Beach Street Takes Down Udall In Annual Lax Showdown

Last Friday's middle school lacrosse contest between Beach Street and Udall Road was a tightly fought game won by Beach 9-5. But the final score was certainly not a reflection of the contest.

Both coaching staffs (Udall head coach Danny Sparby, assistant Bill Sasso and Beach Street head coach Chris Scharf along with his assistant Greg Schmalenberger) had their respective teams pumped and ready to play.

This contest is held annually and is scheduled as the last game of the season on the turf field at West Islip High School, a real treat for these young athletes looking to progress up to the next level. The talent of these young men certainly gives the lacrosse program something to smile about in order to continue their yearly success. The stands were full of fans that enthusiastically rooted their teams on. The crowd was estimated at more than 200 lacrosse fanatics.
 
Beach Street took an early lead as Connor S. scored a goal with 6:24 left in the first quarter, but Robbie L. answered back quickly with a goal at the 5:41 mark.
However nine seconds later Anthony U. came roaring in to give Beach a 2-1 lead, and scored again with 3:52 remaining increasing the Beach lead to 3-1 after the first quarter.
 
The second quarter both teams again played very evenly as Udall’s Ronnie F. scored the only goal of the quarter to cut the Beach lead to 3-2 at the half.

In the third quarter, Beach jumped ahead 5-2 as Liam O. scored with 3:38 left and Connor S. scored his second goal of the game with only 23 seconds left.

During the fourth quarter, Beach vaulted to an 8-3 lead with two goals from Danny P., and one from Justin P., while Udall netted only one goal by Mike L. with 1:13 left in the quarter.

In the fifth and final quarter, J.J. on Beach scored with 2:26 left in the contest and Beach never looked back as Udall scored two final last minute goals; one by Eric S. to fall to Beach on a beautiful afternoon in West Islip.  

Coach Scharf said his keys to victory were “defensive rides, turnovers, and three goals [that] were scored on rides."

At the end of the game there was a very poignant moment as Scharf embraced his young son C.J. who in fact plays for the opposing Udall Middle School.  Yes, it was father versus son (and as we all know, the fathers always win, so I have learned.)

For this particular writer who is really just learning the sport, I had a great time  spending some time on the sacred turf at the high school. Both teams should be proud of the effort set forth and continue to practice and play this sport they love.