Sports

Boys Lacrosse: Wildcats pour it on for their coach’s debut

Steve Wiendler, carrying the ball forward, collected 10 ground balls and an assist for Shoreham-Wading River in its season-opening win over Harborfields. (Credit: Garret Meade)
Steve Wiendler, carrying the ball forward, collected 10 ground balls and an assist for Shoreham-Wading River in its season-opening win over Harborfields. (Credit: Garret Meade)

WILDCATS 18, TORNADOES 9

The game ball from the Shoreham-Wading River High School boys lacrosse team’s first game of the season didn’t go to anyone who scored a goal, made a pass or dug up a ground ball. It didn’t even go to a player holding a stick.

After the Wildcats handed Harborfields a sound 18-9 thumping on Thursday, one of their assistant coaches, Dan Luciano, presented the ball to Mike Taylor, who made his debut as a varsity coach.

“Hey, it’s your first varsity win,” Taylor recalls Luciano telling him. “You got to take the game ball.”

Taylor has a ball to remember his first game by, but he also has the comfort of knowing that he has a good deal of talent on his team.

The playing conditions were difficult, to say the least. It rained for much of the Suffolk County League II game, sometimes hard, with strong wind gusts to boot. Parts of the field at Shoreham-Wading River High School were turned into a muddy quagmire, making for treacherous footing.

At one point during the first half, the sky eerily darkened so much that it seemed to foreshadow impending doom, as if the end of the world was at hand. It was Harborfields that was doomed.

While the rain poured, the Wildcats poured in the goals. Ryan Bray had a hat trick by the end of the first quarter, which ended with Shoreham on top, 5-0. The Wildcats stretched that lead to 8-0 before Harborfields, also playing its season-opener, finally got on the scoreboard, courtesy of Tristan Capes-Davis’ goal with 1 minute 31 seconds left in the second quarter.

The next three goals were scored by Chris Gray, making it 11-1.

Fifteen of Shoreham’s goals came from the sticks of three players.

Gray, a sophomore attackman playing in his first varsity game, was impressive, scoring 6 goals and assisting on another. He worked well with Bray, a senior who had 4 goals, 2 assists and 4 ground balls. The other attackman who had a big game was Jon Constant, with 5 goals, 3 assists and 5 ground balls.

Jason Curran added 2 goals and 2 assists, and Danny Hughes also scored for the Wildcats. Steve Wiendler gathered 10 ground balls to go with an assist.

Bobby Puckey made 11 saves in the Shoreham goal before making way for his brother, Jimmy, with 5:42 left to play.

For Harborfields, Terrence Haggerty pumped in 5 goals from 13 shots. Capes-Davis scored twice, Quinton McKenna had 1 goal and 2 assists, and Jack Walsh picked up 13 ground balls.

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