Garden City eliminates Marines
Long Beach hung with undefeated Garden City for much of the first half of its Nassau Class B boys’ lacrosse semifinal playoff matchup at Hofstra on May 23, but the top-seeded Trojans proved too deep and talented in the end.
Justin Guterding had four goals and three assists, Liam Kennedy added four goals and two assists, Dennis Dwyer scored twice and had three assists, and Patric Berkery notched a hat trick as Garden City pulled away for a 15-7 victory over the fourth-seeded Marines. Senior Connor Sofield and junior James Forkin each scored twice for Long Beach, which trailed from the 6:00 mark of the second quarter after the teams traded the first six goals of the game.
Senior Joe Radin, who finished the campaign with a team-leading 51 goals, put the Marines up early when he took a pass from senior Matt Sheehan and found the net at the 1:13 mark. Goals by Kennedy and Rob Savage gave the Trojans a 2-1 lead after the opening quarter, but Sofield tied it off an assist from Radin just 35 seconds into the second. After Guterding made it 3-2, junior Billy Kane answered for Long Beach when he converted a pass from Sofield to deadlock it at 3-3.
Dwyer’s goal exactly midway through the second quarter put Garden City (18-0) ahead for good. It advanced to meet No. 2 Wantagh in the county championship game.
Long Beach, which finished the year 14-4, loses 16 players to graduation including Radin, Sofield (36 goals, 49 assists), Alex Ehrlich (28 goals) and defenders Alec Salvadori, Joe Brand and Kris Horvath. Among the key returnees next spring for coach Jim Kasper include Forkin, who scored 46 goals and added 14 assists, freshman Chris Parler, who had 15 goals and eight assists, Kane (16 points) and junior Tom Piazza (14.)
The Marines knocked off Lynbrook, 9-6, and Plainedge, 20-7, in the first round and quarterfinals, respectively. Forkin totaled nine goals in the two playoff victories, while Radin and Sofield had five apiece. Senior goalie Mike Rourke had 13 stops in the postseason opener.
