Massapequa Boys Lacrosse Tumble In Season Opener at Chaminade

The Massapequa and Chaminade boys lacrosse teams followed a tradition on Wednesday afternoon of playing their season opener against one another despite battling rain and sleet.

The Chiefs (0-1) went down early to the Flyers (1-0) and could not recover, falling on the road by a final of 14-8.

Jamie Shand got Massapequa on the board early, but it was the duo of Matt Kavanagh and Brendan DeTommaso who scored two goals each in the first quarter to put Chaminade ahead 4-1. Kavanagh racked up six total points in the game with five goals and an assist.

Brent Lawless and Shand scored early goals in the second quarter for Massapequa, but another Chaminade goal by Shane Thorton, who had five total points (2 G, 3 A) kept the home team distanced at 5-3. The Flyers scored three of the next four goals in the quarter to head into halftime up 8-4.

The second half wouldn’t get any easier for Massapequa as three consecutive goals by Chaminade pushed the advantage to 11-4. An initial goal by Chief Ryan Kirby was wiped off the board due to a crease violation. Ian Lukaszewicz and Dylan Sheehan added third quarter goals for the Chiefs but the team still trailed after 36 minutes of play, 12-6.

Chaminade added two more goals in the fourth followed by two late goals by Massapequa from Kirby and Dan Muller to close out the season-opening loss.

Heroes: Jamie Shand had an exceptional start, scoring three of the Chiefs’ four first half goals, but Matt Kavanagh put in five goals and an assist for the Flyers, including the eventual game-winning goal at the start of the third quarter.

Turning Point: With Chaminade hanging onto a four-goal lead at halftime, Massapequa could have turned the tides and sparked a comeback, but three consecutive goals by the home team at the start of the third pushed the advantage to seven goals and put the game out of reach.

Quotable: “Chaminade is one of the top teams in the country, so we want to see where we are at in the first couple weeks of the season,” Massapequa head coach Tim Radowski said. “The kids played tough and it was a team effort. This is where we set the bar, so if we want to be that good, we have to play better each week.”

Bottom Line: It is very early on in the schedule and despite the tough start, Massapequa has a promising season to look forward to. Both the Chiefs and Flyers lost in their Class championship games in 2010, Massapequa to Farmingdale in Class A and Chaminade to Saint Anthony’s in Catholic. Massapequa should be considered a contender for their county title for this upcoming year.

Key Stat: Chaminade outscored Massapequa in the first three quarters and tied in the fourth as the road team never led in their season opener.

Who’s Next: Massapequa at Carey (Non-League), March 25^th at 4:30 p.m.

Box Score:

Team……………..1…..2…...3…...4  -   F

Massapequa…….1…..3…..2…...2…...8

Chaminade……..4…..4…..4…..2…...14

Goals-Assists- M: Shand 3-0, Lukaszewicz 1-1, Muller 1-1, Lawless 1-1, Sheehan 1-0 Kirby 1-0. Totals: 8-3. C: Kavanagh 5-1, Mahon 3-0, DeTommaso 3-0, Thorton 2-3, Gramam 1-1, Urbank 0-1. Totals: 14-6. Goalies: M: Danaher 9 saves; C: Connors 4 saves.