Wading River junior midfielder Sophia Triandafils wouldn’t let her team go down quietly though, scoring at the 12:16 mark and again at 6:27, after Maroney made back-to-back saves, to tie the game 8-8.

“We had sloppy moments on the field,” said Triandafils, who also added two assists. “It’s hard going against a team that has so many athletes like Rocky Point. You give them an inch and they take a mile, and here and there we gave them a few inches and we just couldn’t come back from it.”

Rocky Point’s Madison Sanchez is checked by Shoreham’s Jesse Arline. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Rocky Point’s Madison Sanchez is checked by Shoreham’s Jesse Arline. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The Wildcats (7-3 in Division II) showed their resiliency, keeping within striking distance each time their opponent scored. Triandafils said her team just needs a little more work.

“We have some good glimpses here and there of the team that we could be,” she said. “We have so much potential on the team, and once we put together a full game, I think we can compete with anyone, play with anyone and beat anyone.”

Freshman attack and midfielder Brianna Lamoureux scored her second goal of the game with 39 seconds left in regulation to give Rocky Point a 9-8 lead, but Shoreham-Wading River’s Maddie Farron tied it up to force overtime just 10 seconds later.

The three minutes were almost up when Sanchez found the back of the net.

While the loss snapped Shoreham-Wading River’s seven-game win streak, the win keeps Rocky Point at the top of the league leaderboard, among undefeated Bayport-Blue Point and Mount Sinai and Eastport-South Manor.

Shoreham’s Sofia Triandafils and Rocky Point’s Christina Bellissimo fight for the loose ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Shoreham’s Sofia Triandafils and Rocky Point’s Christina Bellissimo fight for the loose ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan

On April 28, Rocky Point travels to Harborfields (6-2 in Division II) at 4 p.m., while Shoreham-Wading River hosts Hauppauge (4-4 in Division II) at 4 p.m.

Although Rocky Point is still without its leading goal scorer in freshman midfielder Brianna Carrasquillo, who netted 34 goals in eight games this season, head coach Dan Spallina is looking forward to where his young team is taking him.

“This group is young, energetic, and there’s such a bond between them,” he said. “As a coach who’s been doing this for a long time, it’s something you can’t bring to the girls. They have to have it on their own, and they do. We’ve been talking about leadership and we’ve been talking about heart and for Maddie Sanchez to take that one-on-one and beat out a girl that should be up for All-American speaks to the type of player that she is. She’s kind of a pass-first kind of girl, but she deserves it. She deserves a win like this. They all do.”

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11 girls score, 3 others add assists

Junior midfielder Madison Hobbes turns away from a swarm of Commack defenders. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Ward Melville’s girls’ lacrosse team scored four unanswered goals to start Monday morning’s contest, and held a 10-goal lead with 17:35 left to play. Despite Commack coming back to score eight unanswered, the Patriots hung on, maintaining possession and keeping the ball moving in the final minute to come away with a 15-13 win.

“We were a little inconsistent,” Ward Melville head coach Kerri Kilkenny said. “We had moments of brilliance and some things we can still improve upon. We need to make sure we keep our high level of play the entire game.”

Sophomore attack Jill Becker passes the ball around the cage. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Sophomore attack Jill Becker passes the ball around the cage. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Sophomore midfielder Nicole Liucci scored first after receiving a foul call when a Commack defender ran into her path, and sophomore attack Jill Becker added another with a shot through traffic.

Minutes later, junior attack Kaitlin Thornton landed a foul call of her own and sent her shot home. At the 16:16 mark, junior attack and midfielder Hannah Lorenzen scored up front after receiving a pass from Becker, for the 4-0 advantage.

“We’ve all played together for a really long time, so there’s definitely a connection on our team,” Becker said. “We work together, we all look up, pass to each other and we’re strong with our shot placement — we were able to finish our shots.”

Commack scored its first goal of the game minutes later, and just 30 seconds after, the Patriots pushed back when junior midfielder Kerry McKeever raced past the cage and fed the ball backward to junior midfielder Hannah Hobbes, who swiveled around defenders to get a good look in front. Becker and Lorenzen tallied their second goals of the game, and junior midfielder and defender Kelly Quinn hit her mark for an 8-1 lead.

Freshman attack and midfielder Alexis Reinhardt crosses the ball into Commack's zone. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Freshman attack and midfielder Alexis Reinhardt crosses the ball into Commack’s zone. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“We don’t necessarily have the one or two superstars, we are very well-spread offensively,” Kilkenny said. “If something’s not working for a few players, others can certainly step up and fill the roles.”

A Ward Melville offside call lead to a Commack goal, and the Cougars added another seconds later to close the gap. Ward Melville junior goalkeeper Kathryn Hopkins made a save with less than two minutes remaining in the first, and another with one second on the clock, to keep the score unchanged.

Sophomore attack Kate Mulham scored first in the opening seconds of the second half, and after her team scored two more, the two sides traded goals until Mulham scored her second and third goals of the game back-to-back, giving the Patriots their 10-goal lead with 17:35 left to play.

“We definitely started out strong, making our connections all across the field,” Mulham said. “We have a really deep bench and we can put a lot of different girls out there and we can all still perform together, because the chemistry is there. Each of our individual skills combined are really beneficial to the team.”

Sophomore attack Kate Mulham moves through midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Sophomore attack Kate Mulham moves through midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan

But the defense struggled to maintain the offense’s advantage, as Commack came back to score eight unanswered goals, the last coming with 6:24 left in the game.

“We definitely did get a little comfortable and once we realized we needed to pull it together, we did,” Becker said. “I think we lost some communication on defense and attack with who has who and making sure we were guarding against the cutters.”

Kilkenny said her team struggled to come out strong in the first half throughout the first few games of the season, but the team has worked on playing each half equally as strong, and especially in the first half, Mulham has noticed a difference.

“We had slow starts and we were down by a few, and we always came back at the end,” she said. “But now, being able to start off strong is putting us in the lead early, making it much less stressful.”

Although the game grew closer at the end, Mulham said she is still confident that if her team can continue to work on improving, it can be tough to compete against.

“I think we can go really far this season if we all continue to work together and address these problems that we’re noticing now early in the season,” she said. “Once we address those I think we can go as far as we want to. I think we’ll be unstoppable.”

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Nine players score points in total team win

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Brian Mark maintains possession with a Mercy defender on his hip, as he crosses into his opponent's zone. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Nick Koban winds up to rocket a shot at the cage. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Chandler Sciara passes the ball across the field. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Thomas Mark scoops up a ground ball at midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Matt Murphy leads the pack in a race to the net. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Brian Mark makes his way through midfield as Mercy defenders reach to stop him from scoring. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Chandler Sciara is held outside by a Mercy opponent. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Marco Scarda keeps the ball away from Mercy as he moves around the cage. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Matt Murphy attempts a diving shot. Photo by Desirée Keegan

They may be small and they may be young, but the Royals can score.

Teamwork was the name of the game on Thursday for Port Jefferson: Freshman midfielder Matt Murphy tallied four of his team’s 19 goals on the way to a near shutout of Mercy, 19-1, as senior attack Marco Scarda and junior attack Brian Mark added hat tricks, and six other Royals scored or assisted in the team’s win.

“They work hard together,” Port Jefferson head coach Taylor Forstell said. “The more offensive threats you have in any game, the more it’s going to help your team out. A lot of these guys don’t necessarily get a lot of game time, so it’s good that they can come out here and be offensive presences and compete.”

Senior midfielder Max Scandale started the scoring off just over a minute into the first quarter after he swiveled around defenders and shot through traffic for a 1-0 lead. Seconds later, freshman attack Nick Koban scooped up a turnover off the draw and passed to senior midfielder Shane Bruno in front, who found the back of the cage. Scarda scored unassisted next, and then sophomore midfielder Thomas Mark looped around the cage and faked a pass outside to confuse the defense, instead feeding the ball to junior midfielder Chandler Sciara, who scored to give the team a 4-0 advantage.

Next was where Murphy stepped in, taking the ball to goal off a turnover at midfield, and with the goalkeeper hugging the left post, raced past while shooting the ball toward the far open corner.

“The teamwork was there, there was good passing and it wasn’t any singular guy,” he said of the team’s total effort. “We worked together.”

Murphy shot again seconds later and it was deflected in by Brian Mark, ending the first quarter with the Royals leading 6-0. Port Jefferson dominated the time of possession despite struggling at faceoff, as the team’s midfield and defense was able to force multiple turnovers all evening. Mercy held the ball in the final minute, racing into the Royals’ zone to try to get on the board, but Murphy stayed on a Mercy midfielder’s back, knocking the ball out of his stick and out of bounds for a turnover.

“The guys played hard,” Forstell said. “They came out from the first whistle, and to the last whistle they played hard. They stayed true to the game plan.”

The elder Mark scored unassisted to start off the second, and capped off the quarter with his hat trick goal. Murphy also added his second and third goals of the game in the second, as did Scarda.

“We put in a new offense the other day so that’s been helping get the ball around and get it to everybody so that we don’t have to rely on one or two people to carry the team,” Mark said. “Getting everyone else involved makes it more even and makes it harder for other teams to defend against us.”

By the end of the first half, Port Jefferson had a 15-0 lead on Mercy, which scored its first and only goal at the 10:48 mark of the third stanza.

“We did a good job of possessing the ball on offense, keeping it in our end, keeping it away from them so they couldn’t score — and then when it did go over there our defense did a good job of turning it over and getting it back to us,” Mark said. “It was a good job of keeping it on the offensive side and keeping it out of their hands.”

Mark said that despite the team not getting off to a strong offensive start in the beginning of the season, the team has began to click in the last couple of games. Although his Royals (3-6 overall, 3-3 in Division III) had four straight losses prior to their current three-game winning streak, the matchups were close battles, with two of the four being two-goal games.

Port Jefferson is looking to maintain a .500 league record to be in a good position for the playoffs. The Royals have five games left this season, with the next three matchups being against the top three teams in the division. Port Jefferson made it to the first round last year, despite still being a new program, and lost to Mattituck/Greenport/Southold, 16-8, in the Class C semifinals. The Mattituck team is currently at 5-1, while Babylon remains undefeated at 5-0.

“Last year it didn’t feel too good losing in the first round, so we’re looking to get to the county championship,” Mark said. “Once you get there, you never know what could happen.”

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Rachel Masullo moves through traffic. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Middle Country made quick work of Commack Tuesday, scoring five unanswered goals in the first five minutes of the contest, and despite losing its opening power, came away with a 15-10 win.

“We were kind of flat — there wasn’t a lot of intensity and it definitely showed,” Middle Country head coach Lindsay Dolson said. “It has to do with our warm-up, and certain teams they take lightly. We’ve talked about it — not to do that. Good thing we didn’t get caught today, but it definitely could’ve happened.”

Jamie Ortega gains possession off the draw. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Jamie Ortega gains possession off the draw. Photo by Desirée Keegan

After gaining possession off the draw, junior midfielder Jamie Ortega beat out two defenders and stuffed the ball into the left side of the cage for the early advantage just 30 seconds in. She won possession off the draw again, and scoring next was junior midfielder Ava Barry. The two connected for the third goal of the game, when Ortega passed to Barry, who dumped it in up front.

“Jamie’s been doing an awesome job on defense and offense for us,” Dolson said. “She definitely leads the team in that aspect. She’s doing a great job.”

At the 20:42 mark, Commack was fouled for shooting space, and freshman midfielder Sophie Alois raced to the center of the field in front of the crease and scored to the left side for the 4-0 lead. Ortega and Barry connected for the final goal before Commack put its first point on the board, when Ortega couldn’t find an open lane and moved outside and away from a defender to be able to send a quick pass to Barry in front of the cage.

“We’re good at moving the ball around and finding the open girl quick because a defender comes on her, but on defense we could’ve crashed earlier,” Barry said.

Defense is where the Mad Dogs struggled most. Once Commack began winning possession off the draw, Middle Country wasn’t able to turn the ball over and the Cougars collected points as a result.

Sophie Alois contains after scooping up a ground ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Sophie Alois contains after scooping up a ground ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan

By the end of the first half, Middle Country still had a substantial lead, 11-5, and jumped out of the gate again to start the second half, scoring three unanswered goals before Commack countered at the 13:33 mark, and scored twice more to trail 14-8.

Middle Country junior midfielder Amy Hofer found the back of the cage for the Mad Dogs’ final goal of the game, but Commack scored three more.

Ortega finished the game with four goals and three assists, while Barry ended with a hat trick and two assists. Twin juniors Amanda and Rachel Masullo added two goals apiece, and Barry’s younger sister Jen, a freshman, tacked on a goal and an assist.

“We need to win, and we can’t always win by playing the way we played today,” Ortega said, who added that it’s been difficult playing without her sister, Nikki, the team’s leading scorer last season. “We lost a lot of important players from last year, but we’re still close, we’re still a family and we connect. It helps.”

Ava Barry shoots past Commack’s goalkeeper for the good goal. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Ava Barry shoots past Commack’s goalkeeper for the good goal. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Her coach is still seeing improvement though, as the mixed team, with seven freshmen and seven juniors, looks to reach the county finals level that last year’s did.

“They definitely have been growing and going in the right direction,” Dolson said. “Today, I think, was a little bit of a setback, but hopefully we’ll pick up from this in practice tomorrow and get ready for Northport on Thursday. They’re going to come with very aggressive defense. We need to handle that pressure and we have to put together a whole game.”

Middle Country takes on Northport Thursday at 4 p.m.

Barry said that if her Mad Dogs can limit the turnovers, get to the ground balls and continue to work on the draws, they’d have a good shot against Northport.

“I feel pretty strongly,” she said. “If we practice hard tomorrow and we warm up strong, we’ll play a better game.”

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Dominic Pryor scores a goal for Ward Melville through a ton of Smithtown traffic. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Redemption was sweet for the Ward Melville boys’ lacrosse team.

Not only did the Patriots take down the boys of Smithtown East, who knocked them out of the playoffs in the Suffolk County Class A finals last season, but they also handed the Bulls their first loss of this season, 13-12.

Smithtown East was 7-0 coming into the contest, with one of the strongest faceoff kids in the county in senior Gerard Arceri, and two of the leading goal scorers in junior Connor Desimone and senior Dan Rooney. But that didn’t scare Ward Melville.

“We had that loss to West Islip [9-7 on April 8], which was one of our down games, but we knew we had to come back fired up,” Ward Melville goalkeeper D.J. Kellerman said.

“We knew that they were one of the top teams and we really wanted to take them down.”

The Patriots, 7-1, scored three goals in the first seven minutes of play before Rooney, an attack, found the back of the net with 3:09 left in the first quarter to put his team on the board.

“They’re a rival of ours — they’re right across town from us, so obviously intensity and competitiveness is at an all time maximum,” Smithtown East’s Desimone, an attack, said. “Coming out here and not showing up in the first half really killed us, but we’ll get them back.”

Ward Melville's Liam Davenport leads the chase for the ball at midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Ward Melville’s Liam Davenport leads the chase for the ball at midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Rooney followed his goal with his second score of the afternoon, off an assist from junior attack Michael Latini, and junior midfielder Luke Eschbach helped bring the score to 3-3 at the end of the first.

“Obviously Connor Desimone and Dan Rooney, they’re very dangerous, so we did a couple of game-planning strategies for them, but our goalie D.J. Kellerman played outstanding,” Ward Melville head coach Jay Negus said. “We’ve been waiting to play all four quarters all year, and this is the first game that I really feel we did. I don’t like taking my foot off the gas pedal, and that showed today, too. We played quick. I thought we did a good job of managing the game and really dictating the terms to them.”

Despite Arceri winning the opening faceoff of the second stanza, Kellerman still stopped a diving attempt by Desimone in the crease, and Ward Melville senior attack Chris Grillo faked out Smithtown East junior goalkeeper Thomas Harkin and dumped the ball in up top for a 4-3 edge. Kellerman followed with another stop, one of his 14 saves on the day, to keep his team on top.

The Bulls and Patriots traded scores, but Ward Melville senior midfielder Connor Grippe and junior midfielder Dominic Pryor added two goals in the final two minutes to put the Patriots up 7-4 heading into the halftime break.

“We lost to them in the counties last year, so obviously it’s a significant win for us,” Pryor said. “We moved the ball really well and we were very patient. Our defense stood strong with the amount of times they threw the ball in the crease.”

Ward Melville maintained an 11-9 advantage at the end of the third, but Smithtown East wasn’t going to go down that easily.

Latini opened the final quarter with a quick goal less than a minute in, and although Ward Melville countered, junior midfielder Connor Rowan added his second tally of the afternoon to keep it a one-goal game.

Smithtown's Luke Eschbach dives for the ball to beat out Ward Melville players. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Smithtown’s Luke Eschbach dives for the ball to beat out Ward Melville players. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The Bulls gained more time of possession as the game continued, but over the next seven minutes neither team could find the back of the net, as the goalkeepers battled and batted the ball away.

“We won most faceoffs, but couldn’t really take away they’re strong hands on defense, and couldn’t convert on offense,” Desimone said.

Harkin made a save for Smithtown off of Pryor’s initial attempt, but freshman attack Dylan Pallonetti grabbed the rebound in mid air and stuffed it past the keeper for the 13-11 lead. Although the Bulls found themselves down two goals again with minutes remaining, Desimone came through again for his team with another goal off a feed from Latini. Arceri won the final faceoff, but a turnover in the final seconds sealed the Bulls’ fate. The Patriots raced across the field, dropping their sticks and stripping themselves of their gear, and leapt into a pile of victory, smiling from ear to ear.

“We knew that they were going to score goals,” Kellerman said. “We had a feeling it was going to be high scoring, but we scored one more at the end and that’s all that matters. At the faceoff ‘X’ we did a great job neutralizing Gerard Arceri. We weren’t going to win them all, we knew that, but I was confident.”

Ward Melville hosted Riverhead on Wednesday, but results were not available by press time.

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Shoreham-Wading River's Jason Curran can't be caught as he races to the cage. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Photos by Desirée Keegan Clockwise from left, Shoreham-Wading River’s Jon Constant winds up for a shot with Mount Sinai’s Shane Walker on his back. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Shoreham-Wading River’s Jon Constant winds up for a shot with Mount Sinai’s Shane Walker on his back. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The Wildcats scored early and often, with senior Jason Curran’s four goals leading the way, as the Shoreham-Wading River boys’ lacrosse team downed crosstown rival Mount Sinai, 9-4.

“It’s great to get back at them for last year,” Curran said of Mount Sinai handing Shoreham one of its two losses of the season. “They’re the top dog. Since they won counties least year, it’s great to be able to finish against them with a nice win.”

It seemed like they may come out on top again, as senior Matt Boscarino started the scoring nearly halfway into the first quarter, with a rocket to the left side to break the ice. Mount Sinai senior goalkeeper Peter Mastrorocco also made a couple of early stops.

Despite opening strong, Mount Sinai’s defense turned the ball over several times in a row, and from there, Shoreham opened the floodgates to five straight goals through the opening of the second stanza. Despite the scores, Mastrorocco kept his team in the game, making five saves in that span on his way to 15 on the afternoon.

“I felt good, but I can’t do well unless I have a good defense, so I give that to them,” he said. “We locked down the wing shots and the crease shots.”

Shoreham-Wading River’s Chris Gray reaches back to pass the ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Shoreham-Wading River’s Chris Gray reaches back to pass the ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan

But Mount Sinai struggled to secure a faceoff win or a ground ball race. The team scored one goal in the second, and again to open the fourth, but that goal with 10:54 remaining was the last one they’d rattle the cage with.

“I think we need to work on our ground balls and our shooting, and we’ll be a big team to beat,” Mastrorocco said. “I think the team is making progress every single day. We work as hard as we can on and off the field and we’re putting in a lot of work.”

On the other side of the field, Shoreham’s scores were showing how far the work has already taken them.

The game heated up as Mount Sinai closed the gap to 7-4, but the Wildcats remained composed.

Junior attack Chris Gray fed Curran a pass, but Mastrorocco stopped the shot. Curran still scored amid frenzy in front of the net, on his next attempt seconds later, to an open left side.

“When my shots go in, I’m happy,” Curran said. “But I wouldn’t be scoring goals if it wasn’t for people like Jon Constant and Chris Gray feeding me.”

Mount Sinai’s Griffin McGrath battles Shoreham’s Jack Quinn. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Mount Sinai’s Griffin McGrath battles Shoreham’s Jack Quinn. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Gray said Joe Miller, a junior going to Navy, remaining poised at faceoff, helped the team to victory.

“He did a great job today, winning and giving us all the possessions that allowed us to score,” he said. “We had a lot of intensity coming into the game and it carried throughout all four quarters. Our defense looked great. They went man-up a couple of times, the other team, and we shut them down. The chemistry on offense today was really flowing for us.”

Eighth-grader Xavier Arline and Gray scored twice and added an assist each. Gray said his team not only has the bond, but the leadership and talent to get to the playoffs.

Curran liked that his team played smart while dominating the time of possession to secure the win. But he’s never satisfied.

“We’re always trying to get better moving forward,” he said. “If we can continue to play together, play unselfish and play smart lacrosse, we can go far, but if this is the best game we play all year, that’s not good. We want to get better after every week.”

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