South Side rally falls short

Despite trailing by five goals at halftime and being flagged for 14 penalties while enjoying just one man-up advantage, South Side made a spirited surge at Plainedge last Monday in a Conference B-II boys’ lacrosse game but ultimately suffered a 12-10 defeat.

The Cyclones (6-6 overall), who got five goals from senior attack Zach Scaduto and stellar defensive play from junior long-pole midfielder Matt Berry, never led but twice got within a goal in the fourth quarter. R.J. Rossi had four goals and four assists to lead the Red Devils, who improved to 8-4.

“I can’t say enough about our kids’ effort,” South Side coach Steve DiPietro said. “I thought we played a tremendous second half, but it’s almost impossible to overcome a penalty differential like we saw today. In an important game with two top teams, to have the calls go 14-to-1 is unbelievable.”

Behind Rossi, who ranks among Nassau County’s scoring leaders with 42 goals and 22 assists, Plainedge built a 5-1 lead after the opening quarter and extended it to 8-3 at halftime.

The Red Devils started the second half a man up, but Cyclones junior goaltender Chandler Baylis (10 saves) made some key early stops to give the visitors some hope. Then Scaduto (21 goals, six assists) put the offense on his shoulders and ignited the comeback with three third-quarter goals to close the gap to 10-6.

“Zach’s a warrior,” DiPietro said. “He’s battled for us ever since he got on the field as a sophomore two years ago. He goes hard all the time and gets into the tough areas to make things happen.”

Picking up where he left off, Scaduto found the net early in the fourth as South Side continued its momentum. It would then score twice in a span of 11 seconds to get within 10-9. Senior defender Dan Villandre’s takeaway and clear led to a goal by sophomore Jack Lucas, and junior Cole Considine ripped one home following a face-off win by senior Sean Kenny.

Rossi struck with less than four minutes to go to make it 11-9, but junior Hunter Rainis answered for the Cyclones. The outcome wasn’t decided until a goal by Plainedge’s Brendan Day with 2:39 left was followed by a myriad of penalties that had South Side down three bodies for a stretch.

“We need to get healthy and we need to be more consistent,” said DiPietro, who is hopeful junior midfielder Stephen Tita and senior attack Peter Clark (19 goals) will return to action Friday when Bethpage visits Skelos Sports Complex for a 4 p.m. start. “We’ve had some good games and some bad games; some good quarters and bad quarters,” he added. 

In South Side’s most-recent victory, 10-8 over visiting Lynbrook on April 21, Clark notched a hat trick and Tita contributed two goals and one assist. Scaduto added five points and Baylis made 12 saves.