North Shore seeks late surge

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After beginning the season 2-2 in non-league play, the North Shore boys’ lacrosse team secured back to back victories in it’s final two non-league matchups for a bit of momentum heading into its conference play.

A 9-5 win over Mepham and an 8-5 win over Friends Academy showed the potential of this young and hungry team, with multiple players tallying points in each game and strong defensive and goalie efforts.

The Vikings’ Steve Grabher, Mike Albanese, and Forrest Demetri combined for 13 points in the win over Mepham and 12 points in the win over Friends Academy.

However, the players that don’t make the stat sheet are possibly even more integral to this team.

“Our goalie, James [Kahn], has really stepped up his game and has made some big saves for us,” head coach Aaron Kozlowski said. “He is keeping teams to under 10 goals, and when you do that, you should be able to win lacrosse games.”

Junior defenseman Joe Corozzo has looked stellar on defense this season, and Kozlowski has noticed. “He looks tough and quick on the defensive end, and he’s super scrappy,” Kozlowski said.

The Vikings, however, have been on the wrong side of a few very close games this season, all in which have never been out of reach.

“We haven’t lost a game by more than three goals this season and we’ve had a few one-goal games not go our way,” Kozlowski said.

Kozlowski also referenced the Vikings last game, a last-second thriller against visiting Floral Park that resulted in a very late rally from the visitors to take the contest in a narrow 6-5 game.

North Shore had led coming into the fourth and final quarter, but after Floral Park had tied it up, a series of events leading to shock for the home crowd ensued with just over a minute to play.

The Vikings held possession of the ball and methodically marched down the field, making key passes and eventually taking a shot at the cage that would rebound off of a nearby defender and be corralled by the opposing team, who would then call timeout. Roughly 40 seconds later, Floral Park had sneaked one past Kahn to take the lead with only five seconds remaining.

Moving forward, Kozlowski and his crew have been watching tape of these close games and have been practicing for what is to come. A few adjustments have also been made, like senior James Blevin who has been a short-pole midfielder up until this point, now receiving a long-pole and a new game plan for the time being.

“(Blevin) will give us that very athletic and quick element on the front side of our defensive half,” Kozlowski said.

North Shore looks to position itself as a solid seed in the Nassau Class C playoffs. “We just need to be a little better than the game before,” Kozlowski said, “They’re working super hard, still learning, and are looking to fix the mistakes.”