By Bill Landon
Behind the sticks of Richie Lacalandra and Chris Wolfe, Comsewogue powered past Half Hollow Hills West 13-7 April 27 despite a third-quarter scare.
The pair combined for eight goals and five assists, with Wolfe helping the Warriors regain the advantage by scoring his hat trick and fourth scores on feeds from junior T.J. Heyder (one goal, three assists) after Hills West rallied for three unanswered goals to close the gap 7-6 in the third. Lacalandra received an assist from Heyder and a pass from senior Sean Power in the fourth for his third and fourth goals of the game.
“[When they closed within two] we had to tighten up our defense — the offense was stalling a little bit so we had to work the ball around and attack the short [stick offensive players],” said Wolfe, a junior. “We knew they were missing one of their better defenders too, so we had to attack the weaker poles and try to get men open when we drew double [coverage].”
The Warriors’ defense had shut the door on the Colts before the flurry, holding them to three goals in the first half. Sophomore Tom Heller made 11 stops between the pipes. Head coach Pete Mitchell said his University of Albany-bound goalkeeper was facing some of the strongest offensive attackers in Suffolk County.
“They were everything we thought they would be — they have great shooters, great plays,” Heller said. “We watched film, saw the passing lanes, we kept our sticks up, knocked down a lot of passes and as a team our performance was outstanding.”
Lacalandra (four goals, four assists) said a well-timed break in the action helped his team regain its composure.
“When they closed [within] two goals coach called timeout and told us we have to pick up the intensity; they’re getting close,” the senior said. “Our offense picked it up — we began to click and we put in three or four right away.”
Power and Heyder scored goals in the final minutes. Junior Sean Kennedy finished with two goals and two assists.
The Warriors improve to 8-2 in Division II behind No. 2 Mount Sinai and undefeated Islip.
With four games left in the regular season, Stony Brook University-bound Lacalandra said his team’s strategy to prepare for the postseason is simple.
“We want to win out,” he said. “We want the top seed, so if we can win out we’ll be in good shape.”
Mitchell, although pleased with his team’s performance on the night, said his Warriors will have their hands full, and it’ll take a total team effort as the temperature begins to rise. Comsewogue hosts Bayport-Blue Point (7-3) May 2 at 7 p.m. before traveling to Eastport-South Manor (5-5) May 5 for a 6:30 p.m. matchup. The Warriors will close out the season with a home game against Sayville and an away game at Mount Sinai.
“Richie Lacalandra is very dangerous, so they paid a lot of attention to him, but so long as our other guys — Sean Power, Anthony Passarella, Chris Wolfe and Nick Donnelly — are producing, we’re a little more well-rounded,” the coach said. “We have four games left and they’re all against very strong opponents, so we’ll need to stay in shape, stay focused, eliminate mistakes. It’s going to get hotter, so we’ve got to play more people, so the guys who haven’t been getting the runs, we’re going to need ‘em, so they’ve got to be ready.”
