Farmingdale Holds off Rallying Chiefs in Class A Lacrosse Final

In a back-and-forth battle between bitter rivals, the Chiefs were edged out by top-seeded Farmingdale, 9-8 Wednesday, in the Section VIII Class A County Championship game at Hofstra's James M. Shuart Stadium.

As the fog settled in from the skies late in the fourth quarter with the Chiefs down a goal, it seemed as though their valiant comeback efforts were destined to get lost in the clouds.

"It was a back and forth game," said Massapequa (14-4) head coach Tim Radomski. "We made runs, they made runs. We just couldn't pull it out in the end."

Jamie Shand led all Chiefs scorers with three goals and two assists, including a pass to senior captain Rob Goeren to cut the Dalers' lead back to one with 5:53 to play, but it wouldn't be enough.

A day after the Farmingdale girls' lacrosse team defeated Massapequa in the Class A finals for their fifth straight league title, the Dalers were able to hang on to give the school its' first boys' title since 2004.

A raucous crowd watched the teams battle for the better part of the first quarter without any goals, despite some early pressure from Farmingdale (16-2). Bodies were flying as both teams came out looking to gain the physical edge.

Both goaltenders, including Massapequa's Under Armour All-American Eric Schneider, finished with six saves.

The Chiefs led 2-0 with 38.1 seconds left in the first quarter on Shiand's first of the night set up by Steve Romano. Not even a minute into the second quarter, John Deignan tallied his second goal of the game to give Massapequa a 3-0 advantage.

However, Farmingdale battled back from their three-goal deficit to tie it at four heading into the break.

Dan Rogers led all Farmingdale scorers with a hat trick of his own. Sal Tuttle, the Dalers' leader in goals and assists, also chipped in with two goals and led all attackers with 11 shots, two of which were on net.

Farmingdale forced the Chiefs to play catch-up the entire second half, taking the lead on Rogers' second of the game early in the third quarter.

"They're a good team," said Radomski of the Dalers, who won their 12th Nassau County championship. "Very good team, with a lot of weapons."

However, Jamie Shand's second goal tied the score at five. After Dylan Sheehan hit the pipe at 4:38, Farmingdale struck twice near the end of the third quarter, with goals from Rogers and junior defender Joe Ostrander to break the tie.

Only ten seconds after Ostrander's goal, the resilient Chiefs struck back on Shand's third of the contest, cutting the Dalers' lead to 7-6 with 1:13 to play in the quarter.

Tuttle gave the Dalers their two-goal advantage again 57 seconds into the final frame. The teams then traded goals just seconds apart by Massapequa's Sheehan and the Farmingdale's Brian Prendergast with 7:36 remaining.

Prendergast's demoralizing goal, which proved to be the game-winner, made it 9-7, and seemed to be the theme of the night. Any time the Chiefs attempted to make their mark on the game, Farmingdale's answer was instantaneous.

Goeren's second of the game breathed life back into the Massapequa side of the Shuart Stadium crowd, but the Chiefs were unable to complete the comeback. Steve Romano's shot that rang off the left pipe with 3:45 to play was the closest the Chiefs would get to tying the score.