At Lax Out Cancer event, Shoreham-Wading River lacrosse draws inspiration from 7-year-old Don Ricciardi

Don Ricciardi was diagnosed with brain cancer at 6 years old, but when he’s on the field with the Shoreham-Wading River lacrosse team, he’s just one of the boys.

Ricciardi, who was diagnosed with group 3 medulloblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in the summer of 2022, and his family was one of three local families chosen as recipient families at Shoreham-Wading River’s Lax Out Cancer annual event on Saturday. Many of the players first learned of Ricciardi’s diagnosis through his older brother, Noah, who is on the football team. But when boys lacrosse coach Mike Taylor invited the 7-year-old Ricciardi to meet the team this year, the players felt an instant connection. Ricciardi led the boys lacrosse team onto the field Saturday.

“It was like we were celebrities to him and it made his day so much better and to see a smile on that kid’s face made me so happy,” said senior defender Kieran Clifford. “He was having fun and we were having fun with him. It was so awesome.”

Even in the final minutes of game action on Saturday, the young Ricciardi was on the players’ minds. Andrew Cimino scored off an assist from Liam Gregorek to break a tie at 6 with 1:49 left in the fourth quarter as host Shoreham-Wading River defeated Hauppauge, 8-6, in Suffolk Division II boys lacrosse action on Saturday. Cimino was even thinking of Ricciardi when firing the winning goal.

“Don’s a great kid, I love him,” Cimino said. “I did that for him and I was thinking about him and had to take the win for him.”

The Ricciardi family, Williams family and Aguanno family were the recipients families for the funds raised by Lax Out Cancer this year.

“It’s really special because you just want to be there for him and be there to support him,” said senior attack/midfielder Brendan Meskill. “He was out here playing on the field the other day and it was just awesome to cheer him on with a stick in his hand and help him out.”

Shoreham-Wading River improved to 10-4 overall and 10-2 in Suffolk II.

Lax Out Cancer began in 2008 by former Shoreham-Wading River boys lacrosse coach Tom Rotanz. When Taylor took over the program, he wanted to continue what Rotanz began.

“It really means a lot and we want to make it grow,” Taylor said. “We are hopefully raising $100,000 to help out three families and all the money goes to them. It’s amazing how a little bit of help from the community goes a long way.”

Shoreham-Wading River girls beat Long Beach

The Shoreham-Wading River girls defeated Long Beach, 10-7, in a non-league contest on Saturday before the boys game. Kerrin McGuire, a junior defender, had her own experience with Lax Out Cancer before playing on the varsity team. Her brother, Liam, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia around age 7 and McGuire later became a bone marrow donor for him as a third grader when his cancer resurfaced.

“I was young and I didn’t really know the specifics of a lot of what was going on, but I did know that I wanted to help my brother,” McGuire said. “I was willing to do anything. I would have given my life for him to be OK again.”

Liam is now a sophomore at Bentley University and is nearly 10 years cancer-free.

“This community helped a lot and when we participated in Lax Out Cancer, they fundraised a lot of money for my family,” McGuire said. “It really helped. It really did mean a lot because we didn’t feel alone and I think the Shoreham-Wading River community does a great job of including everybody.”

Coach Alex Fehmel, who called what McGuire did “superhuman,” said the team’s pregame message was focused on putting things into perspective and realizing how lucky they are to be healthy and playing the sport they love.

“Playing in this game is really something bigger than us,” Fehmel said. “You could see this game meant so much more to them. You could see them play with heart.”

Reese Marcario had four goals and two assists to lead the Wildcats (8-7).

“I just wanted to play for something bigger than myself,” Marcario said. “We all talked before the game. We don’t know if we’re making playoffs, so we wanted to leave it all out there.”

Saturday’s festivities were a community event with food, raffles, apparel and youth games played all day. There were more than 100 raffles, including some featuring the chance for training lessons with varsity players.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who has not been touched by cancer,” said Melissa Brandt, who is one of 15 members on the Lax Out Cancer committee.

And once the boys met Ricciardi and saw his energy amid a cancer diagnosis, it gave that little extra motivation for Saturday.

“You can see the emotion in my kids,” Taylor said. “And I think it’s important for them to understand how lucky they are.”

“We are playing for him,” Clifford said. “And seeing what he’s going through and how we can help him, it just brings the team together. We fight for him.”