South Side's not road weary

A season after playing in the Nassau Class C boys’ lacrosse championship game, South Side is looking to make a similar run in Class B that’s been dominated in recent years by Garden City.
The Cyclones hit the road to face the Trojans on May 3 and host last year’s Class B runner-up Calhoun and semifinalist MacArthur the following week. South Side captured six of its first eight, including each of its first three Conference B games.
“We’re still a work in progress but we’ve done a lot of good things,” coach Steve DiPietro said. “We’ve been on the road a ton. We’ve taken bus rides for six of the first eight games and we picked up some nice wins we can use as building blocks.”
For a second straight year, the Cyclones opened with an impressive victory over perennial Class A title contender and 2022 county runner-up Syosset, 9-5, March 23. Four days later, junior Cole DiPietro’s fourth goal of the game beat Port Washington, the defending Class A champions, 10-9 in overtime off a feed from junior Owen West.
“It was a promising start that gave the kids confidence,” coach DiPietro said. “They have goals of what they want to achieve this season and they’re moving one step at a time. I think as long as we stay healthy and keep getting better, we can compete for the conference and county titles.”

The coach said one game he was particularly pleased with so far came April 4 in the conference opener played under the lights in Long Beach. “On the way there we talked about coming out strong and bringing the energy early and executing,” he said. “We took a 2-1 lead and Tommy [Gentile] made some big stops to keep it that way before our offense starting clicking on all cylinders.”
The result was a 16-11 victory that wasn’t as close as the final indicated. South Side led by eight through three quarters thanks to four goals apiece from West and junior Michael Aiello, and a hat trick from senior Ryan Mayerhofer. Junior Michael Melkonian won 21 of 24 faceoffs and has a 68 percent success rate through eight games.
“He’s probably the No. 2 faceoff kid in the county,” DiPietro said of Melkonian, an All-County selection last spring and a Cornell commit.
The starting attack has mostly featured Aiello (17 goals), Mayerhofer (15) and junior Liam Livingston (11 assists.) West (21 points), DiPietro (eight goals), and seniors Chris Vanco and Jack Mayerhofer are leading the midfield. Sophomore Cullen Lynch, the youngest on the roster, has chipped in four goals.
“We have pretty nice balance,” coach DiPietro said. “Defensively, we’ve held most teams to seven goals or fewer so far. That’s a good sign.”
Gentile is an All-County netminder headed to Boston University. A solid group of defenders in front of him includes seniors Logan Kelly and Ryan Kassl, and juniors Patrick Mullin and James Sullivan. Defensive midfielders Ryan McNicholas (senior) and Jack Lozito (junior) help make things difficult for opponents.
“The next part of our schedule is going to be a serious challenge,” DiPietro said.