51.0°,
Light Rain Empire State Games rise again
Return of event features local winning athletes
After a one-year hiatus due to financial reasons, the Empire State Games made a triumphant return this summer with more than 4,500 athletes competing in the 32nd edition, held July 21-25 at various sites throughout Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Amherst.
Long Islanders combined to bring back 132 medals, including team gold in scholastic boys’ lacrosse, baseball, and fencing, and girls’ lacrosse and fencing.
“Buffalo is a sports town, and the Games were a great success,” L.I. Regional Director Robert Kenney said. “I’m encouraged about the Games moving forward.”
Bryan Gerrato, set to enter his senior year at South Side High School, helped the boys’ scholastic lacrosse team to a 7-6 victory over the Central Region in the gold-medal game at Canisius College on July 25. It marked the fifth gold in a row for L.I. Brandon Gamblin of Hicksville had four goals and Smithtown West’s Kyle Keenan added a goal and four assists to lead the offense.
“It was everything I thought it would be and more,” said Gerrato, an All-County midfielder for the Cyclones who contributed one goal and three assists at the Games. “It was a great experience,” he added. “It was exciting to win gold, and I came away with a lot of friends.”
Long Island, which lost 8-7 to Central in overtime in pool play on July 23, faced a two-goal deficit at halftime of the championship game but scored four consecutive goals to start the second half and held on. It got 10 saves from Connetquot’s Zachary Oliveri.
More than 700 players tried out for the L.I. boys’ scholastic lacrosse team, according to assistant coach Aaron Kozlowski from North Shore. The active roster consisted of 20 players; 13 from Suffolk County and seven from Nassau. “It’s probably the most prestigious Empire team to be a part of,” Kozlowski said. “It was quite a process to get down to the final 50, then 30 and then 20.”
Gerrato’s goal in the tournament came against Western in the opener. He had assists against Hudson Valley, Adirondack and New York City. “Bryan was our emotional leader,” Kozlowski said. “He got everyone going.”
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