Anthony Raio keeps Half Hollow Hills boys lacrosse unbeaten with go-ahead goal against Ward Melville
Anthony Raio of Half Hollow Hills shoots the game-winning goal during a Suffolk boys lacrosse game at Ward Melville, on Saturday, May 4, 2024. Credit: David Meisenholder
The chase for team perfection can be burdensome.
Half Hollow Hills star junior midfielder Anthony Raio recognizes that, but having a player like him helps. With the score tied against host Ward Melville and just over two minutes remaining, Raio wore the pressure with pride.
Raio scored the go-ahead goal with 2:08 remaining, firing a bouncing shot past a lunging Davon DiFede and into the bottom left side of the net. Nico Ghicas won the ensuing faceoff, and Hills drained most of the remaining clock en route to a 12-11 win in Saturday’s epic Suffolk Division I battle to stay unbeaten.
“I always put my trust in my coaches, and they put their trust in me,” Raio said. “So getting to the net and scoring a goal, and doing it for my teammates.”
“He’s a great player,” Hills coach Connor Hagans said. “He’s been doing this for a long time now, ever since eighth grade when he first came up here. He’s a special kid, but because of everybody else he was able to be successful.”
Raio, a North Carolina commit, finished with five goals and two assists for Hills (14-0, 12-0 Suffolk I). He came into the day as Long Island’s leading goal scorer, according to Newsday’s stats, and now has 60 goals on the season.
Saturday’s game featured nine ties and five lead changes. Neither team led by more than two goals at any point.
Ward Melville (10-3, 10-2) took an 11-10 lead with 6:40 left after attackman Stephen Rosano scored his second goal. Off a feed from Raio, Hills attackman James Bruno evened the score at 11 with 5:11 left.
After Ghicas’ faceoff win, Hills controlled possession until 14.2 seconds remained and a chase for a loose ball led to a Ward Melville possession on its own side of the field and a timeout. A clock malfunction after the Patriots’ initial play resulted in them having the ball just over midfield with 3.7 seconds left, but they were unable to record a shot on net.
While the result did not go in Ward Melville’s favor, it was a bittersweet day. Ward Melville honored its 1974 team that won both the Suffolk and Long Island championships — the first titles in Patriots program history. (There was no lacrosse state championship at the time.) The celebration was proclaimed as “The Birth of a Dynasty,” as 17 members of the 1974 squad were honored in a halftime ceremony.
“We’re fortunate that we’re all still here to enjoy one another’s company,” said Joe Cuozzo, the coach of the 1974 team. “We call them the Foundation Boys. They started the Melville tradition of championships and excellence.
“ … They kind of set the standard, and the program just took off from there.”
Ward Melville had lost in three straight county championship games from 1971-73, finally breaking through by beating Central Islip and then Massapequa. The Patriots were just the second Suffolk program to win a Long Island championship, which was created in 1963. They claimed their first state title in 1978 and have 10 total New York crowns.
Mike Hoppey, an all-county attackman in 1974, gave a speech during halftime, finishing it with: “Hopefully we’ll be doing this in 2074, 50 years later.”
On the field, Hills showcased a potentially special group of its own. It came into Saturday with 13 wins by an average margin of 9.9 goals. Hills’ win against Ward Melville was just its second by one goal — it beat Connetquot, 13-12, on April 9 — and its third by three goals or fewer.
“It’s the adversity we face,” Raio said. “One-goal game with Connetquot, this game. It’s just battling through these things that make this team so close and so special.”
With Andy Slawson
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
