Farmingdale boys lacrosse tops Massapequa in defensive duel to capture Nassau Class A championship

In a defensive slugfest, top-seeded Farmingdale outlasted second-seeded Massapequa, 7-5, to win the Nassau Class A boys lacrosse championship at Hofstra on Thursday night. 

It was a chess match early, with neither team scoring until Farmingdale midfielder Sal Posillico broke the ice with a goal at the 9:48 mark of the second quarter. Over five minutes later, midfielder Brendan O’Keefe put a pair of defenders in a spin cycle to isolate himself before scoring off his back foot to double Farmingdale’s lead.

The small cushion was all Farmingdale (14-5) needed, thanks in large part to the stout netminding of goalkeeper Jimmy Caputo. He made nine saves, including several acrobatic ones to keep his team ahead. With 35 seconds before halftime, Caputo laid out to his right to stop a catch-and-shoot attempt and preserve the Dalers’ 2-1 lead.

Just under three minutes into the second half, Caputo made another full-extension dive to his right to keep his team ahead. Caputo’s acrobatic save set up a clear that ended with Posillico hitting attack Cuinn Sunde, who scooped one in to make it 3-1.

Farmingdale coach Eric Dunne tabbed Caputo as the team’s emotional engine.

“He’s the difference-maker in our team,” Dunne said. “He brings tremendous energy in everything he does, so you’ve got to love a kid like that. He’s been all about Farmingdale since he was in eighth grade. He’s an unbelievable human being.”

On the ensuing defensive possession, history repeated itself one more time for Caputo, who continued to flex his stick side with another diving save. Massapequa scooped up the rebound and tested Caputo again, but he stood tall.

Caputo’s efforts allowed the Dalers to take a 4-2 lead into the fourth quarter. The Pace commit attributed his success to the defenders around him.

“It wasn’t what was going right with me, it’s what was going right with the three defenders in front of me, the one pole and the two short-stick middies; they played out of their minds,” Caputo said. “It was nothing about me. They made my life so easy.”

Farmingdale advances to play Half Hollow Hills in the Long Island championship game at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Longwood High School. 

Massapequa attack Tyler Byrnes made it a one-goal game just 23 seconds into the fourth quarter, but Farmingdale midfielder Josh Kama responded by dodging through the left alley and scoring with 10:26 left. Just 45 seconds later, O’Keefe found Sunde on the doorstep, who whipped one through the goalie’s legs and into the back of the net to make it 6-3.

Byrnes scored again to make it 6-4 with 3:45 left, so O’Keefe took matters into his own hands. O’Keefe circled the X, emerged from right of the net, spun around, took a jump shot and placed it top shelf to make it 7-4 with 2:07 left.

O’Keefe led the offense with two goals and an assist. The Albany commit was happy to be crowned champion for the second year in his last go-round with the team.

“It’s amazing. We started this year kind of slowly, so it was great to see how the senior class just developed and grew throughout the year,” O’Keefe said. “They became great leaders, and this is a great payout.”