West Genesee defeats Syosset 10-7
West Genesee
Syosset's historic run comes to end in title game
(Newsday - Joseph Staszewski)
Syosset entered the state championship game Saturday at Hofstra
trying to cap a historic week.
The Braves were looking to win their first state crown and became
just the second Nassau team since Garden City in 1986 to win the
Class A boys lacrosse title.
But it was not to be.
Syosset was outscored by seven goals in the second half and lost,
11-7, to now 15-time champion West Genesee (Section III) in front of
a crowd of 2,500.
Still, it was a great run. "I'm so proud of our guys," Syosset coach
John Calabria said. "Playing three games this week, two of them back
to back, and being able to match up against the best schools in the
county -- phenomenal."
The Braves led 5-2 at halftime and 6-2 after a goal by Adam Wachler
early in the third quarter, but the Wildcats (Section III) dominated
from there. West Genesee scored six straight goals over the third
and fourth quarters to take an 8-6 lead with 6:54 left in the game.
Syosset cut it to 8-7 on Jeff Cohen's second goal 54 seconds later.
The goal increased the Harvard-bound attack's all-time Long Island
record total to 260, but West Genesee then scored three straight
times to put the game away. "I don't think we had the legs to
maintain that type of tempo through the third and the fourth
quarters," Calabria said.
Syosset (17-5) had a chance to slow the run while holding a 6-4 lead
with 5:04 remaining in the third. But penalties and the inability to
get a sustained offensive possession allowed West Genesee to score
twice in the final 48 seconds and tie it at 6 after three quarters.
"We made three really, really bad penalties," Calabria said, "and
they jumped all over us."
West Genesee, which got two goals and three assists from Ryan
Barber, converted on three of its five man-up opportunities.
The second quarter showed Syosset at its best. The Braves dominated
the time of possession as Matt Albert won six straight faceoffs.
That allowed them to score five goals in the quarter, while holding
West Genesee (21-3) to just four shots, all in the final 1:47.
Eddie Loftus scored twice, Cohen scored and Albert put one in on a
pass from Wachler, who scored the final goal of the quarter to make
it 5-2. Said Albert, "We are a team that catches fire."
That's exactly what happened during a postseason run in which a
red-hot Syosset team won its second straight county title, its first
L.I. championship and reached its first state final.
"This is really like the launching pad," Cohen said. "Last year we
the counties, this year we lose in the states. Maybe next year we'll
win the states. I have a lot of confidence in the team next year."
George Rogers - West Genny