Garden City boys lacrosse feels right at home on Hofstra turf, gains Nassau final
Garden City celebrates its 13-5 victory and moves onto the finals of the Nassau Class B boys lacrosse championship at Shuart Stadium on Friday, May 27, 2022. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
It was a special moment for the Garden City boys lacrosse team as the players jogged onto the turf at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.
A mainstay in the Nassau playoffs over the years, the team hadn’t played a game there since 2019 because of the COVID pandemic.
And if the way they played Friday is any indicator, the team could have at least a few more playoff games in the near future.
Michael Fargione had two goals and two assists, Henry Gibbons and Aidan Considine each had two goals and an assist and Jay Ottomanelli had two goals to lead the top-seeded Trojans over No. 4 Long Beach, 13-5, in a Nassau Class B semifinal.
“It’s really special playing here,” Fargione said. “We missed it last year playing at Mitchel Field and going out east for the championship. This is our second home, we’ve always said that and we’re looking forward to moving on and playing more games here.”
Garden City (15-2) came out flying. Gibbons scored both of his goals in the first 1:14 and by the time the game was five minutes old the Trojans held a 5-0 lead.
“Long Beach is a great team so it was important that we jumped out on them,” said Ottomanelli, who scored both of his goals in the 6-0 first quarter. “We had to keep the gas pedal down and there was no letting up.”
Long Beach (10-7) answered with a goal by Joe Cieleski early in the second quarter but the Trojans went on another six-goal run across the second and third quarters to put the game away.
Fargione capped the second six-goal run with an unassisted tally with 4:36 left in the third.
“We’re all about sharing the ball and not worrying about ourselves but worrying about the team,” Ottomanelli said. “We want to get everyone involved and share the ball and make the right plays.”
The Trojans have won nine in a row and will play the winner of Calhoun/MacArthur in the final at Hofstra on Wednesday, June 1 at 5:30 p.m.
“We’re very hard to defend because we can put six guys out there that you have to worry about with or without the ball,” Garden City coach Steve Finnell said. “You don’t want to play great in March and fizzle out in May. I think we’re getting better and we’re trying to get healthy and we’re hoping to carry it over to Wednesday in the final.”
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.
