Wantagh Boys Lacrosse Blows By South Side

For 31 straight games over three seasons, the South Side boy’s lacrosse team has dominated conference competition, beating the likes of Lynbrook, Garden City and Wantagh along the way.

The Cyclones failed to extend that impressive streak to 32, falling to Wantagh 13-6 on Tuesday in a game that looked like it would be a barnburner after the first quarter.

Wantagh assistant coach John Cuiffo said the game could have easily gone either way with the talent on each roster.

“It was a big game – that’s your two and three seeds, so you know it’s going to be a good game,” he said. “We didn’t shoot well early, but got it together.  This was just two great programs playing, and we were the ones who got on a bit of a run this time.”

Both teams got on the board quickly, scoring within the first two minutes, and the offense flowed from there.

The Cyclones got two goals from star Bryan Gerrato, and the Warriors turned to their leader, 6’5’’ junior Ryan Walsh, who manhandled the South Side defense and finished with two goals and an assist.  At the end of twelve minutes, Wantagh held a 5-3 lead, but South Side appeared to have found an answer for Walsh with defender Peter Meehan, who held him in check until garbage time.

As the game went to the half at 5-3, head coach Steve DiPietro said the Cyclones felt confident that they had found a counter to the talented Warrior offense.

“This was a tough game, they’re a real talented offense and we were able to hang in there for the first half,” he said. “We let them take control in the second half and they made it real difficult to come back.”

Courtesy of a spree of unforced turnovers by the Cyclones, Wantagh seized control of the ball and pace of the game.  

Nearly four minutes into the third quarter, Wantagh's John Ingrilli took a Cyclones turnover from his own zone straight up to the crease, and beat goalie Dominic Moriarty for his first of two goals in the quarter.

The Warriors never looked back from there. Matt Bradley scored twice, and John Reicherter and James Bonanno each put one in the cage to stretch the lead to 11-3 going into the final quarter.

“I thought we’d come out better in the second half,” DiPietro said. “Every game we have these unforced errors and that’s what hurts us. We can’t hurt ourselves like this, and most of them seemed to end in the back of the cage.”

The Cyclones fought until the game's end, scoring three more goals, but it wasn't enough to overcome the eight-goal deficit. South Side will play first-ranked Garden City, the Nassau County runner-up last season, on May 10.

“We can’t keep making the mistakes we’ve been making, especially against a team like Garden City,” DiPietro said. “We have to move past the [conference-winning streak] now. It was a nice streak for us, and it’s a great accomplishment for the guys, but our goal isn’t to win conference games, it’s to win the big game.”

Wantagh is next in action this Saturday at Hicksville starting at 2 p.m.