Chaminade Tames Lions

West Islip came into its annual tilt against Chaminade on a 20 game winning streak with the team’s last loss coming a year ago at the hand of the Flyers.

On Saturday, Chaminade ended the Lions’ winning streak with a dominating 9-4 victory at West Islip High School.

Throughout the first half, Chaminade (3-0) controlled the ball but found few openings in West Islip’s defense. The teams went to the half with the Flyers holding a 5-2 lead, something head coach Jack Moran discussed with his players.

“We just kept telling them not to get frustrated,” he said.

Following Chaminade’s early third period goal that put the Flyers up 6-2, West Islip responded with consecutive goals from Matt McCallan and Mike Moynihan to cut the lead to 2, but that was the closest the Lions would get.

Third period goals by Tom Zenker and Jack Tigh would extend Chaminade’s lead to 8-4 and put the game out of reach.

“I thought we played passionately and very hard,” Moran said. “We had a few unforced errors, but were playing against a team that plays with a high level of intensity.”

For West Islip (1-1), the five-goal loss is one not often experienced by a team that has won 10 Suffolk County titles and five state championships over the past decade. But head coach Scott Craig felt the game could serve as a good learning experience for his team.

“The biggest thing we wanted to see is our guys come out and compete,” he said. “We got rattled a bit here and there, but I like how we responded coming out of half time.”

As the Lions head back to the practice field next week, Craig said the team would work on cleaning up its defensive clearing game, which cost West Islip several possessions on Saturday. The offense, which also had several turnovers against Chaminade, will also get some attention.

“We have some terrific athletes on offense, but just need to relax a bit more,” he said.

Chaminade’s next game is Wednesday at home against Fairfield Prep. West Islip will also be home on Wednesday against Sachem North.