Luke Giarraputo, CJ Reilly lead Cold Spring Harbor boys lacrosse to Class D state crown
Cold Spring Harbor celebrates their win during the New York State Public High School Athletic Association boys lacrosse state final between Cold Spring Harbor and Chenango Forks on Saturday June 11 2022 at Hofstra. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Luke Giarraputo could not have dreamed up a better start to Saturday’s state Class D boys lacrosse championship game.
And the finish was pretty good, too.
Giarraputo and CJ Reilly lit up the scoreboard at Hofstra early and often as the Seahawks defeated Chenango Forks of Section IV, 17-1, to capture the program's first state boys lacrosse title since 2017.
“We just had so much energy coming out of the locker room,” said Giarraputo, a senior. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since I was a freshman in high school.”
Giarraputo assisted on Cold Spring Harbor’s first goal, scored by Reilly 2:11 in. He scored one himself 1:20 later and by the end of the first quarter the Seahawks (18-1) led 8-0 with Giarraputo scoring two and assisting on four of them.
“Everybody scoring and being able to spread the ball around is the best part of our team,” Giarraputo said. “That’s how we excel.”
Giarraputo added two more goals in the second quarter to finish with four, and four assists, and Reilly ended the game with four goals and two assists.
“This is what you dream about when you’re in second grade playing PAL,” Reilly said. “It’s hard not to get up for a game like this and we came out how we wanted and we got it done.”
Chenango Forks (19-3) entered the state title game off a 20-13 win over Akron in a semifinal Wednesday. It was the first time the program had made it to a state title game.
“We haven't been getting out to starts like this recently,” Cold Spring Harbor coach Dennis Bonn said. “They came in 19-2 and you don’t get that record because they don’t know how to play lacrosse. Starting like this today relaxed us and with Max [Hawkinson] winning faceoffs and the defense we have we were feeling good.”
That defense has been dominant all year, led by a pair of Ivy League commits in Patrick Pisano and Jesse Phelan.
“They’re both super athletic and they’re great off the floor and great in transition, which truly separates them from other guys,” Bonn said. “Patrick is the best defenseman I’ve ever coached at Cold Spring Harbor and that’s saying something. It’s not a knock on Jesse at all because he’s not too far behind. Patrick is ornery, he’s mean and he just keeps his mouth shut and plays. Jesse is a little more of a wheeler and dealer — they’re both special players.”
Pisano and Phelan played a huge part in the success of the Seahawks all year long, and in particular in their 8-7 win over Briarcliff in their semifinal on Wednesday.
“We turned it over in the last game with a minute left when we were up one, I stepped out of the box,” Reilly said. “But I wasn’t worried at all because I knew we were going to be able to shut it down on the other end and that’s what happened.”
Jake Rogers, who had three goals and an assist, scored early in the second half off an assist from Ryan Spielberger to put the Seahawks ahead 13-1 and initiate a running clock for the remainder of the game. Spielberger had a goal and two assists and Hawkinson finished with a goal and an assist.
“We play tough competition during the year for this reason,” Bonn said. “It’s our job as coaches so the kids are ready to play come playoff time no matter who the opponent is.”
“This was the end goal,” Giarraputo said, “This the best feeling in my life so far.”
Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.
