Sachem East Boys Drop Season Opener

A sluggish Sachem East lacrosse team fell behind early and never recovered in their season opening matchup with non-league opponent Eastport-South Manor Monday afternoon, as they fell 11-6.

The Arrows' slow start proved costly, as they were unable to get good shots at Sharks goaltender Bobby Sterbens early on, and fell behind 3-1 after the first quarter. Sterbens was tested later in the contest, but answered when called upon, finishing with 17 saves.

"I don’t think we shot particularly well in the first half," said Sachem (0-0, 0-1) head coach Rob Murphy. "In the first half we weren’t getting a lot of balls on cage, but he did his job. He played well."

Ryan Curley scored five goals and Alan Henderson added two goals and two assists for the Sharks (0-0, 1-0) who project as one of League II's top teams even without senior captain Colin Flaherty. Flaherty, who was Eastport's leading scorer last season, was sidelined last week after he suffered a broken arm allegedly climbing over a fence. He is expected to miss the majority of the regular season, but has not ruled out a return before the playoffs.

Curley expanded the lead twice in the second quarter, as Eastport took an 8-2 lead into halftime.

"I don’t know if we had jitters because it was the first game of the year, I don’t know," said Murphy. "We just couldn’t pass and catch it. It looked like we were playing too tentative. We were playing nervous. After halftime, we came out and we played with more confidence."

In addition to Curley and Henderson, the Sharks got a pair of goals from Tyler Aki and one each from Matt Prokesch, Garrett Bavossa and Frank Denicola.

East seemed to find their legs at halftime, and played a decidedly better game after the break. Though the deficit was too deep to come back, the Arrows made steady progress that will provide confidence in their upcoming game with North Babylon on Wednesday.

Eric Martin added a pair of late goals in the fourth quarter with under a minute to play. It served as a reminder that when focused, this Sachem team can strike quickly and frequently.

"I think the whole team played better in the second half. He stepped it up," Murphy said of Martin. "We call it ‘playing fast.’ He started playing fast. And it worked against their defense."