Boys' Lacrosse Beats Hicksville in Class A Semis, 13-9

The often high-flying Massapequa offense took a backseat to stingy team defense and the stellar goaltending of senior captain Eric Schneider Thursday night as the Chiefs soundly defeated no. 3 Hicksville in the Class A lacrosse semifinals at Hofstra's James M. Shuart Stadium, 13-9.

Schneider had 11 saves in the game, including three in the fourth quarter on Hicksville midfielder Brandon Gamblin, the team's second highest scorer and biggest offensive threat.

"He's the anchor," said Massapequa head coach Tim Radomski of his goaltender. "He leads by example. You know, when he's on, we're on."

Once again, Massapequa got scoring from multiple sources, as six different players found the back of the net, including Ian Lukaszewicz, Brent Lawless, Steve Romano who all had two goals.

The teams traded goals early on, as Joe Leonard scored his third goal of the game to tie it at four midway through the second quarter. However, the Chiefs responded with four goals before halftime to take an 8-4 cushion into the break.

"Gamblin's a hell of a player. We gameplanned around him all week and tried to stop him and Leonard went off," said Radomski. "We took away one player but they've got some good weapons."

Luckily for the Chiefs, senior midfielders Rob Goeren and Ken Fundus kept Gamblin in check for most of the game. Though Gamblin finished with two goals, they  kept him nearly invisible.

After the Comets scored the first goal of the second half, Steve Romano tallied his second of the game directly following a Hicksville turnover.  Seventeen seconds later, Hicksville had a goal disallowed for a crease violation.

Lawless' second  goal of the game just over a minute later at 7:06 of the third quarter gave the Chiefs their biggest lead, 10-5.

Gamblin did find a way to give Hicksville life, cutting it to 10-7 on a pass from Leonard with 11:14 to play, but three key saves in the next rush down the field by Schneider kept the lead at three.

"That's why he's going where he's going [next year]," said Radomski of the Under Armour All-American goaltender's scholarship to Johns Hopkins University.

Luke Pelizzi's ninth goal of the season gave the Chiefs their four-goal cushion back with 8:10 to play, essentially sealing Hicksville's fate.

With the win, Massapequa earned a chance to play top-seeded Farmingdale in the Class A finals. The Chiefs fell 12-7 in the teams' only meeting of the regular season.

"Our guys didn't get off the bus until the second half last time," said Radomski of their first matchup with Farmingdale. "They've got four really good guys, so we've got a long week ahead of us."

That game will take place at Hofstra's James M. Shuart Stadium Wednesday, June 2 at 8 p.m.

"Hey, nobody expected us to be here," Radomski said, pausing for a second to catch his breath after shaking hands. "And here we are."