Freeport boys' lacrosse clinches winning season

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The Freeport boys’ lacrosse team has undergone a major turnaround under first-year head coach Mark Andrejack.

The Red Devils headed into their final three games of the season at 8-4 after a 1-10 2024 season. Andrejack, who was assistant under the legendary longtime Freeport head coach Harry Mohrman prior to his retirement after winning 535 games, credits his veteran players this season with forging a winning culture.

“We are making a lot of progress throughout the course of the year and everything is heading in the right direction,” Andrejack said. “I’m very happy with where we're going right now, but we're not done yet.”

Freeport clinched a winning season with Monday’s 6-5 win at Uniondale in which the Red Devils rallied from a 5-2 deficit entering the fourth quarter. Jeremy Henderson led the offense with three goals and one assist while junior goalie Malik Groover made seven saves.

Andrejack credits his defense for playing a large role in netting a rebound season led by senior close defenders Tobias Fitzsimons and Curtis Ealy along with junior David Addo. Junior long stick defensive midfielder Jalen Brown, a standout football player, has also been a solid addition to the defense in his first season of lacrosse.

“He’s been phenomenal for us,” said Andrejack of Brown. “He’s a very athletic kid and very smart and is just one of those kids that you love to have on your team as he is very coachable, and he always gives you the effort.”

Groover has been solid in net recording double-dit saves in a number of games including a 11 in a 6-4 victory at Malverne-East Rockaway on April 21. He also registered 10 saves in a 7-3 triumph against Valley Stream District on April 10 and nine stops in a narrow 5-3 loss at New Hyde Park on April 3.

“He has been making some incredible saves pretty much every game,” said Andrejack of Groover.

Offensively, freshman midfielder Enrique Mendoza-Pineyro has been a spark plug who also takes faceoffs. He tallied five goals and three assists in Freeport’s 15-5 win against Hempstead on April 17.

Senior attackman Mason Santos has also been a huge focal point of the offense tallying three goals and an assist in the Malverne-East Rockaway win in which Freeport jumped out to a 6-1 lead. The Conference III win also featured two goals from Pineyro-Mendoza and one tally from junior midfielder Dawud Abdul-Ali. Anthony Pinto and Ethan Richardson chipped in with two assists apiece.

Freeport closes the season with a home game against Great Neck North on Monday at 5 p.m. before visiting Kennedy on May 15.

“We are trying to get a little bit better every day and continue to learn from mistakes and focus on the details,” Andrejack said. “Our main focus right now is continuing to get better every day. work on the things that we need to work on and keep improving where we can improve and just take it day by day.”