West Islip Crushes Lindenhurst in Season Opener

The their run for a third consecutive state title with a definitive 16-2 drubbing of Lindenhurst Wednesday afternoon.

West Islip (1-0, 1-0) got goals from nine different players, including four from Anthony DeLuca, three of which were set up by Drew Federico.

The Lions led 4-0 after the first quarter when Federico went on a 74-second scoring spree. He assisted on three goals, two by DeLuca and one by Nick Aponte, and managed to get one himself.

After stripping a Bulldogs (2-1, 0-1) defender of the ball and scooping it on the run, Federico let go a blistering shot as he was being knocked to the turf that beat Lindenhurst goaltender Joe Hergenhan to make it 7-0.

"Andrew is a blue-collar worker," said Lions head coach Scott Craig. "He’s developed a lot of finesse that he didn’t have last year, but he’s got a heart that is so big. He wants to go out compete.

"He wants to be successful, but the bigger thing is he wants to compete. That’s what he did, he went out and took the bull by the horns. That’s just who the kid is. His brother was the same way, and I’m sure his father was the same way when he played. It’s a family trait, it’s in the genes."

Nick Franco and Steve Zolezzi got Lindenhurst on the board and briefly breathed some life into the Bulldogs, but West Islip answered just over a minute later when DeLuca notched his third of the half to extend the lead to 10-2.

That was all the offense Lindenhurst would get, however, as they were consistently unable to get good looks at the target.

"We return four good defensemen," said Craig. "Four seniors. Two of them are primetime players and did some great things for us. We have senior middies that just weren’t getting beat at all up top, I think it’s just a case of we’re farther along in our development as lacrosse players than they are right now."

Michael Sagl and Tom Moore added three goals a piece for the Lions. Conor Braddish, James Tucci, Nick Aponte, Michael Diggle and Mike Aniboli also score for West Islip.

"Our skills hurt us," said Lindenhurst head coach Tom McCandless. "We had a lot of unforced turnovers. Our stick skills, competition in practice, we’ve got to have the coaches push harder in practice. The thing you’ve got to keep in mind too, is that we played the number one team in the country right now, if not top five. 16-2, I get it. They’re good. They’re really good."

They'll need to cut down on the mistakes if they're to fare better in Friday's matchup with Middle Country, which although early in the season, could have big playoff implications.

"We’ve got a scouting report on them, they run a 2-2, they run a zone, their goalie’s good," McCandless said.  "But they’ll be more our level. So that should be a much better game. We actually need to win that to keep our playoff hopes alive. As early as it is, losing to them would really hurt us."