Thursday, October 1, 2026
They doused their coach with an ice-water bucket and then raced onto the field. They took pictures and hugged when it was over.
As far as celebrations went, this one on the turf at Shuart Stadium was somewhat muted. Winning a third county championship in a row is sweet, but it’s not the ultimate goal for the Wantagh boys’ lacrosse team.
“This group has a mindset, and they want to do something that hasn’t been done in our lacrosse program in 25 years, and that’s to try to win a state championship,” Warriors coach James Polo said following a 15-7 win over South Side in the Nassau Class C championship game Monday night.
Top-seeded Wantagh (15-3) advances to take on Sayville in the Long Island Class C championship game Saturday at Stony Brook.
“This is not our end goal,” senior Joe Nicholson said. “We anticipate a state championship, and that’s what we’re going to try and do. We’re going to celebrate tonight and enjoy the win, but then right back to work tomorrow and the next day. We’re going to try our best to win the LIC and move on from there too.”
With South Side faceoff specialist Alec Notaro dominating and Wantagh called for six first-half penalties, the chances were there early for second-seeded South Side. But Warriors goalie Gianni Passaro came up huge, making 15 saves.
“He was awesome today, absolutely awesome,” Wantagh’s Joe Nicholson said of Passaro. “If it wasn’t for him, who knows if we even would have won.”
It was especially sweet for Passaro, who was pulled in last year’s county final, an 11-10 overtime thriller for the Warriors.
“It felt amazing. I just trusted the defensemen around me, and they gave me the shots that I looked for. Kudos to them. I made those saves because of them,” the senior said. “Last time, county championship, I had a rough game against them. I came out here with a feeling that I wanted to get back on them and give my best and not look back.”
After a slow start, the Wantagh offense started to hum late in the second quarter, extending a one-goal lead to 7-2 on sophomore Luke Martini’s third goal of the first half.
While second-seeded South Side (12-7) failed to capitalize on six man-up chances, Wantagh was 3-for-3 in the second half.
Martini, Matt Giacobello and Sean Stachlik each had three goals and one assist, Nicholson and Carter Loughman had two goals and two assists apiece, and Devin Paccione had two goals and one assist to lead Wantagh’s high-octane offense.
“It’s hard to stop all six of us. You could shut someone off, you could pole someone, but when you do that, it just opens up more things for other people,” Nicholson said. “Things just click together. We feel each other on the field. We don’t just see it.”
Sophomore Kieran Vetter had a pair of goals, his brother Brendan had one goal and one assist, and Luca Iacobellis, Cole Perna and Tyler Sumrani scored one goal apiece for the Cyclones, who fell to Wantagh for a second straight year in the county final.
“I told the kids how proud of them I was for their effort and that they didn’t quit,” South Side coach Steve DiPietro said. “Four finals in five years, a lot of teams would take that in a heartbeat. As much as this one hurts, the sun will come up.”
South Side booked its berth in a county title for the fourth time in five years for the first time in program history by defeating third-seeded Seaford, 13-7, in the semifinals.
The Vetter brothers combined for seven goals, John Hawthorne had three goals, Jack Muscarella had two goals and two assists, and Notaro was 21 of 22 faceoffs as the Cyclones shook off a slow start to outscore the Vikings 10-4 in the second half.
