Baldwin falls short at Syosset

Baldwin was in dire need of a spark from anywhere on the field at the start of the fourth quarter of its Nassau County Class A first-round lacrosse matchup with No. 4 Syosset last Thursday.

The Braves controlled the momentum throughout the second and third quarters, scoring seven of the game's 10 goals, but thanks to the stellar play of the fifth-seeded Bruins' goalie, sophomore Brett Dadiego, the tide appeared to be turning. Dadiego stopped five shots from close range within the first three minutes of the final quarter, but the offense failed to punch through at the other end in a 11-6 defeat.

"In the second half he played real well," Baldwin coach Rich Garguilo said of Dadiego, who stopped 15 shots in the loss. "The defense hung him out to dry a couple of times."

During one of Syosset's early fourth quarter possessions, senior midfielder Billy Diegnan scooped up a ground ball just in front of his own net and raced into the offensive zone. He fired a perfect pass to senior attack Kyle Rebman on the right side, but the shot that sailed wide of Syosset's senior goalie Jonathon Cohen was indicative of Baldwin's offensive struggles, some of which were due to a Braves' zone defense. "We didn't make [him work],” Garguilo said. “We didn't challenge the goalie."

After the two teams battled to a first-quarter tie, things began to unravel on the Bruins in the second quarter, as Syosset put five goals on the board, four of which came in the first 3:07. "This group of kids proved that when you play with a lot of energy you really can beat a great team like Baldwin," Braves coach John Calabria said. "We needed to play our best game of the season and we did it today."

Sophomore attack Ryan Hunter scored all three of his goals during the game-breaking run, all in different fashion. His first was off a pass in traffic just 26 seconds into the quarter. Less than a minute later, he converted a wide open shot in front of Dadiego and completed the hat trick by punching in a rebound off a shot by senior midfielder Doug Tesoriero.