Seaford ready for new rivalries

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Seaford has plenty of offensive firepower in 2014, but stepping up in competition against some of Nassau County’s top boys’ lacrosse programs creates a challenging obstacle.

The Vikings have moved up to Class B this season due to enrollment changes and will have a far tougher road to the playoffs. Seaford is coming off a 2013 season that saw the Vikings race out to an 11-1 start before dropping three of four to close, including an 11-7 loss to Locust Valley in the Nassau County Class C quarterfinals.

“We’re going to see some teams on the schedule we haven’t seen before,” head coach Mike Corcoran said of the Vikings switching to Class B for 2014 before a slated move back to C competition in 2015. “We’re just trying to get better every game.”

Seaford opened the campaign with convincing wins against Mepham (12-4), Great Neck South (10-3) and Holy Trinity (14-6) in games that each featured eight players in the scoring column. The offensive fireworks have been led by Matt Murphy, Kyle Kolodinskey and Nick Silvestri, who all registered multi-goal efforts in the Vikings’ opening three games. Seaford’s other five goal-scorers in the Vikings’s first three wins were James Curley, Danny Connell, Matt Simone, Bobby Buell and Jimmy Ragland.

“We have a lot of depth on the offensive side,” said Corcoran, whose main loss on offense from 2013 is current Mercy College attackman Danny Speicher.

The defense is led by two seniors slated to play on the college level next year in Pete Adorno (RPI) and Zak Antonetti (Molloy). Adorno and Antonetti are aided defensively by John Lauretti and John Schaleer. Corcoran has three capable goalies to turn to in Andrew Sappia, Nick Kirincic and Ryan Gibbons.

An important player lost to graduation was faceoff specialist Ryan Gligantic, who won about 75 percent of draws last season. Faceoff duties so far have been split between Curley and Buell. Corcoran said success at the faceoff X will be important toward gaining extra possessions and pushing an up-tempo style.

“We like to push in transition,” said Corcoran of Seaford’s offensive approach. “It’s just a matter of getting possessions for them.”

With Seaford capable of lighting up the scoreboard, Corcorcan says his defense coming together combined with limiting turnovers will be key for the Vikings to have a successful season.

“It comes down to fundamentals,” he said. “If we can hold our own on defense we should be pretty good.”

Corcoran says making the playoffs in a more challenging Class B will largely depend on his team responds to rigorous six-game portion of the schedule. This rigorous slate begins Thursday at home against neighborhood rival Wantagh before dates with Manhasset, Bethpage, Carey, North Shore and Lynbrook.

“It is going to be a tough stretch of games,” said Corcoran. “That run is going to tell our season.”