You would never know it by looking at the top of the New York lacrosse landscape, but the state’s approximately 1,000 high schools did in fact hold graduation ceremonies last June to purge rosters of many of the elite players.
Five defending New York State Public High School Athletic Association champions enter the weekend undefeated, and the sixth is very much back in the hunt to contend this spring.
Here’s a quick look at the lacrosse elite:
Girls Class A: Farmingdale moved to 5-0 Tuesday with an 18-6 romp against Carle Place, extending the Dalers’ winning streak to 22 games on the strength of Kim Kolodny’s four goals and two assists. Melanie Raso put up 10 goals and Jamie Leone seven in last week’s wins vs. Massapequa and Division (Levittown).
Farmingdale gets its first real tests of the season this weekend against St. Anthony’s in a non-leaguer and then Wednesday against four-time defending Class B champ Garden City.
Girls Class B: Garden City (5-0) just completed a run of four victories in six days, including two close calls against Maryland foes. Caroline Tarzian piled up six goals with two assists in a 12-10 win over nationally ranked Mt. Hebron (Ellicott City). The next day, her fourth goal of the contest was the gamer with 1:30 to go in a 12-11 win over South River (Edgewater). Tarzian tacked on five goals and four assists Thursday during a 19-6 victory against Cold Spring Harbor.
Girls Class C: Shoreham-Wading River (Shoreham) (6-0 with a 98-43 goals margin), a three-time defending state champ, has scored at least a dozen goals every time out during its 15-game winning streak. Jen DeVito is riding a streak of 13 goals and seven assists over the last four games, which ran SW-R’s winning streak against New York opponents to 35 games. Notre Dame-bound Kait Brosco had a career day Saturday with six goals and five assists as Shoreham-Wading River scored a 13-10 win over Bay Shore.
It’s a good sign that four of the six wins this season have come across Class A or B opposition, because the Wildcats’ final 10 regular-season opponents all carry winning records into the weekend.
Boys Class A: Sachem East (Farmingville)'s Phil Schaefer scored in overtime to lift the Flaming Arrows past West Islip 13-12 in the opener March 31, a blow for the squad that has won three of the last four NYSPHSAA large-school championships.
The Lions have roared back since with five victories, handing Chaminade (Mineola) and East Islip their only losses of the early going. Nicky Galasso, last season’s Long Island player of the year, is already up to 21 goals and nine assists despite relentless defensive attention.
Circle April 27 and May 5 on the calendar, as that’s when West Islip faces currently unbeaten Connetquot (Bohemia) and Ward Melville respectively. The Ward Melville game could very well be a preview of the Section 11 championship game – which this year might also qualify as a de facto state final.
Boys Class B: Someone forgot to tell Canandaigua Academy that its 15 minutes of fame ended last June. The Braves, whose title season was documented in a vodcast series, are 5-0 against relatively soft competition thus far. The Braves’ 25-game winning streak will face severe tests in the coming week against Class C top-five foes Corning East and Penn Yan, then an April 29 home contest against Fairport, which may very well be the best upstate Class A team this spring.
Boys Class C: Manhasset's 6-0 start has extended the Indians’ winning streak to 22 games, with Chaminade (Mineola) on Tuesday the second real test of the season and Cold Spring Harbor (8-0) awaiting on May 8. Chris Cook has 16 goals and 14 assists to lead a balanced attack that has produced 82 goals in six games. Matt Tompkins has 16 goals and three assists.
Baseball: Scary moment for Lindenhurst pitcher
Lindenhurst senior pitcher Tom Bammann was hit in the face by a line drive, sustaining multiple facial fractures but escaping more serious injuries. The right-hander was released from a local hospital later the same day following a CT scan.
Connetquot's Joe Russo lined a fastball that struck the right side of Bammann's face with one out in the first inning of a game eventually won by Lindenhurst 6-2. The ball ricocheted to first baseman Jon McGibbon, who recorded the out and ran to Bammann's aid.
Bammann, who did not lose consciousness, was bleeding from his nose.
"It was the worst thing I've ever seen in football or baseball in all of my years coaching," Lindenhurst coach Mike Canobbio, who has coached for 34 years, told Newsday. "The game immediately became secondary. Fatherly instincts took over right away."
Tennis tidbits
* Brentwood coach Clem Stancik recorded his 400th career victory on the courts complex that bears his name. Alex Hayden defeated Andy Kiss 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-1 in the deciding first singles to as Brentwood edged West Babylon 4-3.
* Sidney's 74-match Midstate Athletic Conference winning streak ended with a 3-2 loss to Bainbridge-Guilford (Bainbridge). The streak spanned six-plus seasons. The key B-G victory came at third singles as Luke Winn rallied for a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Rob McLean.
* In the PSAL, Beacon now has a girls tennis team and is off to a 4-0 start. Dan Berner is coaching the squad after spending last spring defending his daughter Hannah, who played (quite successfully) on the Blue Demons' boys squad as a senior because the Manhattan school didn't field a girls team.
Odds and ends
* Longtime assistant Craig Sanborn will be the new head coach of the Arlington boys soccer team, replacing recently retired Gary Montalto. Sanborn played for Montalto at Arlington in 1980 and 1981. He joined Montalto's staff as the top assistant coach in 1996. Montalto won 542 games in 31 varsity seasons at Arlington and guided the Admirals to state championships in 1984, 1999 and 2006.
* Making her first start since breaking an ankle and fracturing her pelvis in a car accident over the winter, Kerrin Mauer of St. Anthony's scored a game-high eight goals in a 15-14 girls lacrosse win over Our Lady of Good Counsel (Maryland) in three OTs.
* Senior Brendan Saylor had four goals and two assists to lead Fairport to a 15-6 win over Webster Thomas in a battle of unbeaten lacrosse teams. His fourth goal was Saylor's 141st in his career to break the Red Raiders record set by Will Driscoll in 1998.
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.
