School sports

Long Beach stops Lynbrook

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Lynbrook outscored Long Beach at even strength in their Nassau Class B boys’ lacrosse playoff quarterfinal matchup at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium on May 16, but the Marines were a perfect 4-for-4 in man-up situations and also scored shorthanded on the way to an 8-4 victory.

Senior goaltender Sam Weiss made 17 saves, and senior James Forkin had three goals and one assist to lead the way for Long Beach (15-2), which never trailed and took the lead for good on junior Josh Ayzenberg’s man-up goal 2:32 into the second half. The Owls (12-5) got two goals and one assist from senior Matt Murphy and 14 saves from senior goalie Greg Karaczynski.

“We’ve had good fortune against them the past four or five times,” said Marines coach Jim Kaspar, whose squad eliminated Lynbrook in the first round of last year’s playoffs. “They’re a good team. I scouted them earlier in the week and went through all their boxscores. Their offense is deep.”

The Owls came in riding a nine-game winning streak that saw them score at least seven goals in every outing, including a season-high 14 in a five-goal win over first-round playoff opponent Kennedy. “We made a couple of poor decisions [with the ball] and had too many turnovers,” Lynbrook coach Bill Leighley said. “Last year we didn’t get here [Hofstra], and I think experience was a factor.

“We train our kids to make plays and to take risks,” he added. “When it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t look that good. When it does, it looks great.”

The Marines advanced to face top-seeded Garden City in the semifinals. The defending county champion Trojans won last year’s semifinal meeting, 15-7, and took this year’s regular-season battle, 8-5, last month. “Our guys got what they wanted —another shot at Garden City,” Kaspar said. “They know they’ve got to play great to win.”

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