South Side bounced by Lynbrook

Lynbrook goaltender Andrew Siconolfi couldn’t help but enjoy the view throughout the second half of Monday’s Nassau Class B lacrosse quarterfinal game when his teammates could do little wrong in rallying for a 10-8 victory against No. 4 South Side at Hofstra.

Siconolfi, who made seven of his 10 saves in the opening half, watched Jordan Zides control the face-off circle, Luke Spitzer act like a magnet on ground balls, and Tom DeNapoli find the net twice in the fourth quarter as the fifth-seeded Owls avenged a regular-season loss to the Cyclones for the second time in as many years.

“We’ve got the underdog spirit,” said Siconolfi, who allowed only one goal over the final 23 minutes. “Our defense was solid the whole day, but we needed the quick halftime break. We’re the second-half killers. It feels good.”

Spitzer, DeNapoli, Alex Maini, Ryan Clark and Kevin Alonge had two goals apiece to lead Lynbrook, which dropped a 10-6 home decision to South Side on April 23. The Owls advanced to meet top-seeded Wantagh in the semifinals, with a spot in the June 2 championship game going to the winner.

“It was two totally different halves,” Lynbrook coach Bill Leighley said. “It’s what can happen in lacrosse. You need to win the ground ball war and possess the ball, and we did that in the second half.”

South Side’s Alex Doerflein enjoyed as strong a game as any player on either side. He scored three goals, assisted on another, and won 15 of 22 face-offs, including all but one of a dozen first-half draws. Connor Waxon added two goals for the Cyclones, who came into the game with an 11-game winning streak.

“We played way too much defense in the second half,” South Side coach Steve DiPietro said. “I thought we could hold them at bay when we went back up by three goals early in the second half, but those long possessions wore us down.”

The Cyclones trailed 2-1 after the opening quarter but pumped in five goals in the second, including back-to-back beauties off the stick of Waxon. South Side goalie Dominic Moriarty (12 saves) made a handful of stops from point-blank range but he didn’t get enough of Maini’s shot with just four seconds remaining in the half, which cut the margin to 6-4.  

“They outplayed us in the first half, but that late goal gave us something positive to focus on during halftime,” Leighley said.

Maini’s second goal, off a giveaway right outside the crease with 4:38 left in the third quarter, answered a Zach Scaduto tally and pointed the Owls in the right direction. Alonge got them within 7-6, and DeNapoli netted the equalizer 2:01 into the fourth. Clark put them ahead for good 77 seconds later.

“We both have talented players,” DiPietro said. “We’ll regroup and get after it again next year. I just feel bad for the seniors because it’s a tough way for them to go out.”