Mount Sinai senior attack Dan Bullis looks for a cutter as he races around the circle in the Mustangs’ 7-6 Class B Long Island championship loss to Manhasset at Stony Brook University on May 30. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
Mount Sinai senior midfielder Zack Rudolf maintains possession of the ball as he cuts inside past a Manhasset player in the Mustangs’ 7-6 Class B Long Island championship loss at Stony Brook University on May 30. Photo by Bill Landon
With 28 seconds left, Nassau County champion Manhasset scored the go-ahead goal to edge out the Suffolk County title-winning Mount Sinai boys’ lacrosse team, 7-6, in the Long Island Class B championship game Saturday night at Stony Brook University’s Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.
“It’s just frustrating,” Mount Sinai head coach Harold Drumm said. “When you play your heart out and you give it everything you have and you don’t come out as the winner, it’s hard to accept.”
As the two teams collided, Mount Sinai found itself lighting up the scoreboard first with three unanswered goals.
Senior midfielder Tony DiMonti drove home an unassisted shot, followed by senior midfielder Zack Rudolf, and then junior midfielder Griffin McGrath dished one up to senior attack Dan Keenan, who split the pipes for the 3-0 lead.
Manhasset broke the ice with a goal to end the first quarter, and added another to open the second, but Mount Sinai senior attack Dan Bullis got the call next, finding the back of the cage unassisted at the 7:32 mark to edge ahead, 4-2.
Demonstrating that any position on the field could score, Mount Sinai sophomore defenseman Lucas Capobianco-Hogan went the distance, as the longstick buried his shot, as his team took a 5-2 advantage into the half.
Mount Sinai senior midfielder Tony DiMonti shoots and scored in the Mustangs’ 7-6 Class B Long Island championship loss to Manhasset at Stony Brook University on May 30. Photo by Bill Landon
Both teams traded goals in the third quarter, with Manhasset scoring first, and Keenan following off a feed from Bullis, to help the Mustangs stay out in front, 6-3, to start the final stanza.
Manhasset owned the final 12 minutes of play, and scored three unanswered goals to tie the game at 6-6 with 4:02 left in regulation.
The game looked as though it was heading into overtime, but with 28 seconds left on the clock, a spin move in front of the cage led to the Indians scoring the go-ahead goal. Mount Sinai won the ensuing faceoff, but could not respond as the clock expired, ending the Mustangs’ season.
Drumm said he was proud of his team for playing hard and giving it all they had.
“I told the kids it’s been a great season for Mount Sinai, and this has been a special season for us,” Drumm said. “They’ve got to look at themselves in the mirror and decide what’s important in life.”
Mount Sinai’s Dan Keenan maintains possession and changes direction in the Mustangs’ 6-5 win over Shoreham-Wading River Tuesday. Photo by Desirée Keegan
The Mount Sinai boys’ lacrosse team is hoping its proficient experience will pave the way for the Mustangs to race off to a successful season.
With a team full of seniors, Mount Sinai head coach Harold Drumm said his players are comfortable and playing more relaxed this year.
“By doing that, I think they’re starting to get a sense of the ability that the overall team has and I think if we continue to work hard and play physical with the lacrosse ability we have, I think we’ll do really well,” Drumm said.
Mount Sinai’s R.J. Voos tries to control the loose ball as a Shoreham-Wading River defender goes to block him in the Mustangs’ 6-5 win over the Wildcats Tuesday. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Mount Sinai started off the season with a 6-5 loss to Comsewogue and bounced back with a 12-7 win over Bayport-Blue Point before falling to Miller Place, 11-3, prior to entering Tuesday morning’s game against Shoreham-Wading River.
Although the Mustangs raced ahead to an early lead, the Wildcats battled back to close within one goal twice, but ultimately couldn’t level the score as Mount Sinai walked off the field with a 6-5 victory.
“This is a great win for our program,” Drumm said. “We beat Shoreham one time in the last 11 years I think, so it’s a great win for us.”
After Mount Sinai shot off three goals in the first quarter, Shoreham-Wading River junior Jason Curran put the Wildcats on the board with 2:48 left to play in the second quarter, to bring the score to 3-1.
Coming out of the halftime break, Shoreham-Wading River went into the huddle shouting “Takeover on 3. 1… 2… 3… Takeover!” And the team tried to do just that.
With 10:32 remaining in the third, Shoreham senior Ryan Bray found the back of the net to make it a one-goal game.
Three minutes later, Mount Sinai senior Dan Bullis saw a Shoreham-Wading River defender slide away from the crease and snuck in front of the net, and lobbed the ball in past the goalkeeper for a 4-2 advantage.
Bullis followed up his goal with two assists as he first passed the ball to senior Dan Keenan on the left side of the cage who whipped it in, and then dished the ball to junior R.J. Voos with 9:50 left to play for a 6-2 advantage.
“We played pretty good, it was a quality game,” said Mount Sinai senior goalkeeper Charlie Faughnan, who made seven big saves. “I just wanted to stop the ball. I don’t really think about it and just make the saves. I felt good [between the pipes] and the defense played [well].”
Shoreham-Wading River sophomore Chris Gray scored the next two goals to pull his team within two points, and Bray added his second goal of the morning with 52.6 seconds left to play to make it a one-goal game for the second time.
Mount Sinai’s Dan Bullis, who scored a goal and added three assists, makes his way around the cage while Shoreham-Wading River’s Bobby Puckey waits prepared to make a save. The Mustangs topped the Wildcats Tuesday, 6-5. Photo by Desirée Keegan
“We turned the ball over to them four or five times in the last 10 minutes very unnecessarily, and against teams like Shoreham, it could have very easily come back and the next thing you know we lose the game by a goal,” Drumm said. “So we have to learn from all of those mental mistakes.”
Junior Shane Walker’s multiple wins in a row at faceoff kept the team in the game.
“The beginning of the game was a little rough,” Walker said. “I was a little slow, but toward the end of the game I had some big wins that helped get us the ‘W.’ I think our offense is shooting well. A few of the shots were over the pipes so I think we need to show lower a couple times, but overall it was a good game.”
Bray and Gray finished with two goals and an assist each for Shoreham-Wading River, while Curran finished with a goal and an assist. Senior goalkeeper Bobby Puckey made nine saves in the game.
For the Wildcats, Bullis scored a game-high four points off one goal and three assists, Keenan added a hat trick, senior Zack Rudolf tacked on a goal and senior Tony DiMonti rounded out the scoring with an assist, as Mount Sinai improved to 2-2 in League III. The Mustangs handed the Wildcats their first loss of the season, as Shoreham-Wading River dropped to 2-1.
“I want to look at the season game by game, and just try to play comfortable and play hard,” Drumm said. “We want to keep going and keep winning.”
This version corrects Shane Walker’s grade level and the spelling of Tony DiMonti’s name.
