Bethpage surge beats Kennedy

Coming off its best finish ever in a power point-based league (fourth-overall), Kennedy hosted its first boys’ lacrosse playoff game since 2000 last Friday, with the hopes of advancing to the semifinals for the first time in 12 seasons. 

Seeded sixth in the Nassau County Class B tournament, the Cougars (10-6 overall), trailed No. 11 Bethpage by just a goal after three quarters in their first round matchup. The Eagles, who scored at least five goals in their first 15 games, however, finally managed to break through the stingy Kennedy defense and tallied four goals over the final eight minutes to pull out a 7-3 victory.

“For us to be down 3-2 heading into the fourth quarter was the perfect spot to be in,” Cougars coach Craig Papach said. “We proved we could play with them and had gotten some of our nerves out. But they’re good and they came through when they had to.”

The defensive combination of juniors Brandon Klein, Nick DiGangi and Tyler Goldman, along with junior Ralph Faiella, and seniors Steven Weitzman and Keith Safon, helped keep Bethpage’s explosive duo of Ryan Mahon and Jessie House in check for more than 24 minutes, while senior goalie Alex Naftal made a number of saves that proved seeing is believing. He stopped 19 of the 26 shots the Eagles fired at him. “We were able to expand our defensive playbook because of how smart they are,” Papach said of his defense, a season-long strength. “But at the end it was just Bethpage making the plays. It wasn’t us making any mistakes.”

When the final buzzer sounded, Mahon and House had combined for all seven of the Bethpage goals. “They don’t hide what they do,” Papach said. “Our defense was very solid and Alex Naftal made some saves that I thought would be goals.

“They have two excellent offensive players and we matched them. Our defensive gameplan was great. But in the fourth quarter, they found a way.”

Just three Kennedy starters are set to graduate, and returning for another season will be a strong nucleus that includes the top three scorers. Junior midfielder Chris Racalbuto, who scored one of the team’s goals in the loss to the Eagles — Faiella had the other — finished with 22 goals and 13 assists. Junior attack Chris Jones tied junior Dan Hartman, also an attack, for the team lead with 30 goals and also added 25 assists.

Calhoun (5-11 overall) was seeded 15th in the Class B playoffs and dropped a 15-3 decision to No. 2 Manhasset last Friday. Mepham, which finished with an identical 5-3 mark as Kennedy in Conference II play, entered the postseason as the No. 13 seed. The Pirates fell 14-6 in their first-round matchup with No. 4 Plainedge.