HEMPSTEAD – Only one thing was left for the Marcellus boys lacrosse team, and that was to grab the program’s first-ever New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship.
For 12 months, the memory of a loss in the 2023 state Class D final to Cold Spring Harbor drove all that the Mustangs did, and it was those same Seahawks that waited at that same Hofstra University turf on Long Island in Saturday morning’s title-game rematch.
Yet the sequel turned out like the original – at a cost to Marcellus, who never could fully recover from a torrid start by the Seahawks, who prevailed 12-7 and claimed its third state crown in a row.
Based on the dominant form it had shown throughout the spring, the only thing that could rattle Marcellus was a slow start. And that’s exactly what happened, CSH dropping in four goals in the game’s first five minutes and forcing a quick Mustangs time-out.
To its credit, the Mustangs’ defense stepped up and, for the rest of the first half, Jeff Lantry, Luke Spitzer, Toby Niland and the rest of the back line turned more physical in an attempt to turn the game around.
Yet it never could happen. Two good Mustangs chances were turned back by Seahawks goalie Matt Kammer near the end of the first quarter, Nick Rayfield twice hit the post and Marcellus only got on the board once in the second period on Dieter Steigerwald’s goal, assisted by Adam Rayfield.
Thus, CSH went to halftime with the exact same 5-1 lead it it had in 2023, and then put the game out of reach in the third quarter with another scoring spurt, two of the goals from Andrew Mazzei (he finished the game with five goals) and another from Kevin Burns.
Down 8-1, the Mustangs converted twice thanks to goals by Jimmy Cox and Donavan Fraher, only to have Rex O’Connor answer and push the Seahawks’ lead back to 9-3 before it put together yet another 3-0 spurt early in the final period.
A belated Marcellus push with four late goals (two by Chris Doshna, one each by Cox and Henry Lawrence) only made it a bit closer as goalie Quentin Polkowski finished with 10 saves but could not prevent CSH’s state three-peat.
