Calhoun falls in OT thriller

Calhoun hit its stride down the stretch of the Nassau County Conference I lacrosse season, winning five of its last six to steamroll into a first round Class A playoff game against No. 10 Port Washington last Friday.

The seventh-seeded Colts (8-8 overall, 7-3 in Conference I) led by two heading into the fourth quarter, but a pair of scores by the Vikings forced overtime, and John Crawley’s goal with 1:32 in the first extra session ended Calhoun’s season with a 9-8 loss.

“We had a ton of chances to finish the game in regulation and a couple in overtime,” Calhoun coach Jim Femminella said. “We just didn’t finish.”

Senior midfielder Kurt Abitiz paced the offense with a hat trick, and also made plenty of noise by firing several shots off the goalie’s best friend--the goalpost. “He had three goals and I think just as many [shots] off pipes,” Femminella said. “He played real well and was definitely a difference-maker.”

Senior attacks John Roth, Charlie Isham and Kyle Foy and junior midfielder Cole Kalibat each scored once for the Colts in a game that featured four lead changes.

As impressive as the offense played, the Calhoun defense also turned in a strong performance, limiting Jake Froccaro, an All-America nominee for Port Washington, to just one goal. In the regular season meeting between the teams on Apr. 29, a 12-11 overtime win for Calhoun, he erupted for four goals and an assist. The unit, in particular, was led by juniors Wally Coveny, John Strezenec and Vincent Samuel, all of whom are on close defense. And junior goalie Matt Lemonis, recently named All-County Honorable Mention, stopped 14 shots in last Friday’s loss. “Our defense and goalie played very well,” Femminella said. “[Port Washington] has an All American on their team and we did a good job [limiting him].”