Lynbrook tops Manhasset for county title

Owls get 15 saves from McDougal in 8-4 victory

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Brendan McDougal had all the answers and plenty of support.

Lynbrook's junior goaltender made 15 saves, many from point-blank range at key times, and the Owls got goals from six different players on the way to capturing their first Nassau County boys' lacrosse championship since 2003 with an 8-4 victory over Manhasset on Tuesday night in the Class B final at Hofstra.


Juniors Michael Toy and Gordon Purdie each had two goals and an assist, and senior Michael McVeigh contributed a goal and two assists for Lynbrook, which won its 13th consecutive game. Jack Miller scored twice for the Indians, who were blanked for the last 21 minutes of the first half as well as the first 16 minutes of the second half.

“We came in here with a lot of confidence,” said Purdie, who scored the eventual game-winning goal with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter. “It feels great. I love playing with these guys. I knew we could do something special.”

Two of McDougal's biggest saves came in the waning moments of the first half with Manhasset trying to take advantage of a man-up situation when he denied Charlie Malhame and Matt Gavin from close range to preserve a 3-1 lead. “Brendan accepted a tremendous challenge and played the best game of his career,” Lynbrook head coach Bill Leighley said. “Every time we needed a big stop, he came through.”

During the regular-season meeting between the teams on April 26, McDougal made 14 saves in an 8-7 come-from-behind overtime victory — the Owls’ first win over Manhasset in 13 years. This time, he played with a lead for the last three quarters after Toy converted a feed from McVeigh to put Lynbrook ahead 2-1 with three seconds left in the first. “My defense has played great in front of me all year,” McDougal said. “Tonight I was in the zone, and I was seeing the ball really well.”

James Farrell gave Manhasset a 1-0 lead 3:12 into the game, but the Indians wouldn’t solve McDougal again until Miller’s first tally with 7:30 remaining cut the margin to 6-2. Senior Joe Grossi scored the lone goal in the second quarter, Purdie scored both of his goals in the third, and junior Owen Daly beat Manhasset goalie John Young (seven saves) early in the fourth. “It felt so much better to get some breathing room,” McDougal said.

Junior Eddie Bouhall, sophomores Zach Barrett and Quentin Hermann, and freshman Nick Paris led the defensive effort. “Brendan was lights-out,” Bouhall said of McDougal, who thwarted Farrell and Henry Griffith on early third-quarter scoring chances to keep the Owls momentum going. “He has our back and we have his.”

It was Lynbrook’s first appearance in the county championship game since 2009. “We didn't want to let this opportunity slip through our fingers,” Leighley said. “It took a total team effort to get here and win it. It feels incredible.”

A magical 2014 for the Owls (19-1) continued with a 10-9 win over Rocky Point in the Long Island Class B championship game at Hofstra on May 31. Fabel scored four goals to lead the offense. McDougal had 13 saves.