Massapequa Boys Lacrosse Lose Thriller in Overtime to Connetquot

The Massapequa boys lacrosse team went into their Wednesday match up against Connetquot on a seven-game win streak, falling once in their season opener at Chaminade.

Connetquot was following up a loss to Lindenhurst and came back to defeat Massapequa in overtime, 8-7. The Thunderbirds (6-2) gave up a two-goal lead to the Chiefs (7-2) in the fourth quarter, but an overtime score from Mike Pinto with 57 seconds left gave them the signature win.

Craig Kiernan led Connetquot with three first-half goals and Mike Sclafani had two. Massapequa was led by both Dylan Sheehan and Luke Pellizzi with two goals each.

Sheehan and Ryan Sellinger put Massapequa ahead with goals in the first two-and-a-half minutes. Connetquot put in the next four, including the hat trick from Kiernan. The Chiefs were held scoreless for a 17:22 span when Pellizzi scored a second quarter goal to reach halftime with Connetquot ahead 4-3.

Massapequa and Connetquot traded goals in the third to set up the thrilling final period. Jamie Shand scored a goal for the Chiefs, but the Thunderbirds answered with a goal of their own from Sclafani after two consecutive saves by the visiting goalie for Zach Oliveri, who had 15 saves.

Sheehan scored his second to pull within one as Massapequa found themselves on offense again with under a minute remaining. They held the ball with 25 seconds to go when Steve Romano charged the net and scored his lone goal when he found space at the edge of the crease with 21.5 seconds remaining.

Massapequa had their chances in the extra period, but Connetquots’ Pinto scored his only goal with 57.7 seconds left to run off with the big win.

“We played strong defense and held us in there and we started putting in some goals in the end there,” Pinto said.

Heroes: Pinto’s game-winner was the decider, but Oliveri made the critical saves to keep his team in front for the majority of the game. He came up big time and time again to factor into the win.

“The defense was playing great the entire game, and I just wanted to step up,” Oliveri said. “I know they needed it and it helped spark the offense in the end.”

Turning Point: Even though Romano scored to tie, a save by Oliveri on Andrew Tralongo from point-blank range kept Connetquot ahead 7-6 with four minutes remaining.

Quotable: “We had our chances, but we were just dropping passes. We played way too much defense here,” Massapequa head coach Tim Radomski said. “We didn’t possess the ball and took shots that we didn’t need too. We needed to give the defense a break.”

“We were confident in our abilities and we knew today we needed to get back on track from a tough loss. We came out and played hard and sent a message today,” Connetquot head coach Bob Moltisanti Jr. said. “Oliveri was phemonenal in the cage and bailed us out time after time and the kids on offense made the plays.”

Bottom Line: The non-league loss was just the second overall for Massapequa as they couldn’t complete the comeback against Connetquot, who is in third place in Suffolk League I.

Key Stat: After Connetquot took a lead 39 seconds into the second quarter, they remained in front until Romano’s late goal before winning in overtime.

Who’s Next: Massapequa vs. Oceanside, April 26, 4:30 p.m.

Box Score: 

Goals-Assists: C: Kiernan 3-1, Sclafani 2-0, Pinto 1-1, Compitello 1-0, Zullo 1-0, Gay 0-1. Totals: 8-3. M: Sheehan 2-0, Pellizzi 2-0, Shand 1-1, Sellinger 1-0, Romano 1-0. Totals: 7-1. Goalies: C: Oliveri- 15 saves; M: Danaher- 10 saves.