New York: Manhasset Gives LaFayette an English Lesson

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Championships are won on the last day of the season, but they’re earned the other 364 days of the year.

 

Good things happen to players who work hard and to teams that challenge themselves even when the alternative — taking the casual approach to practice or scheduling games against cupcakes  — might be the more popular route to go.

 

Manhasset put on a clinic that demonstrated the virtues of doing it right on Saturday in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association boys lacrosse finals. The Indians, from Section VIII, defeated LaFayette of Section III in the Class C championship game, 16-11, behind an electrifying nine goals from senior Connor English.

 

"It's unreal,” said English, who attend the University of Virginia in the fall and play attack for the Cavaliers. “Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined this. This is the ultimate high you can ever experience.”

 

Records are sketchy, but English’s performance is believed to have tied a NYSPHSAA tournament record for single-game scoring set by Jason Doneger in the 2000 Class C final for Lynbrook, also against LaFayette. Doneger went on to play for Princeton.

 

And it wasn’t as though he was just out there recklessly blasting away. Nearly three quarters of the shots taken by Manhasset were either on goal or went in it. The Indians painted corners all day long in the opener of the championship tripleheader.

 

“He’s up at the school every day shooting,” third-year Manhasset head coach Bill Cherry said. “He’s out there before practice shooting. He stays after practice to shoot. He’s home shooting. That’s what the real good ones do, A lot of guys have the firepower, the speed on their shot. But they don’t have the accuracy.”

 

Said English: “In the offseason I probably shoot 200 shots a day in between lifting and speed workouts. After practice I stay with a bunch of the guys and we just shoot buckets — we probably shoot 50 to 100 after practice when we’re tired. At practice when we’re all fatigued we try to work on picking spots to shoot at.”

 

Speaking of picking spots, he picked a fortuitous time to drive home goals No. 7, 8 and 9. English and senior midfielder Jeff Izzo had scored in a 55-second span midway through the third quarter to cap a run that turned an 8-4 halftime lead into a 12-4 advantage.

 

But LaFayette (21-1) soon roared back. Gehnew Printup and Lyle Thompson scored twice apiece as part of a six-goal run over a six-minute span. Suddenly it was a 12-10 game.

 

"I call that true lacrosse," Cherry said. "You get on runs, they get on runs. It's an exciting brand of lacrosse."

 

Enter English. Again.

 

First, he scooped up a loose ball and fired it home from about 20 feet in front of the cage and Izzo followed up with an extra-man goal. English and Printup then traded goals to make it 15-11 before English’s finest moment.

 

Rolling clockwise from behind the cage, he started to go low as midfielder Nate Beresovoy tried to ride him off course. But English kept driving his legs and, with Beresovoy now well on his way to applying a head lock, fired low to the far corner to elude goalie Chris Klaiber with 7:04 to go.

 

“I knew the goal was somewhere to the right,” he said. “I just fired.”

 

That would stand up as the final goal of the afternoon and the season for the champions.

 

It was a year that began on March 25 with a string of four games against Class B opposition in 13 days. Before the regular season was over, Manhasset (20-1) would also play another Class B opponent, one from Class A, CHSAA buzzsaw Chaminade and eventual Connecticut Class M state champion Darien.

 

The only loss all year was by 11-10 in overtime to Comsewogue, another of the Class B foes.

 

“Those games are the key to our success,” English said. “We want to play the best teams we can get. We know when we get to the playoffs those are the games that are going to make us better.”

 

Said Cherry, who assisted Alan Lowe (504 career wins) for more than two decades: “It teaches you how to play four quarters. Darien went overtime. Against Chaminade, we were up 8-2 and the next you know it’s 9-7. You learn how to win — how take the lead and keep the lead. That’s what you had to do in the game today.”

  

Class A: West Islip 10, Orchard Park 5

 

West Islip went on a 7-0 run to wipe out the Section VI opponent’s 4-2 lead and guarantee Section XI a championship for the 10th year in the last 12.

 

Precocious junior Nicky Galasso scored three times and classmate Andrew Hodgson twice during the decisive span, which began 2:05 before halftime and covered 15:50 on the clock.

 

Galasso finished with four goals and four assists as West Islip completed a 22-1 season and earned its  third trophy in four seasons by outshooting the Quakers, 39-19.

 

Senior attackman Bryan Badolato scored three times for West Islip, the last capping a 4-0 third period. Hodgson scored a pair of goals.

 

Ohio State recruit Jeff Tundo scored four goals for Orchard Park (21-2).

 

Class B: Canandaigua 10, Niskayuna 5 

 

And then there were none.

 

LaFayette’s loss earlier in the day left Niskayuna as the last remaining undefeated NYSPHSAA team of the season, and the Silver Warriors pounced on the Braves for two goals in the first 44 seconds.

 

But the momentum didn’t last.

 

Canandaigua (22-2) went on a 5-0 run over the next 25:15, and Brian Scheetz scored twice in the second half as the Braves won just the second championship in Section V history. Penn Yan won Class in 2001.

 

Senior midfielder Marshall Johnson led the winners with three goals and registered another strong day on faceoffs, winning 15 of his 19 trips to the X.

 

Five different players scored for Section II’s Niskayuna, which was making its second appearance in a championship game. With the loss, Section II is still waiting for its first NYSPHSAA championship in the sport.

 

Canandaigua won its first 20 games of the season.

 

John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.