Sports

East Meadow Lacrosse Falls in Playoffs

Massapequa earns 16-10 win in Nassau Class A quarterfinal Tuesday.

It’s the greatest show on turf. And for one night at least there was simply no stopping it. East Meadow played a nearly perfect first half and still trailed by three goals.   

That’s the power of the Chiefs’ attack.   

The Massapequa boys lacrosse team rattled off three goals in a 22-second span and three more in a minute. Those offensive outbursts were the difference as the top-seeded Chiefs ran past No. 8 East Meadow, 16-10, Tuesday night in a Nassau Class A quarterfinal at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium.   
 
“When we turn the switch on we can play,” Massapequa Coach Tim Radomski said.   

Massapequa, seventh in the latest New York State Sportswriters Class A rankings, advances to the semifinals next Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Hofstra. The Chiefs will face No. 4 seed Farmingdale (11-5), which held off Hicksville, 6-5, in the other quarter.  

The person most responsible for the fast-changing scoreboard might also be the most invisible player on the field. Massapequa junior attack James Byrns prefers it that way. Byrns, who stands 5-foot-4 and likes to get lost in the scrum in front of the net, poured in six goals.  

“When we get out in transition we’re really lethal,” Byrns said. “I like to find the seams in the defense. Defenses tend to lose me inside. I’m tiny. But it’s not a matter of how big you are. It’s a matter of wanting it.”   

In that sense, no one played larger.

Byrns got Massapequa (13-2) on the board after trailing 2-0 and he ignited a scoring binge with 1:06 left in the first half. His goal put the Chiefs up for good, 6-5. And it started a string of three goals in 22 seconds that helped Massapequa take command.   

This in spite of the fact East Meadow (9-7) did not turn the ball over once in the first 24 minutes.   

“They stayed in it the whole way though,” Jets Coach Lou Lago said. “I thought they recovered well. We just came up short in the end.”   

Nicholas Suchocki scored four goals for East Meadow, including a momentum changer that closed the gap to 10-8 with 10:58 left in the game. Radomski pulled goalie Wyatt Russo in favor of Matt Valdini at that point.   

“East Meadow played great, they wanted it more,” Radomski said. “But we knew it was a matter of time before our offense clicked.”  

The Chiefs beat East Meadow, 8-4, in the regular season meeting. This time around Massapequa’s Joe DeMarco won 20 of 29 faceoffs and the Chiefs held a 52-20 edge in ground balls.   

Massapequa possessed the ball and then finished strong, scoring six times in the final 6:29 to ensure the playoff win.   

Massapequa is now one win away from returning to the county title game for the fourth straight season.  

“They know what it’s all about, getting to the finals,” Radomski said of his players. “These guys have a goal and that’s to win it.”  

Nassau Boys Lacrosse Playoffs 
Class A Quarterfinal – At Hofstra 
Teams………………1…..2…..3…..4 – F 
East Meadow…..…2…..3…..2…..3 – 10 
Massapequa……...2…..6…..2…..6 – 16 
Goals – EM: Suchocki 4, Borresen 2, Bender 2, Barbato, Lehman; M: Byrns 6, Vigilante 3, Kirby 2, Bentz 2, Berge, Korber, Pemberton. Saves – EM: Borg 6; M: Russo 3, Valdini 0.


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