Long Beach peaking at right time

It’s hardly been smooth sailing for the Long Beach Marines on the boys’ lacrosse field this spring, but their past three efforts has the confidence level as high as its been since last year’s run to the Nassau Class B semifinals.

“We haven’t played up to our potential, but we have a good team,” coach Jim Kaspar said after last Saturday’s hard-fought 7-4 loss at eight-time defending Nassau Class B champion Garden City. “The kids showed what they’re capable of when they do the right things,” he added. “We were missing one of our best kids [Josh Ayzenberg] and lost it late in the third quarter when they scored four times in two minutes. It could’ve been closer, but I was pleased with how we competed.”

It was 3-3 at halftime. Both goalies had tremendous games, Kaspar said. Danny Dolan made 14 saves for Garden City (9-2 overall, 5-0 in Conference B-I), and junior Brian Manning turned aside 12 shots for the visitors. “Manning has proven himself and stepped up,” Kaspar said.

Garden City’s J.P. Basile had two goals and two assists. Junior Chris Parler had two goals, while junior Matt Varian, senior Liam Rafferty, and freshman Sam Brown added tallies for Long Beach, which had as much production against the Trojans’ vaunted defense as any conference opponent.

The Marines (5-7 overall, 2-4 in B-I) were coming off much-needed 11-8 win at Plainedge on April 23, but it was costly with Ayzenberg suffering a shoulder injury that forced him to sit out the second half. “They were physical with Josh and he got a bad stinger after taking a pretty good shot in the shoulder,” Kaspar said. Varian had three goals and three assists, Ayzenberg scored twice, and six others scored once to lead as balanced an offensive attack as they’ve mustered in 2014.

Long Beach controlled 19 of 23 faceoffs, Kaspar said. “Ayzenberg and Parler did a great job on the draws,” he said. “Overall it was a good game.” Parler, Rafferty, Brown, junior Tom Sculley, and sophomores Austin Gibbons and Josh Keitz also scored for the Marines, who got seven saves from junior goalie Brendan McNally. “It was still pretty close late,” Kaspar noted.

After losing three straight to Carey, South Side, and Hicksville, Long Beach stopped the bleeding with a 7-3 win over Farmingdale on April 17. Varian, who leads the squad with 28 goals, and Rafferty had hat tricks, and Manning made 12 saves. “That game got us moving in the right direction,” Kaspar said.

The coach still believes the Marines can return to the Class B semifinals. Regular-season matchups with Sewanhaka, Wantagh, and Bellmore-JFK remain, and a win in all three games would secure a first-round playoff game at home. This Friday’s game against Wantagh at L.B. Middle School is another measuring stick, Kaspar said. “We haven’t done a great job against Wantagh in recent years,” he said. “But If we can control the draws and finish, we’ll be right there.”