Sports
Smithtown West Boys Lax Stuns Ward Melville in County Semifinals
Four players register hat tricks as Bulls rout Patriots, advance to Suffolk title game Wednesday.
The Smithtown West boys lacrosse team knew that it would have to play well, that its stars needed to shine in its Suffolk County Class A semifinal clash with Ward Melville.
The Bulls had lost their last eight games against vaunted Melville, but they played a complete game Friday. Behind four goals from Matt Schultz and hat tricks from three others, Smithtown built an early lead and never relinquished it, overcoming a third-quarter charge by the host Patriots to post an impressive 15-7 triumph on the road.
“The monkey is finally off our backs,” said Bulls head coach Sean Keenan afterward.
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The victory pushes the Bulls into the county championship game Wednesday at Stony Brook, where they will face No. 1 West Islip. For Ward Melville, a season that started with high expectations ends short of the ultimate goal.
Smithtown came out early and took a 2-0 lead when Ryan Joseph scored with 8:53 left in the first. The Bulls scored five more times in the first half, capped by goals from James Pannell and Kyle Keenan in the final minute of the half, and went into halftime up 7-2.
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But Ward Melville didn't go down without a fight. It came out in the third quarter and scored four unanswered goals to bring them to within a goal at 7-6.
“We couldn’t play that bad all game; we were going to make a run,” Ward Melville head coach Mike Hoppey said. “When we got it to 7-6, we had three possessions to tie it and we got nothing out of it. I think that might have been the turning point of the game. It’s tough to say, but if we tied it, maybe it’s a different game.”
With the clock ticking down at the end of the third quarter, Schultz picked up a loose ball out of a scramble in front of the Ward Melville net and fired a shot past goalie Connor Ryan with only seven seconds remaining in the period to give the Bulls some breathing room.
“I was nervous but we just needed to possess the ball and we did a good job,” Keenan said.
The Bulls did more than just possess in the fourth quarter. Ward Melville’s Jack Bruckner scored straight off the faceoff to once again make it a one-score game but the Bulls rebounded and went on to tally the game’s final seven goals. Frankie Reda scored three of the seven and Ryan Joseph and Schultz contributed as well.
“Everyone thinks you just have to stop [James] Pannell and [Kyle] Keenan but we have some other weapons," Coach Keenan said. “Reda played great, Ryan Joseph is playing great, we just have some great kids.”
Pannell and Keenan both finished with three goals and two assists but it was the clutch goals from Reda, Schultz and Joseph that made the difference.
Ward Melville came into the game 16-1 and looking to get another shot at No. 1 seed West Islip in the county championship. Instead, it will have to watch the final from the stands.
Goaltender Ryan Adler made 13 saves on the day for Smithtown, many of them in key situations. “It feels great,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve done it in I don’t know how long and to beat them by that score [is great.]”
Hoppey and his squad will look to retool and go on the quest for another state championship in 2012 knowing this class of seniors played great but never were able to get that elusive state championship.
“They had a great career,” he said. “They didn’t reach their ultimate goal but they represented us very well and I’m very proud of them. Great leaders, great work ethic, and I think they’re going to do a great job in college.”