Charles Balsamo propels Chaminade boys lacrosse past Yorktown
Chaminade's Charles Balsamo circles around the Yorktown defender during a CHSAA boys lacrosse game in Mineola on Saturday, April 23, 2022. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
The Chaminade boys lacrosse team can strike with the speed of a viper. And when the Flyers do that, it can be equally lethal.
Over the course the second quarter on Saturday, Chaminade turned a close game against Section I public school power Yorktown into a blow out. Chaminade (7-2, 6-2) scored seven unanswered goals in the second quarter and then rolled to a 17-8 victory over the Cornhuskers at Gold Star Stadium.
Charles Balsamo shined all game for the Flyers, but his special skills were truly on display in the second quarter when he had three of his six goals and two of his four assists. Ryan Landolphi had a pair of goals — one off a Balsamo assist — and George Urich and Jack Flaherty had goals in the outburst which sent the teams into halftime with the score 10-3.
“We controlled the ball, we moved it well and we showed no mercy in that quarter,” Landolphi said. “Charles is a special player and a great leader for us. He was doing a little bit of everything there.
Balsamo, a senior who has accepted a scholarship offer from Duke, not only made an impression with his play in the middle of the game. In the first quarter he had a goal and assist as the teams battled to a 3-3 tie. He also scored the Flyers last two goals.
“I played well today but we have a great team with a lot of depth,” Balsamo said. “There are a lot off players on this team that can beat a defense. The key for us is going to be keeping up our communications so we always find the person with the best scoring opportunity."
“Charles makes it easy for us because he is maybe our hardest worker,” Chaminade coach Jack Moran said. “He plays the game so hard you notice it and he also has a way of bringing out the best in his teammates. When he’s on break — no matter who is with him — he makes that player better. That’s special.”
Landolphi, Gavin Creo, Christian Alacqua and Justin McMahon all had two goals apiece and goalkeeper Colm Flynn had 10 saves for Chaminade.
Harry Griff had two goals and two assists and Vito DeBelis made nine saves for Yorktown (6-5).
All seven of those Chaminade goals in the second quarter were scored over a span of about nine minutes. Landolphi, a senior who will play at Navy, slashed through the Cornhusker defense to beak the tie with 9:27 left in the half. Balsamo scored the next two on an underhanded shot and on a strong move at the goal at 7:50 and 7:42. He’d add another with about two minutes left in the half and then assisted Landolphi to cap the run.
“Winning faceoffs and getting turnovers to keep the ball out of their hands was key there,” Moran said.
“Playing against a good team you might not regularly see can be good for a team,” Moran added. “I think we will be a better team for playing games like this.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
