Alessandro Walaitis (five goals) leads Mepham past Bellmore JFK in overtime
Alessandro Walaitis of Mepham makes his way to the net past the Bellmore JFK defense during a Nassau boys lacrosse game on Friday, April 14, 2023 in Bellmore. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Mepham's Alessandro Walaitis saw his opportunity in overtime.
His teammates cut to the net as he went to the middle from the left side. The Bellmore JFK defense, however, pressured Walaitis away from a righthanded shot. Instead, the sophomore switched to his left hand and fired the ball into the top right corner.
“That was the best shot of the game,” coach Gerard Cunningham said. “Alessandro put it right in the corner and against a goalie like that, that’s really the only place you can put it. Because that right was unbelievable.”
Walaitis had five goals and one assist to lead Mepham to a 11-10 victory over Bellmore JFK in Nassau Conference B Friday at Mepham High School.
Neither team held much of an advantage until the overtime winner. There were 10 lead changes and nine ties throughout the contest.
Bellmore JFK (1-2) took the lead seven times, forcing Mepham (2-2) to answer each time. The Pirates did, and once their 10th goal went in, Walaitis felt even more confident.
“I would say when my fellow teammate Owen Heller shot that, the momentum just [came to us] because we kept going down and down," Walaitis said. “We just needed to get motivated, so when he shot that, we [felt that] we had it.”
Heller and Devin Greene each had two goals and one assist.
The Pirates were without their starting goalkeeper and Newsday Top 100 player GianMarco Priola. Nonetheless, Dylan Honerkamp (10 saves) stepped up. The junior goalkeeper was admittedly nervous before the game and let those jitters trickle into the early portion of the game.
“I let in a few immediately, and I was in my head,” Honerkamp said. “But then my teammates came up to me and encouraged me. Yeah, it was a big game, big nervous overtime, but my teammates carried me through it. They stepped up for me, so I had to step up for them.”
Honerkamp had great trust in his teammates to answer any time Mepham went down. It’s what helped him keep his head up after allowing a goal.
The game also had huge bragging rights implications. Honerkamp mentioned that everyone on both teams knows each other since it’s a crosstown rivalry.
“We can go home [and] chirp it up,” Honerkamp said. “But you see, at the end of the game, it’s fun. … You never want to be on the losing side of the crosstown rival.”
