Thursday, October 1, 2026
As if a rematch of last year’s Nassau Class C boys lacrosse playoff quarterfinal wasn’t enough to fire up Plainedge, a frustrating loss to Bethpage leading into Friday’s trip to Lynbrook made for a defining moment at the season’s midway mark.
And the Red Devils delivered, getting hat tricks from Andrew Picardi and Dom Agovino, and some lockdown defense from Lucas Rizzo, Mateo Pallone and Mason Centonze on the way to a 10-6 victory over the Owls at Marion Street Elementary School. Brandon Scala had a fourth-quarter hat trick and junior goaltender Ethan Lunati made 14 saves for Lynbrook.
“We weren’t happy at all after the Bethpage game,” said Picardi, a senior who opened and closed the scoring in the bounce-back win as Plainedge evened its record at 4-4. “That loss beat us up a little bit as far as team morale, but we had no time to worry about it and knew we had to get right back to work today and get back on track,” he added.
The Red Devils, who knocked the Owls out of last year’s playoffs in a 12-11 thriller with Picardi netting the winning goal, never trailed in Friday’s rematch and scored six straight after Lynbrook’s Liam Gallagher’s goal midway through the second quarter tied it at 3.
“It was a tough game and you could see how bad both teams wanted it,” Plainedge coach Dan Achatz said. “Bottom line is we needed it from a confidence perspective. I think our guys were nervous knowing we just lost a game we’d all like to have back and going on the road against a good Lynbrook team would be another big test.”
The youthful Owls (4-4) were coming off a victory over Floral Park that snapped a three-game slide.
“We’ve got a really young team that’s working and improving every day,” Lynbrook coach Bill Luzzi said. “Today they were up to the task. We’re not disappointed in the effort. Plainedge is a strong team. Ethan made some huge saves to keep us hanging around. We were in good spirits at halftime and tried to make some adjustments, but we didn’t get too many possessions in the second half.”
The Red Devils forced two shot-clock violations in the opening quarter and led 2-0 before Kaden Rogers got Lynbrook on the board. Rogers, along with fellow senior captains Scala and Tyler Berke are the Owls’ leaders, Luzzi noted.
Plainedge answered Rogers’ tally just eight seconds later when Johnny Cynar won the ensuing faceoff and raced the length of the field and scored for a 3-1 lead.
Casey Auer’s first of two goals put the visitors ahead for good with 2:56 remaining in the first half. Agovino’s second goal made it 5-3 at halftime, and he opened the scoring in a third quarter that saw the Owls fail to score. Brady Kelley also scored for Plainedge and junior goalie Jameson Smeltz had 8 saves.
“Our numbers are limited this year, but our kids are up to the challenge,” Achatz said.
