Sayville Boys Claim County Class B Lacrosse Crown

A lot of people thought that Wednesday’s Class B Suffolk County lacrosse championship game between Sayville and Comsewogue would be a repeat of the knock down drag out triple overtime show the two teams put on earlier this year.

Which is to say that a lot of people were three quarters right.

In a game that was won in the trenches -- ie, winning ground balls and maintaining possession in the midfield -- the Golden Flashes hung tough with Comsewogue for three quarters before taking command of the championship game, rolling to a 12-5 win and claiming the county crown.

“I wasn’t worried about scoring, I was concerned about controlling the ball,” said coach Christian Doller after the game, as his team celebrated at midfield. “The kids followed our philosophy -- we won the ground balls and so we controlled the game.”

And then some. Sayville’s defense was clean and aggressive, and the battle around midfield for loose balls was often ferocious -- and as the game progressed, increasingly won by the Flashes.

“Goalie Pat Fleming (14 saves) kept us in it early,” said Doller. “Then when we started winning the ground balls, we had a chance to score”

In fact Fleming notched ten saves in the first half, thwarting a potent Warriors attack while his teammates fought to gain control of the field. At the half, it was 4-3 Sayville. At the end of three, the Flashes had pulled out to a somewhat more comfortable 6-3 lead.

But then in the fourth quarter, the offensive dam broke open for Sayville. In quick succession Sayville scored three times -- on a slashing move across goal by Dan Koehler, a nice feed from Zack Sirico to Conner O’Neil, and a blistering shot from Jake Sichenzia that rattled the Comsewogue net and made it 9-3 with 8:12 on the clock. As the clock wore down, the goals kept coming, and it was only with subs in with under a minute to go that the Warriors could put a couple on the board to avoid being completely shut out in the second half.

Six Sayville players were in on the scoring action, either with goals or assists. Scoring were Koehler with four goals, Sichenzia and Andrew Gonzalez with three goals apiece, and O’Neil with a pair. O’Neil, Sichenzia and Matt Selts all had assists, supplementing Sirico’s four-assist evening.

By any measure, a balanced offense “We’re the only team I know of that plays with all six of our offensive players,” said Doller.

But an offense made possible by unsung and under-the-radar heroics by any number of players in the middle of the field and in the defensive trenches -- including Spencer Andrews, Matt Selts, Matt Kolleger and more -- fighting fiercely for loose balls and to deny Comeswogue offensive momentum.

It was that battle which turned a team which took it into triple overtime but lost to Comsewogue on Apr 18 into a team which earned a dramatic and dominating championship win Wednesday night.

“We’re a better team than we were a month ago,” said coach Doller simply.

Modest but true. He could have put it this way -- the Sayville Golden Flashes are this year’s indisputed Suffolk County Class B Lacrosse Champions.