Wantagh reaches quarterfinal round

Posted

An overtime loss to South Side in the regular-season finale proved pivotal to the Wantagh boys’ lacrosse team and its quest for a deep playoff run.

The May 12 heartbreaker meant South Side instead of the Warriors earned a second-place finish in Conference B-II and a more favorable postseason bracket. Wantagh easily dispatched Mepham, 14-5, in the first round of the Class B playoffs before powerhouse Manhasset proved too much in a season-ending 17-10 quarterfinal loss at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium on May 19.

“Losing that South Side game in overtime gave us a little tougher road,” said Wantagh head coach John Cuiffo, whose team would have been matched up with Carey in the quarterfinals instead of Manhasset had it beaten South Side. “It just wasn’t meant to be.”

Wantagh hung tough with Manhasset early on trailing 8-5 at halftime before the overall second seed put the game away with a 9-1 third-quarter run. The Warriors showed fight in the fourth, scoring the game’s final four goals. Four Warriors registered two goals including Casey Murphy, Kyle Sliwak, Bruno Surace and Robert Tucker, with Dylan Beckwith dishing out five assists in a six-point afternoon.

“We let it get away from us in the third quarter,” Cuiffo said. “We dug ourselves a hole we couldn’t get out of.”

Senior goalie Bobby Casey did his best to keep Wantagh in the game with 10 saves. The Hofstra-bound netminder is one of several seniors Cuiffo said made their mark on the program.

“He played very well that day,” said Cuiffo of Casey’s performance against Manhasset. “He stood on his head.”

In the first round win at home against Mepham, the Warriors dominated the second half starting with a 4-0 third quarter spurt after leading just 4-3 at halftime. Murphy tallied five goals and Beckwith, who almost reached 100 points, registered a hat trick. The dominating victory marked the 19th straight year Wantagh advanced past the first round of the playoffs.

Wantagh finished the campaign 12-5, with two of the losses coming in overtime to South Side and Westchester County power Mamaroneck on April 2. Cuiffo said the highlight of the season was a 9-8 overtime triumph at Bethpage on May 7 where the Warriors tied the game at the buzzer on an 85-yard bomb to Murphy after receiving the ball at their own end on a moving pick violation. He was impressed with how much the team bonded, especially after a three-day trip to Colorado in late March.

“The kids were very close and really cared for each other,” Cuiffo said. “We were as good as any team in our league.”  

Wantagh graduates a talented senior class led by captains Beckwith, Tucker, Sliwak, Casey and Surace. The Warriors will still return some key assets from this spring including faceoff specialist Joe Fitzpatrick and Murphy, a High Point commit who finished his junior campaign with 60 points.

 “I think next year’s team could be as good as this year’s,” Cuiffo said. “We have a lot of great kids coming back.”