Rain and Mud Can't Stop Cougars, Down North Shore in Lacrosse Opener

A light rain was falling, the field was muddy, and by the end of the game there wasn't a single clean uniform to be seen.  The lacrosse season was officially under way for Kennedy High School.

It may have been the first game of the season, but it didn't take long for the Cougars to shake off the cobwebs; one quarter in fact. Five unanswered second-quarter goals helped lead Kennedy to victory against North Shore High School yesterday by the score of 8-4.

Head coach Craig Papach had only good things to say about his team after game, which was played at Glenwood Landing Elementary School in Glen Head.  

"It's good to start the season with a win," Papach said. "We had a sloppy first quarter but then everything went our way. We preach to the kids to make good decisions, and that's what happened today. Good decisions with the ball, and we were able to score goals on fast breaks."

Chris Wright scored the first goal of the game and put the Cougars up 1-0.  After a North Shore goal, Kevin Reuter would get the Cougars back on top.  However, the Vikings would add another as the teams finished the first quarter tied at two.

The Cougars came out firing in the second quarter, scoring three goals in the span of 52 seconds. The first two were scored by Wright, and the third came from Matthew Gavigan. That put the Cougars up 5-2. Joe Stagliano chipped in another goal, and then Mike Casson put one past the goalie as time expired. The Cougars went into the half with a 7-2 lead.

Wright had three goals in the half, and goaltender Pat Grillo made four saves while allowing only two goals.

"We just worked hard and rode hard," Wright said. "We got to a lot of the ground balls. Our offense was solid today and we held the ball pretty well."

The Cougars' defense would continue their strong play in the second half. After allowing an early North Shore goal, Kennedy managed to turn their defense into offense. After intercepting a pass, defenseman Andrew Kruter drove all the way up the field before passing the ball to teammate Mike Casson. Casson promptly put the ball past the Vikings goaltender to give the Cougars an 8-3 edge.

"Today we played like a team," Kruter said. "We passed the ball around nicely on offense, our defense communicated well and that's why we came out on top."

Kennedy allowed just one goal in the fourth en route to the victory. The team allowed just four goals on 11 shots the entire game. Alex Naftal, who replaced Grillo in goal for the second half, had three saves in the half while surrendering two goals.

Aaron Kozlowski, North Shore coach and a '99 Kennedy graduate, gave a lot of credit to the Cougars.

"I think that Kennedy played a lot harder than us," Kozlowski said. "They were ready to go and beat us to ground balls, beat us defensively, and offensively they dodged a lot better and shot a lot better."

Wright and Cassan led the Cougars in scoring with three goals and two goals, respectively. But according to Papach, the victory came as a result of their strong defensive play and goaltending.

"It all started with just good, sound defense," Papach said. "We have two goaltenders - Patrick Grillo and Alex Naftal - they each played very well, the defense in front of them was good and we were able to create ground balls and clearing situations and the midfielders made smart decisions with the ball. It was a good way to start the season."

The Cougars will look to continue their strong play tomorrow when they take on Island Trees.  That game will be held at MacArthur High School with a 4:15 p.m. start.