39.0°,
Fair Hewlett wins 1st conference title
Posted
Seniors Jon Baron (four goals) and Brian Zegans (three) and sophomore Alfredo Lamanna (three) starred offensively as the Bulldogs cruised to complete a 10-game sweep of conference rivals, most of which will be gunning for redemption in the playoffs. Hewlett is seeded No. 1 in the county Class B tournament and hosts the yet-to-be-determined No. 16 seed on Friday at 4:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to Monday's 6 p.m. quarterfinal at the US Merchant Marine Academy.
"It's very exciting to get through the regular season undefeated," Coach Chris Passuello said. "We beat some very strong teams along the way. These kids deserve it. They love to compete and they work hard. It's great to see them rewarded for everything they do on a daily basis."
There was little chance of the Bulldogs letting down in Monday's finale after recent victories over Wantagh and South Side. "We know what every team out there is capable of," Passuello said. "There are eight or nine legitimate contenders in Class B. We're looking forward to a long playoff run but realize if we don't play well the potential for us to be beat is there."
Hewlett's toughest obstacles over the next few weeks will be Garden City, Wantagh, South Side and Calhoun, and possibly a surprise team yet to emerge. With wins over all of them, the Bulldogs will bring a hard-to-match level of confidence to the table.
They dominated visiting South Side on Saturday evening, winning 12-5 over the defending state champs. Baron had four goals, Zegans a hat trick, senior Max Seibald two goals and five assists, senior Anthony Rossello two goals, and senior goaltender Dan Goldberg 17 saves.
"We controlled possession, dominated face-offs and ground balls and created high-percentage shots that went in," Passuello said. "It was a real good effort. Danny made some big saves early that kept the score in our favor."
The Cyclones had five different goal-scorers. "They lost a good amount of players from last year's team but they're still excellent in the midfield and we were concerned about their transition game," Passuello said. "But we got back on defense and made intelligent subs throughout the game."
That impressive win came on the heels of a 7-4 triumph over Wantagh last week. Hewlett trailed the Warriors 2-1 at halftime but scored three times in both the third and fourth quarters and put the defensive clamps down on the hosts. As they have all spring, seniors Dom DeNapoli and Jon Marcus, and juniors Eytan Saperstein and Randy Platnick got the job done on the back row.
Goals by Baron and Rossello in the third broke a tie and gave the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead. Rossello and Seibald had two goals apiece and Goldberg made 11 stops.
"It's very exciting to get through the regular season undefeated," Coach Chris Passuello said. "We beat some very strong teams along the way. These kids deserve it. They love to compete and they work hard. It's great to see them rewarded for everything they do on a daily basis."
There was little chance of the Bulldogs letting down in Monday's finale after recent victories over Wantagh and South Side. "We know what every team out there is capable of," Passuello said. "There are eight or nine legitimate contenders in Class B. We're looking forward to a long playoff run but realize if we don't play well the potential for us to be beat is there."
Hewlett's toughest obstacles over the next few weeks will be Garden City, Wantagh, South Side and Calhoun, and possibly a surprise team yet to emerge. With wins over all of them, the Bulldogs will bring a hard-to-match level of confidence to the table.
They dominated visiting South Side on Saturday evening, winning 12-5 over the defending state champs. Baron had four goals, Zegans a hat trick, senior Max Seibald two goals and five assists, senior Anthony Rossello two goals, and senior goaltender Dan Goldberg 17 saves.
The Cyclones had five different goal-scorers. "They lost a good amount of players from last year's team but they're still excellent in the midfield and we were concerned about their transition game," Passuello said. "But we got back on defense and made intelligent subs throughout the game."
That impressive win came on the heels of a 7-4 triumph over Wantagh last week. Hewlett trailed the Warriors 2-1 at halftime but scored three times in both the third and fourth quarters and put the defensive clamps down on the hosts. As they have all spring, seniors Dom DeNapoli and Jon Marcus, and juniors Eytan Saperstein and Randy Platnick got the job done on the back row.
Goals by Baron and Rossello in the third broke a tie and gave the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead. Rossello and Seibald had two goals apiece and Goldberg made 11 stops.
Report an inappropriate comment
Comments