Lynbrook Captures Conference Title

The Lady Owls varsity lacrosse team defeated Bethpage at on Saturday afternoon to capture the Conference B-II championship. The Owls (10-2 overall, 6-0 league) used a strong ending to the first half to aid in defeating the Golden Eagles (7-7 overall, 3-2 league), 15-9.

Nicole Pataky scored a season-high six goals along with two assists, and Kacey Carter added three goals and an assist to lead Lynbrook. Sam Mercurio scored three goals to lead Bethpage.

Pataky struck first for Lynbrook to help the Owls jump out to a 4-1 lead early in the first half. But Bethpage battled back to score three consecutive goals to tie the score at 4-4 behind two goals from Mercurio.

However, Lynbrook went on a critical 5-0 run in the last 9:32 of the half as Pataky and Chandley Borges each added two goals during the stretch. Lynbrook went into halftime with a confident 9-4 lead.

Carter had a goal taken off of the board in the opening seconds of the second half for a teammate's crease violation, keeping the lead at five goals for Lynbrook. Bethpage took advantage, scoring two quick goals to cut the lead to three goals.

After Danielle Koenig scored a goal for the Golden Eagles, the Owls scored five of the next six goals to lead comfortably once again. Freshman goaltender Sarah Chyriwski made several big saves for Lynbrook down the stretch to keep Bethpage at a distance.

Heroes: Nicole Pataky came through time and time again for Lynbrook with her season-high six goals on the day to lead Lynbrook to the conference championship.

“We’ve been waiting for this game all season and scouting Bethpage and we were definitely ready for it,” Pataky said. “We worked for the championship and didn’t take a day off. This was one of our top goals."

Sarah Chyriwski had a season-high of her own with 12 saves to aid the Lynbrook defense in the win.

“It was a great game and the defense played well overall. Our offense was amazing and we are going to continue to go as hard as we have been all season,” Chyriwski said.

Turning Point: Although Bethpage cut the lead to three in the second half, the finish to the end of the first half for Lynbrook was the deciding factor to the win.

Quotable: “It was a battle in the beginning and I just told them to play their game and be confident and let the game come to us. Once we did that, we calmed down and took it from there,” said Lynbrook head coach Vinny Tetro. “We set a goal to win the conference championship and we exceeded that with going undefeated and getting much better as the season moved on.”

Bottom Line: Lynbrook finished its conference schedule undefeated, with one non-league game remaining on the schedule before the playoffs. Bethpage has had a tough time with the second part of the schedule, losing five of its last six games.

Key Stat: The Lynbrook teamwork on offense was unprecedented as the team assisted on 11 of its 15 goals.

Who’s Next: Lynbrook @ Sewanhaka, May 12, 4:15 p.m.; Bethpage vs. Roslyn, May 10, 4:30 p.m.

Box Score:

Goals-Assists: B: Mercurio 3-0, Bergersen 2-2, Loria 1-0, Koenig 1-0, Cafiero 1-0, Bird 1-0, Valenti 0-1, DeNigris 0-1. Totals: 9-4. L: Pataky 6-2, Carter 3-1, Feltkamp 2-3, Borges 2-0, Wigand 1-3, Regan 1-0, Germanakos 0-2. Totals: 15-11. Goalies- B: Whelan- 11 saves; L: S.Chyriwski- 12 saves.