Jackson Greene's OT goal lifts St. Anthony's boys lacrosse to CHSAA state title
St. Anthony's teammates mob together in celebration after their 10-9 overtime win over Chaminade in the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA Class AAA boys lacrosse championship at Shuart Stadium on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. Credit: James Escher
The St. Anthony’s attack patiently worked the ball around the outside of the Chaminade defense looking for any opening in overtime.
Forty-eight minutes hadn’t been enough to decide the state CHSAA 'AAA' boys lacrosse championship between the longtime rivals.
Jackson Greene found the ball in his stick and the closest defender shaded off of him.
“We stuck to the plan,” Greene said. “Mike Leo drew the defense and we made the right passes and I had a lot of room and time and just shot it.”
That shot was wired past Chaminade goalie Colm Flynn and into the short side of the goal, setting off a raucous celebration as the Friars earned a 10-9 win Tuesday at Hofstra.
St. Anthony's also won both regular-season matchups against Chaminade.
“The kids were patient and we didn’t force any bad looks,” St. Anthony’s coach Keith Wieczorek said. “We had good ball movement when the first two dodges didn’t work and then we moved the ball backside and he had a great shot.”
Both teams got stellar goaltending throughout. Flynn made 14 saves for the Flyers and the St. Anthony’s duo of Kevin Barrett (five saves) and Will Snyder (eight saves) held down the fort for the Friars.
Barrett saw his first game action since early in the spring after being cleared from an injury on Friday. Snyder had taken control of the cage for most of the season but Barrett started the game and Snyder entered in the second half to close it out.
“Coach said that he was going to play and I was all for it,” Snyder said. “He’s a senior and he should play in his last game, it was just a matter of who was going to start. I think coach made the right call by having him start and me finish.”
Owen Duffy scored his third goal with 5:26 left in the third quarter to put St. Anthony's ahead 9-6, but Chaminade would not go away, responding with the only three goals in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
The Flyers were in the position to do that thanks to senior Charles Balsamo, who scored four of his five goals in the first half.
“This win really shows our perseverance and how we just grind through everything,” said junior Jack Speidell, who had three goals and an assist. “We came out and knew it was going to be a tough game but we had to get the sweep and that’s what we did.”
“This is the best rivalry in high school lacrosse in my opinion,” Wieczorek said. “[Chaminade's] Jack Moran runs a class program and year in, year out, it’s a battle. I think you can count on one hand the number of times either team has swept the series so it’s a special feather in the cap for these kids.”
Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.
