While the Westhill boys lacrosse team of 2018 will always have a special place in school annals for the milestones it earned, it wanted to take that journey all the way to a state Class C championship.
Islip, traveling from Long Island, denied them that ultimate satisfaction – or, more specifically, Mike Bienkowski denied them.
With an astonishing six-goal performance, Bienkowski set the tone from the outset and inspired the rest of his Buccaneers teammates to its first-ever state title as the Warriors took a 9-3 defeat Saturday at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford.
Neither Westhill nor Islip had ever played in this game before, so experience wasn’t a factor. It ultimately came down to the Bucs having the ball for long stretches and, when needed, turning to Bienkowski, a senior midfielder, to punish the Warriors.
It took only 40 seconds for Nienkowski to give Islip the lead for good. Not stopping there, he scored again 2 1/2 minutes later and then made it 3-0 before the game was six minutes old.
All the while, the Warriors’ attack mostly served as spectators, and though Owen Matukas did put Westhill on the board at the 8:25 mark of the first quarter, the rest of the half saw little real change in that pattern.
Working quite hard, the Warriors’ defense held Islip to a single goal in the second quarter – which came from Nienkowski, of course. Matukas countered, and the game was still quite within Westhill’s reach as it only trailed 4-2 at the break.
Yet any hope for a comeback got dashed in the third quarter. Hardly possessing the ball due to surrendering 10 of 14 faceoffs, the Warriors were, at one point, getting out-shot 25-4, and the inability to get the ball back led to a string of penalties.
Nienkowski put up his fifth goal midway through that period, though he finally got some help as Joe Juengerkes scored twice to extend the Bucs’ margin to 7-2.
Only Will Delano’s goal in the waning seconds of the third quarter prevented a second-half shutout. Westhill would get a string of chances in the final period, but they flew off target as Nienkowski struck one more time and Jack Lizzul scored in the final minute.
Westhill’s historic season ended at 16-6. Many strong seniors leave, including goalie Liam Felter, plus the likes of Matukas and Luke McAnaney. But a strong returning cast in 2019 that features Delano, Jack Grooms, Charlie Bolesh, Mack Etoll, Ryan Gilmartin and Reilly Sizing will mean the Warriors will expect another long run into June.
