Oceanside, East Meadow combine for 36 goals

On a blustery spring day better suited for football than lacrosse, Oceanside and East Meadow produced six touchdowns worth of goals in a wild Conference A-I shootout that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours.

The visiting Sailors scored the last four goals to prevail last Friday, 19-17, with senior Nick Sherry getting the winner with 5:49 remaining off a pass from senior Greg Gilbert. Sherry scored four of his five goals in the fourth quarter, senior Chris Hughes had five goals and six assists, and senior Austin Akner added four goals and two assists.

“It was pretty ugly, but we’ll take it,” Oceanside coach Bob Moltisanti said. “We made a lot of mistakes and took some bad penalties, but we played well enough in the fourth quarter to win.”

The Jets, who held a 16-13 lead with less than a minute left in the third quarter, were led by senior Sean Hinchy’s 10-point outburst. Hinchy had four goals and six assists, while freshman Bobby Bender scored five times, and juniors Dylan Curry and Chris Fuger chipped in hat tricks.

“It’s frustrating any time you lose,” said Hinchy, “but there’s a lot we can take away from this game. We proved we can score and run with a top team.”

East Meadow junior Chris Whitenack got the fireworks started 32 seconds after the opening faceoff when he beat Oceanside freshman goalie Kevin LaMantia, who was pressed into action with junior starter Andrew Failla sidelined with a concussion. Moltisanti said Failla might return in time to face Massapequa on Tuesday.

LaMantia and Jets freshman Dan Wood had tough varsity starting debuts between the pipes and made eight and 10 saves, respectively. Neither got much help from the defense, however, as both offenses were crisp and aggressive. “They had to be a little nervous,” Moltisanti said of the goalies. “It’s a matter of experience.”