Ward Melville Boys' Lacrosse Stifles Smithtown East

Ward Melville used an early scoring rush to grab the lead and never let go en route to a 14-6 win over Smithtown East in Friday's Class A boys' lacrosse semifinal.

The Patriots, who entered the game not just the No. 1 seed in the playoffs but also the No. 1 team in the country according to Laxpower.com, led 6-1 in the second half before Smithtown cut the lead to 6-3.

Heading into the game, Smithtown East coach Jason Lambert said the goal was to focus on winning face-offs, clear the ball well, prevent turnovers and pick up ground balls.

"Unfortunately, we didn't succeed too much in those four areas," he said. "You give the No. 1 team in the country all those extra possessions, they're very hard to stop and slow down."

Ward Melville led 8-3 at halftime, with a 22-13 advantage in shots taken. The halftime score closely resembled that of the teams' first matchup this season – which Ward Melville also won by a score of 14-6.

Danny Bucaro and Christian Mazzone opened the scoring in the third quarter to give Ward Melville its largest lead of the game at 10-3.

"At that point it could have been over, but [Smithtown East] really responded well," Ward Melville coach Mike Hoppey said. "They scored two and had a number of really good opportunities to make it a game."

Scotty Scannell and Jimmy Tenbrink each scored twice to lead Smithtown East (15-4).

Bucaro and Mazzone each finished with four goals and Brendan Hegarty scored three to lead Ward Melville (18-0), who will now face the winner of the No. 2 Smithtown West/No. 3 Northport game next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Stony Brook University.