Hewlett tops Lynbrook in OT

Between the football and lacrosse fields, Sam Martorella has played in his share of intense Hewlett-Lynbrook games over the years but never experienced the thrill of victory until last week.

Martorella completed a hat trick 1:26 into overtime off a feed from Michael Gray to give the host Bulldogs a 6-5 win over the Owls in a back-and-forth Conference B-II boys’ lacrosse game May 2. “I’ve never beaten Lynbrook before in anything, so it feels great,” said Martorella, who ended it with a 20-yard laser just under the crossbar less than a minute after Hewlett backup goaltender Justin Isaacs made a point-blank save on the doorstep. “This was like a playoff game,” he added. “Both teams played hard and gave everything they had.”

Hewlett (7-4 overall, 4-3 in conference play) led 5-3 after three quarters but the Owls rallied to force overtime thanks to strong goaltending by Jake Siciliano (10 saves) and fourth-quarter goals by Joe Grossi and Mike McVeigh. The latter tied it with 5:13 remaining in regulation and nearly won it on the first possession of OT but Isaacs made his biggest and best of six saves after replacing injured starter Mike Fine (five saves) early in the second half.

“We were very disappointed with our last game,” Hewlett coach Chris Passuello said of his team’s 12-2 setback at Bethpage on April 27. “To bounce back with a win like this against one of our main rivals is big,” he added. “It’ll give us a better playoff seed and hopefully a little more confidence.”

Lynbrook (7-6, 3-3) never led for just the second time all season but matched the Bulldogs’ intensity level and battled back from a deficit on four occasions. Anthony Rainone led the offense with two goals and had three shots clang off the post.

“It’s the greatest thing in the world when a hard-fought game like this goes your way, but it hurts when it doesn’t,” Owls coach Bill Leighley said. “I can’t say enough about our kids and their effort. We’re an energy team, and when the energy is flowing the right way we can get on a roll.”

The teams traded goals throughout a first half that ended with Hewlett holding a 3-2 lead. Kevin Fuchs gave it a 1-0 advantage just 50 seconds in, but Rainone answered off a pass from Nick LoCicero to create the first of four deadlocks. Zach Richman’s team-leading 26th goal of the year with 40 seconds left in the opening quarter put the Bulldogs back in front. Rainone and Martorella scored in the second quarter.

The tone changed 35 seconds in the second half when Fine was knocked out after venturing across midfield and taking what officials ruled a helmet-to-helmet hit by Matt Mott, who received a three-minute penalty. After Lynbrook’s Luke Spitzer tied it, Martorella and eighth-grader Jared Strauss scored to provide the Bulldogs with the only multi-goal lead of the day.

“It was an even game,” Passuello said. “Fortunately, Sam was able to hit the winner at the end to take it.”