Garden City's Luke Cascadden dominates on faceoffs to help Trojans win Woodstick Classic
Luke Cascadden #1 of Garden City battles for the ball against Manhasset during the lacrosse game in Garden City, NY on May 3, 2025. Credit: Anna Sergeeva
In the end, the Garden City boys were the ones joyously jumping up and down on their turf with what they came to claim — the Woodstick Classic plaque.
They arrived with extra motivation and departed with extra satisfaction on Saturday after beating Manhasset, 10-5.
It all stemmed from the last lacrosse season. The Trojans defeated Manhasset to win the Classic, but were sent to the exit ramp by their rivals in the Nassau Class B semifinals.
“We came with a chip on our shoulder, obviously, because of what happened last year,” senior Luke Cascadden said. “We wanted to almost kind of pay back our seniors because we felt like we didn’t do enough for them since we weren’t able to keep the season going for them last year.
“So this win for us today means everything.”
Cascadden helped make it happen for the Trojans (10-2) by winning 14 of 16 faceoffs, including one the Navy commit turned into a goal for himself, just like he did in this game last season.
Ben Smith had two goals and an assist and Charlie Koester had one goal and three assists for Garden City in the latest chapter of the nation’s longest-running rivalry in public school boys lacrosse, dating to Manhasset’s 9-0 win in 1935.
“It’s the most important regular-season game that we play,” Trojans coach Steve Finnell said. “It’s the best rivalry in the country, the best public high school rivalry in the country. … And it’s special to the kids who played in it today. It’s special to the people who played in it in the past [and] to both communities.”
Daniel O’Connor scored three times for Manhasset (8-4), a 7-2 loser in the 2024 Woodstick and a 6-5 winner over Garden City last postseason. The teams could see each other again in this postseason.
“It’s a huge Woodstick game,” Manhasset coach Keith Cromwell said. “It’s two great communities. The boys get up for it. There’s a lot of energy, a lot of buildup to it.
“But we’ve got to make sure we refocus. It’s another game on the slate for this year. We’ve got to shift gears and worry about ourselves and get playing at a better level and get ready for the playoffs.”
Danny Kolin gave Manhasset a 1-0 lead. But Anthony Asaro, Dan Medjid and Smith countered with goals in a span of 2:21 to put the Trojans up 3-1.
“Our offense was playing very well,” Cascadden said. “I think we were taking advantage of the opportunities that we had."
Cascadden went out to take the ensuing faceoff.
“In my mind,” he said, “I was just thinking, we have to take the energy out of them. We have to keep this going.”
He kept it going, winning at the X and taking the ball on a trip toward to the cage before making it a 4-1 game.
It was 5-1 after that first quarter, 8-3 at halftime and 9-3 after three following Smith’s second goal late in the period.
The freshman attackman was one of nine different Garden City goal-scorers.
“We’re spreading it around really this year,” Smith said. “I feel like we’re doing a good job of just initiating and swinging it.”
The goal-prevention guys excelled, too. The last line of defense, Jake Schlipf, made 11 saves.
“I thought the defensive play was great,” the senior goalie said. “Everyone did a good job of clearing the ball pretty well.”
It all added up to Woodstick happiness for the Trojans — again.
“The atmosphere, it’s everything that you’d want to play in as a player,” Smith said. “To go back to back is really something.”
