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Connetquot

Ward Melville broke out to a three nothing lead in the opening quarter thanks to a pair of goals by Nik Barbero along with teammate Stephen Rosano, who scored with minutes left in the opening quarter, but the Patriots soon saw that lead evaporate. Connetquot surged back rattling off three unanswered goals to close out the first half making it a new game. Ward Melville trailed 7-6 to open the final 12 minutes of play but Ward Melville outscored their visitors to close out regulation with both teams deadlocked at nine goals each forcing overtime. With 55 seconds left in the overtime period it was the hat trick by Barbero that decided the game when his shot found its mark to win the game, 10-9, Saturday, April 15 in the Division I matchup.

Rosano topped the scoring chart for the Patriots with two goals and two assists. Barbero followed with his three goals, and Trevor Murray and Zach Brittman each scored along with one assist. Ward Melville goalie Charlie Giachetti, a senior, had a busy day in net where he tallied 13 saves. 

The win lifts the Patriots to 5-0 in their division 5-2 overall. The Patriots retook the field Wednesday, April 19 with a road game against Middle Country at Newfield High School. Results were not available at press time. 

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The Patriots of Ward Melville were fortunate to escape with a 47-44 victory over Connetquot in a League II road game Dec. 12. The win was despite Brooke Elizalde’s performance, netting six three-pointers and three field goals for the T-Birds. 

Ward Melville senior Julia Greek put in another dominant performance with seven field goals and three triples for 23 points. Senior Catie Edson netted seven points, as did sophomore Julia Dank, and teammate Grace Balocca, a junior, added five.  

The win lifts the Patriots 2-1, and they are back in action Thursday, Dec. 15, when they host Centereach at 5 p.m.

 

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The Ward Melville Patriots boys volleyball team was down 0-2 Oct. 20, but not for long. The team rallied in their home game against Connetquot, and the Patriots emerged with a reverse sweep in the Division 1 matchup. The final score, 3-2.

The win ended the regular season for the Patriots where they stand 13-1 in their division. The night also earned them a first round bye in the playoffs.

During the crucial matchup, captain Jarod Popp had 23 kills, 16 digs and two blocks, while sophomore Kyle Fagan had 23 kills and 14 digs.

Popp called the team “incredible.”

“Now our focus is on the playoffs where any team, one through seven, can win it all,” he said.

Richie Ragonese, senior captain, called both teams “very talented.”

“We had our backs against the wall and knew we had to change that,” Ragonese said. “We fought hard until the last ball dropped.” 

Head Coach Brian O’Shaughnessy said he was proud “of how hard our boys worked and fought in that game.”

“To come together and battle back from being down 0-2, to a team of Connetquot’s caliber was impressive to watch,” O’Shaughnessy said. “It showed how determined and resilient our boys can be.”

Ward Melville will play a home game Saturday, Oct 29, at noon against the winner of Wednesday’s West Islip vs. Bay Shore match.  The winner of Saturday’s game will go on to the Suffolk County finals.

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It was all Julia Greek for the Patriots in a League II matchup at home against Connetquot where the junior point guard hit four out of five three-pointers in the first eight minutes of play to put Ward Melville up 21 points. With a 30-point lead to open the fourth quarter, Ward Melville head coach Jamie Edson spelled his starters and flushed the Patriot bench, where 12 different plays scored in the 61-22 rout.

Greek tallied six treys, four field goals and a free throw for a team high 27 points in the Patriots’ league opener Dec 13. Ward Melville junior Gianna Hogan netted seven points, and seniore Siena Hart and freshman Emma Bradshaw banked four points apiece. The win lifts the Patriots to 1-0 in league 4-1 overall in this early season.

Ward Melville retakes the court with a road game against Lindenhurst Dec. 17 with a 5 p.m. start.

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The Ward Melville boys volleyball team fought back in the second set Oct. 14 having to win by two, edging Connetquot, 27-25, but they lost the next two to drop the match, 3-1, at home.

The Patriots fell 25-21, 25-27, 25-23 and 25-17 in the Division I contest. The loss drops the Patriots to 5-5 with four games remaining before post season play.

Ward Melville retake the court Oct. 19 when they host Commack with a 4:30 p.m. start.

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Fresh off their season opening 66-0 blowout over Copiague, Smithtown East was in the driver’s seat from the opening kickoff led by senior quarterback and co-captain Nick Karika who scored four touchdowns for the Bulls to win it 27-19 at home March 20.

Karika had touchdown runs of two yards, nine yards, 12 yards and his longest, a 49 yarder to put his team out front by 14 with six minutes left in the game. Connetquot managed to find the endzone with seconds remaining in the game.

The win lifts to Bulls to 2-0 for the top spot in League 3. They will hit the road March 27 where they’ll face Hills East. Game time is 1:30 p.m.

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Smithtown (2-2) hit the road against Connetquot (2-1) in a League-1 boys swim matchup Jan. 29 falling just short, 92-87.

Smithtown head coach Ray Willie was impressed with John Holler who won the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. Holler is currently the best breaststroker in the county. Willie predicts Holler will be county champion, adding that “unfortunately there will be no state championship this year because of COVID-19.” Willie went on to say that first-year varsity diver Yash Merchant, competing in the event for less than a month, fills a much-needed scoring void.

Smithtown has two remaining regular season meets in this shortened winter season, Feb. 2 at Huntington/Harborview/Walt Whitman and hosts Central Islip two days later. First gun for both is 4 p.m.

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By Bill Landon

A strong dose of Dylan Pallonetti is just what the doctor ordered.

With his No. 1-seeed Ward Melville boys lacrosse team down 2-0 in the first quarter, the junior scored three straight for a lead his Patriots would not let go of, and capped off the game with another three to seal the deal in a 14-8 Class A semifinal win over No. 5 Connetquot May 24.

Pallonetti ended with a game-high nine goals and one assist on the evening at Islip High School.

“We came out a little slow, but we started moving the ball well in the second half when we figured out their zone,” Pallonetti said. “And we scored some goals.”

He said his team will take the momentum built in this game and transfer it on to the next. Ward Melville faces No. 3 Half Hollow Hills East at Islip High School in the Class A title game May 30 at 7 p.m.

“We’ll have a couple days of practice,” Pallonetti said. “We’ll practice hard, go hard and just keep going.”

Ward Melville head coach Jay Negus said the team didn’t change its game plan when facing the Thunderbirds and will treat Wednesday’s game against the Colts the same way.

“We were a little impatient at first, but we came back to our game plan,” Negus said, noting playmakers on the field, especially on the defensive end, that made some of Pallonetti’s goals possible. “Ethan Larson, Frank Ciniglio, Alex Mazzone and Collin Krieg played well and Patty O’Neill made some unbelievable takeaways that sparked some transition goals.”

Seniors Matt Grillo (two goal, two assists), Zach Hobbes (two goals) and Lucas Flynn (one goal) also found the back of cage for Ward Melville. Senior Ryan Pallonetti, Dylan’s older brother, added an assist.

Ward Melville (16-1 overall, 13-1 in Division I) will look to avenge its only loss of the season. The Patriots fell to Hills East, 7-6, even after scoring three straight goals with 55 seconds left to close what was a 7-3 gap. Ward Melville is vying for its third straight county crown.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us against Hills East,” Negus said. “So we’re going to dig in the next couple of days and be prepared.”

This version has been updated to correct the amount of goals that Pallonetti scored.

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Wolverines face top-seeded Smithtown East in the out bracket on the road May 15 at 4 p.m.

By Bill Landon

Although the double-elimination game didn’t go as planned, Bobby Vath got by with a little help from his friends.

The first-inning showing was all visiting Connetquot needed to get past Newfield, 3-0, in the first round of baseball playoffs May 14. With a runner in scoring position a Vath pitch was drilled deep to left field for a ground-rule double and a 1-0 lead. Three pitches later, a passed ball at the plate put Connetquot ahead 2-0.

“I went back into the dugout after the top of the first, and they were right there ready to pick me up,” the senior said of his teammates. “So I was ready to go back out there in the second and fight for my team.”

Newfield was unable to answer in bottom of the inning, and unfortunately for Vath, an RBI-single gave the Thunderbirds an insurance run in the top of the second.

Newfield was able to get the bat on the ball after that, but when the Wolverines did get on base, Connetquot’s defense answered the call to keep them there.

Vath found his rhythm in the third, and despite Connetquot putting two runners on base in the top of the sixth, the senior didn’t give up a run the rest of the way. He struck out the next two batters in that inning to get out of the jam.

“He settled down after that first inning and started throwing outs, working off his fastball and had good command of the game,” Newfield head coach Eric Joyner said. “That’s just vintage Vath — he’s a great competitor.”

Newfield faces an unexpected opponent Tuesday, May 15, after top-seeded Smithtown East was upset by No. 17 Bay Shore, 7-4.

“Our approach has to be the same — come out of the gate hot, protect the baseball and throw strikes,” Joyner said. “We’ll have to execute a little better offensively tomorrow than we did today.”

Despite Newfield being the No. 8 seed, Vath said to him and his Wolverines, it doesn’t matter what seed they are, or what number they’re facing.

“We’ll definitely get the scouting reports from the other coaches who’ve played [Smithtown East], because that helped us in this game too, but their number doesn’t scare us,” Vath said. “We’ll go in there with the mentality that if the 17thseed beat the No. 1 seed, anybody can beat anyone on any given day.”

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Defense helps contain Sachem East in final quarter to pull out 5-4 win

By Bill Landon

Sachem East sent shock waves through the Smithtown West boys lacrosse team, but the Bulls didn’t back down from the fight.

After the Flaming Arrows scored to draw within one in the fourth, Smithtown West took control and slowed the clock to come away with a 5-4 win during an autism awareness fundraiser game April 14. Smithtown West remains undefeated on the season outscoring opponents 100-34 through eight games.

“First of all, hats off to Sachem East they played a complete game, a great game and they tested us in every phase of play today.”

— Bob Moltisanti

“First of all, hats off to Sachem East they played a complete game, a great game and they tested us in every phase of play today,” Smithtown West head coach Bobby Moltisanti said. “Defensively we did a great job, our short stick midfielders did a great job as well, so hats off to them and to our goalie holding them to just four goals. And on offense we got the job done and got the victory.”

The Bulls struggled against Sachem East’s (3-5 overall, 3-4 League I) stout defense early, with long sticks swatting at every pass and scooping up sever loose balls, taking four direct takeaways.

Midfielder Andrew Arce scored his first of three goals off a feed from attack John Hoffman for the early lead at the 7:46 mark of the opening quarter, but as with most of the game, Sachem East answered. Just 34 seconds later, Peter Engleken’s solo shot stretched the netting to even the score.

Smithtown West showed its a threat from every position when defenseman Kevin went the distance a minute later and scored.

Again, it was Engleken that made it a new game before Hoffman, who leads his team in scoring with 21 goals and 10 assists, broke the stalemate with four minutes remaining in the half on a feed from attack Marc Cottage.

“There was nothing easy about it. They cut our lead to one and we had to play mistake free if we were going to come out with the win.”

— Andrew Arce

Smithtown West banked its first insurance goal with just under five minutes left in third quarter when Sean Byrne flicked the ball to Arce on the cut, but Sachem East’s Nick Pagnotta dumped one in from close range to once again keep things close.

Arce fired a shot from 20 yards out with 10:35 left in regulation to complete his hat trick and put the Bulls out front again by two, 5-3.

“We knew we had to go back to our basics,” said Arce, a Binghamton University-bound senior. “They were tough on defense and they came at us hard the whole game — there was nothing easy about it. They cut our lead to one and we had to play mistake free if we were going to come out with the win.”

Tyler Jordan scored the final goal for the Flaming Arrows, but Moltisanti credited defenders Kevin Ehli, Reed Greco, Dave Gonzalez and Christian Lowd for holding off Sachem East to close out the game, and Kyle Walker for his 10 saves in goal.

Smithtown West will be tested once again when the Bulls travel to Connetquot (5-2 overall, 5-1 League I) April 18 at 5 p.m.