These teams played in the regular season in one of the most anticipated games of the season. Mount Sinai came out with a 14- 9 victory. Mount Sinai continued to run the table after that game for the rest of the regular season. They dominated everyone that was put in front of them, and they looked unstoppable. Shoreham Wading River on the other hand bounced back from that loss by winning 4 of their next 5 games, including a huge playoff victory over a tough Bayport team with an 18-9 score.
Like their first meeting in the regular season, Long Island lacrosse fans were pumped up for round two. This game was an instant classic, and both the Mount Sinai and Shoreham Wading River student sections were on their feet the entire game. Mount Sinai came out strong as Senior defender, Mike Sabella caused a turnover and set the tone, finding Tyler Gatz, who started a fast break before finding Bobby DeMeo for the game’s first goal. Mount Sinai put the pedal to the meddle and didn’t take their foot off the gas as Tyler Gatz found Joey Spallina cutting behind the X to make it 2-0. Sophomore, Johnny Schwarz would answer back for Shoreham cutting Mount Sinai’s deficit down to 1. Former Wildcat, and now Mustang, Jack Schirtzer did a great job getting open in the middle of the field for an electric goal to make it 3-1. Jack Schirtzer and Xavier Arline was a great match-up all day long. During the first quarter, Schirtzer was all over Arline, pushing his hip and showing great footwork, but Arline got a little bit of space, and beamed the ball for Shoreham’s second goal. Arline struck again by ripping the ball to tie the game at 3 with 2:08 left in the first quarter. Arline was just heating up, and Mount Sinai had no answer for him. This time, Arline had a beautiful face dodge and swept to the right side of the field to give Shoreham a 4-3 lead going into the second quarter.
Like the first quarter, Mount Sinai would capitalize off a Shoreham turnover when Brandon Ventorola scooped up a ground ball and found Dominic Boscarino, who then found Russell Maher for a fast break goal to tie the game at 4. Mount Sinai would then take the lead when Russell Maher found Brandon Ventorola slipping behind his defender to make it 5-4. Russell Maher had a great day feeding the ball, and this time he found a cutter again in Bobby DeMeo to make it 6-4. Shoreham would not let this game get out of control as superstar, Xavier Arline would have a jaw dropping diving goal for Shoreham’s fifth goal on the day. The Wildcats would keep the ball rolling as Gavin Gregorek won the face off and ran down the field to tie the game at 6. Xavier Arline would not stop there. Arline would come flying around the X to make it 7-6 with 7:16 left in the second quarter. Gavin Gregorek would then take advantage of winning at the faceoff X by finding Arline, who then fed Long Pole, Tyler Schwarz cutting down the field to give Shoreham an 8-6 lead. Freshman sensation, Joey Spallina would then find Russell Maher right in front of the crease to make it 8-7. Towards the end of the half, John Erb won a ground ball battle in front of the net, eventually dunking it in to give Shoreham a 9-7 lead at the half.
In the second half, Mount Sinai would make a run. Brandon Ventorola would find Bobby DeMeo for an absolute laser beam to cut the deficit down to one. Mount Sinai would then tie the game at nine as Bobby DeMeo would findd Dominic Boscarino for a score. The Stangs third unanswered goal game from Bobby DeMeo again. This kid was having a day! Shoreham struck back as sophomore, Jeffery Lachenmeyer fed Johnny Schwarz who snipped the ball to tie the game at 10 with 3:25 left in the third. Mount Sinai then scored two quick goals, with goals from Bobby DeMeo and Tyler Gatz, giving Sinai a 12-10 advantage. Johnny Schwarz would quickly cut Mount Sinai’s lead down to one. Mike Sabella came up clutch again with a ground ball starting a fast break, finding Joey Spallina who then found Bobby DeMeo to give Mount Sinai a 13-11 lead. Shorehams’ Johnny Schwarz wasn’t done, as he moved past his defender for a huge goal, cutting Sina’s lead to one with 6:47 left. With 4:55 left in the game, Xavier Arline would be defended behind the goal on Sabella Island. Arline utilized his speed and change of direction to win this battle, get off the island, and score the game tying goal at 13. In the final seconds of the game, Mount Sinai was ripping the ball at Shoreham goalie, Liam Daly, and Daly came up big by making huge saves, forcing the game into overtime.
With under 2 minutes left in the game, Xavier Arline made what seemed to be a costly turnover. While Arline was visibly frustrated with his mistake, his teammates picked him up, and said get the next one, and Arline did just that. Arline would then have a storybook ending to an epic championship performance by finding Anthony Cimino in front of the crease for the game winning goal and a monumental win for the Suffolk County Class C Championship.
SWR Takeaways
Shoreham Wading River came into this game with a chip on their shoulder. Head Coach, Mike Taylor said his goal going into this game was, “To play a cleaner game as last time, they turned the ball over 20 times.” Taylor went on by saying, “Our team kept on getting better and better, and they set the bar, and pushed the bar higher and higher, and they aspire to be better. ” In an interview with Xavier Arline after the game, we asked what his Cats did differently this time around, he replied, “We controlled the pace of the game, took good shots, and played our game.” Arline went on to say, “There is no better feeling in the world. All the conditioning in the snow and off-season workouts is all for this.” When we asked Arline his thoughts on the Long Island Championship game against Cold Spring Harbor, Arline said, “A couple years ago we played them and they beat us pretty bad, but we have to play our game”
For Shoreham, Trevor Kessel played a tremendous game. Kessel limited the damage against the top point scorer on Long Island and was very physical with him, and shut him down. Coach Taylor was proud of the way he played. Liam Daly was phenomenal in this game with 11 saves against one of the most prolific offenses on Long Island. Looking ahead to the LIC against Cold Spring Harbor, both of these teams are not familiar with each other. The key to this game is going to be the Caden Hawkinson vs. Xavier Arline match up. Both of these kids play on the same travel team, so they are very familiar with each other. The faceoff X is going to be a key match up as Gavin Gregorek, who has had a great season will go up against. Andrew DeGennaro, who has also had a great season.
Mount Sinai Takeaways
Mount Sinai had a tremendous season. They won 17 straight games and they have a lot of young talent coming back. They will be in it for the next couple of years as they have Tyler Gatz returning, Russell Maher returning, Jack Schirtez returning, Joey Spallina returning, Brandon Ventorola returning, and A.J. Volkman returning. It’s a very disappointing loss for Mount Sinai, but they have nothing to be ashamed of, and they should keep their heads held high.
