By Bill Landon
Despite leading 3-0 early and 8-5 at halftime, the Rocky Point boys’ lacrosse team let Elwood-John Glenn battle back to tie the game at 9-9 and force a four-minute overtime period, where the Knights managed to sneak one in past the Eagles to win 10-9.
Rocky Point hit the scoreboard first when junior midfielder Tim Yannucci’s shot found the cage off an assist by senior midfielder Alex Borja, and on Rocky Point’s next possession, Borja drove one home from 20 yards out unassisted, to jump out to a 2-0 lead.
With the game just over three minutes old, Rocky Point senior attack Brendan Cain fed a cross to freshman attack Jake Wandle, who fired between the pipes to break out to a 3-0 advantage.
The Knights responded with four unanswered goals to take their first lead of the game with 5:46 left in the half, but the Eagles didn’t let that lead last for long and swooped into the Knights’ territory with just over four minutes left in the half score two goals to tie, and then take the lead.
First, Rocky Point senior attack Christopher Vaden dished one to Yannucci. and senior midfielder Jack Sullivan served one to Wandle, who drove his shot home to retake the lead, 5-4.
“We came out hot, we went up 3-0 and then they started coming back — we got to half time up by three,” Yannucci said. “We just didn’t come out as good as they did and they ended up with the win.”
A minute later, John Glenn shot back to tie the game 5-5, but Wandle and Cain paired up again, this time, with Wandle feeding to Cain, who buried his shot to retake the lead, 6-5.
With 21 seconds left before the halftime break, the Eagles scored twice more.
Cain flipped one out to junior midfielder Anthony DeVito, and five seconds later, Borja’s shot found its mark off another assist by Cain, to take an 8-5 lead into the third quarter.
“We led 8-5 at the half, but we let them right back in,” Rocky Point head coach Mike Bowler said. “Mistake after mistake — little things and not converting when we should’ve converted [hurt us].”
John Glenn wouldn’t go quietly, and found the scoreboard twice in the third to trail 8-7 to begin the final quarter. Momentum continued to shift the Knights’ way with two more unanswered goals, and the team took a 9-8 lead with just over six minutes left.
Vaden said his team wasn’t expecting a zone defense and added a penalty at the end of regulation hurt his Eagles.
“We moved the ball well from behind with Jake Wandle quarterbacking,” he said. “And eventually we slipped up and let it get away from us.”
From behind the cage, Cain looking for the cutter, jumped out front like he was going to pass, but spun around and air gaited the ball — jumping from behind the goal crease and scoring mid-air by dunking the ball over the crossbar — just inside the pipe.
“They came in a lot hotter and they came ready to play in that second half,” Cain said. “We went on a run, but then they took their run on us and tied the game, so they outplayed us in the second half.”
Rocky Point was penalized in the final seconds of regulation and started the first minute of the four-minute overtime period a man down. The Eagles survived the penalty, but the Knights ended up the victors after scoring a goal with 1:04 left to play.
With the loss, Rocky Point dropped to 2-3, the middle of the League III standings. The Eagles will look to break a three-game losing streak when they travel to Westhampton Beach Wednesday. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
