Coaching milestone for Kaspar

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Coming off a disappointing 8-8 campaign, a perfect March has Long Beach already halfway to last year’s win total and fired up about its chances to be a factor in Nassau Class B boys’ lacrosse.

The Marines, who last season failed to capture a playoff game for the first time during Jim Kaspar’s tenure, outscored their first four opponents by a 42-24 margin and earned their 12-year head coach a milestone in the process.

Long Beach’s 12-7 non-league victory at Oceanside on March 28 was the 300th for Kaspar at the high school varsity level. Two-time All-County senior attack/midfielder Sam Brown scored six goals, senior Pat Piazza added two goals and two assists, and senior goaltender Shane Morris made 15 saves to lead the way.

“It’s a nice milestone to reach and I’m most proud of winning two-thirds of the games I’ve coached at Long Beach,” said Kaspar, who coached MacArthur from 1984-90 and Baldwin from 1991-2002. “This year we’ve got a really nice group of kids who show up every day with a positive attitude and work hard,” he added. “Our goal is to win at least 10 games and be a top 4 team in Class B.”

While Kaspar couldn’t recall his first high school coaching win, he said one of the most memorable of the 300 came early in his tenure at Long Beach. A week after losing by 12 goals at home against Syosset, the Marines defeated the Braves in overtime in a playoff quarterfinal on a goal by Max Weisenberg. “That one really sticks out,” Kaspar said.

Long Beach dropped last year’s playoff opener to Bethpage, 11-10, on a late goal but so far in 2017 has found ways to win the close ones. The Marines (4-1 overall) defeated Baldwin and Lynbrook by identical 8-7 decisions, with Brown (19 goals in 5 games) scoring the winners in both.

“Sam’s our go-to guy and one of the top players in the county,” Kaspar said. “He’s 6-4 with all the tools. He’s very tough to defend and never comes off the field.”

Piazza, classmate Jesse Rubel and junior Liam Radin also see plenty of time on attack. Piazza has 11 goals, while Rubel has found the net 9 times. “There’s room for us to grow offensively and the kids are working hard at it,” Kaspar said.

The midfield has some young talent. Junior Troy Morris is an All-Conference selection, freshman Wally Sofield is a three-sport athlete with a world of upside, and junior Aidan Kennedy and freshman Dan Barto are contributing at long pole. Senior Gregg Wildstein is excelling on face-offs.

Kaspar said he’s excited about the performance of the defense, which is under the direction of assistant coach Jason Pearl and features up-and-coming sophomore Luca Salerno and seniors Quentyn Rowland, Vincent Gonzales and Joe Rogers.

“Class B is a 12-team tournament now and we’d like to be one of the four bye teams,” said Kaspar, who noted the Marines get Garden City (home April 13 at 1 p.m.) and Manhasset (away April 18 at 4:45 p.m.) back-to-back.