By JOSEPH KELLARD
After Oceanside attackman Chris Toby netted a ball from over his shoulder to give the Sailors a 10-8 lead in the third period, Syosset had the opportunity to once again knock on the Sailors¹ door while Oceanside¹s midfielder Shane Wynn and attackman Sean Lucas served penalties together. But Sailors defenseman Mike Lapkowski intercepted a Braves' pass right in front of his goalie, John Bella, who soon thereafter made an outstanding stick save on a point-blank shot from Syosset attackman Chris Lubin. This after Lapkowski had missed his coverage on the previous Syosset goal.
³We kind of yelled at him before that for not hustling back across the crease, and his man scored on the extra man,² said Oceanside Coach Bob Moltisanti, ³but then he made the interception, and that was very big.²
Sailors co-captain Lucas called his team¹s defense during this double-extra-man opportunity ³the biggest stance we¹ve had all season. We stopped them cold, and that was just huge.²
With four goals and four assists, Lucas set the tone for Oceanside¹s offense, scoring back-to-back goals to break a 1-1 tie as Syosset struggled with its ball handling in the first period. About a minute after Lucas¹s second goal, midfielder Terrance Nash intercepted a ball and passed it to Mitch Copper, who scored to up Oceanside¹s lead to 4-1.
As happened throughout the game, Syosset kept things close on scores by Lubin and attackman Jeff Cohen, but Oceanside always answered, as Brian Kirschner scored the first of his three goals to keep Braves at bay early in the second period. ³They came back with 4-3 and we came back right after that with a 5-3,² Lucas said about Kirschner¹s goal. ³That was really big. That was probably the most essential part of the game.²
Another turning point came when Syosset¹s goalie, Rob Camposa, scuffled for a loose ball in front of his net and suffered a game-ending arm injury with under 90 seconds left in the first half. Evan Cohen took his place.
³They¹re a fast team with good feet and move the ball well,² Moltisanti said about Syosset, Conference I¹s top seed. ³If you start jogging instead of running they¹ll burn you. We knew that we couldn¹t do that. We knew we had to be mentally alert and physically running when we stepped on the field today, and the kids did a great job.²
Down 7-5, Syosset struck first and often in the second half on a Lubin goal at 11:32, and Jeff Cohen tied the game at 10:07. But the Sailors made sure Syosset never took the lead. Once again, Kirschner quickly broke the tie on an extra-man goal at 9:40, and midfielder David Tucciarone scored at 8:18 to put Oceanside up 9-7.
Early in the fourth period, Kirschner lunged from behind Syosset¹s net to slice through a triple team to score from the left side, and Lucas followed with a dive out from behind the net to score to give the Sailors a 12-9 lead.
Syosset showed signs of rallying for a comeback, but the Oceanside defense allowed the Braves just one more goal. The Sailors stepped up their aggressive attack, with a few defensemen knocking Syosset players on their backs. Even with an extra-man opportunity with 8:01 left to play, the Braves were unable to get a shot on goal.
³We knew we couldn¹t just sit back and play one-on-one,² Moltisanti said. ³We tried to double quicker than we normally do, and their guys did a good job of recovering back.²
³Our guys never quit tonight,² said Syosset Coach John Calabria, ³but I thought Oceanside played an outstanding game, probably their best game all season, and they beat us. They were better than us tonight.²
³We knew we just had to play hard,² Lucas said about the Sailors¹ mental preparation before the game. ³We worked hard in practice all week. It was really about teamwork all week. We played great team defense and offense today. That¹s all it really was.²
Oceanside was scheduled to play its final regular-season game against Baldwin on Tuesday before the playoffs begin on Friday. Both Oceanside and Syosset have 9-2 records in their leagues, and both coaches see room for improvement before they potentially meet again in the playoffs. ³We have to work a little more on our man-down defense,² Moltisanti said. ³We gave up about three or four man-down goals, but when it came time for them to step up, they did.²
³You know, we¹re going to put it back together tomorrow in practice,² Calabria said, ³and we¹re definitely going to see Oceanside again, and we¹ll see what happens.²
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
