Elmont boys lacrosse finally gets a victory after going winless last season
Aaron Michel of Elmont carries the ball during a Nassau boys lacrosse game against host West Hempstead on Saturday. Credit: Dawn McCormick
The whiteboard in Elmont’s locker room will look a little different after Saturday.
The Spartans boys lacrosse team lost its opener earlier this week after a winless 0-10 season last spring.
But that winless drought ended at a rainy West Hempstead High School in an 11-6 win over the Rams in their Nassau non-league matchup on Saturday morning.
First-year head coach Connor Bennardo said it’s the program’s first win in 730 days. The Spartans (1-1) wrote the number of days since their last win on a whiteboard at the school.
Now, they’ll erase that and replace it with a zero.
“It just feels great for the kids. They’ve worked so hard,” Bennardo said. “They have to overcome a lot of disadvantages in terms of experience, and to see them finally get over this hump and get there makes it all worth it.”
Alex Williams and Vincent Laffey each scored three goals for Elmont. Williams, a senior playing in his third season with the team, scored two goals in the third quarter to give Elmont a 10-4 lead before the final frame.
“I was on the team when we weren’t winning,” Williams said. “To be the team to come back and win and make a mark, it’s amazing.”
Five different players scored for Elmont, and goalie Julius Sylvian-Jenkins stopped eight shots, including four in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans scored five straight goals in under three minutes to start the second quarter and broke a 1-1 tie. Laffey snuck two of those shots past West Hempstead goalie Daniel Clark, who made 13 saves.
“It’s just something special," Laffey said. “I like how we moved the ball around, wasted the time when we needed to and how our defense was able to stop them.”\
Elmont shut out the Rams in the third quarter and tacked on three more goals. Bennardo said the Spartans play best when everyone contributes, but the bursts of energy and excitement push his squad.
“We’re definitely a momentum team,” Bennardo said. “When things are going well, we tend to roll.”
“Once we get one, we keep it going,” Williams added.
Elmont will play for a second win against Division in its first Nassau B conference matchup of the year on Tuesday.
“All the credit goes to the kids. The amount of effort they put in, it can’t be overstated,” Bennardo said. “It was just great to see it finally come together.”
