Long Beach steamrolls into semis

Even shorthanded, Long Beach’s offense was unstoppable in last Friday’s stunning 20-7 blowout victory over Plainedge in a Nassau Class B boys’ lacrosse quarterfinal playoff game at Hofstra.

While killing off a penalty early in the second quarter, James Forkin, Connor Sofield and Joe Radin scored in a span of 19 seconds to give the fifth-seeded Marines a 7-2 lead that swelled to a six-goal cushion by halftime and got out of hand in the second half.

“We’ve been inconsistent at times, but this was a statement game,” Radin said. “Our offense played really well, Jake Shapiro and Matt Sheehan did a great job on face-offs, and our defense limited their shots.”

Forkin had six goals and two assists, Sofield two goals and four assists, and Radin three goals and three assists as Long Beach (14-3) advanced to meet top-seeded Garden City (17-0) in a semifinal game on Wednesday night after the Herald’s presstime. R.J. Rossi had four goals and an assist for Plainedge, which led 2-1 with less than five minutes remaining in the opening quarter.

“One of our goals was to make it to the Final Four,” Marines coach Jim Kasper said. “Our playoff opener against Lynbrook was a tough game and I think it helped us get ready for Plainedge. I’ve said since the beginning of the year this team has as much talent as any I’ve coached. Now we’re going to look to play a stronger defensive game against Garden City than we did in the regular season and see what happens.”

Long Beach, which fell 13-8 to Garden City on April 5, is led defensively by senior workhorses Adam Salvadori, Kris Horvath and Joe Brand, and senior goaltender Michael Rourke. If the offense is as relentless as it was last Friday in the semifinals, Kasper said, it’ll take some of the pressure off a defense sure to be tested by Trojans standouts Devin Dwyer, Liam Kennedy, and Justin Guterding.

Forkin, who had three goals and two assists in the 9-6 first-round playoff win over Lynbrook a week earlier, opened the scoring 43 seconds into last Friday’s semifinal when he took a pass from Radin and beat Plainedge goalie Mike Arnold (nine saves) just under the crossbar. After Rossi and Paul Santoli put the Red Devils ahead, the Marines scored six straight and never relinquished the momentum.

Down by five, Rossi temporarily stopped the bleeding for Plainedge with his second goal of the half with 7:01 remaining to make it 7-3, but two goals by Forkin extended Long Beach’s lead to a half-dozen by intermission. 

The rout was on after Radin, Sheehan, and freshman Chris Parler (three goals, one assist) combined for four goals to open the second half. With less than seven minutes remaining, the clock was on running time as the advantage swelled to 12.

“The biggest things we need to do against Garden City are limit turnovers and make the most of our scoring chances,” Radin said.