* Returning Letterman - [C] Captain

Varsity Roster

Varsity Schedule/Results

Date

Day

Opponent

Time

March 17

Friday

Floral Park

3:30 PM

Scrimmage

March 20 

Monday 

@ Smithtown 

3:30 PM

Scrimmage

March 21

Tuesday

 East Islip

3:300 PM

Scrimmage

March 23

Thursday 

@ Sachem

4:00 PM

Scrimmage

March 25

Saturday

Port Washington

11:00 AM

Non-League

Hunt 9 - Port 10

March 29

Wednesday

Stony Brook

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 17- Stony Brook 5

April 1

Saturday

@ Daniel Hand Jamboree

9:30 AM

Scrimmage

April 4

Tuesday

@ HH Hill East

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 18 - HH East 3

April 6

Thursday

West Babylon

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 11 - W. Babylon 6

April 11

Tuesday

@ Northport

4:00 PM

Non-League

Npt 7 - Hunt 6 (SD OT)

April 14

Friday

@ Hauppauge

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 8 - Happ 6

Saturday

Longwood

10:00 AM

Scrimmage

Canceled

Wednesday

 @ Kings Park

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 9 - Kings Park 5

Tuesday

@ Ward Melville

11:00 AM

Non-League

Hunt 3 - Ward Melville 18

April 28

Friday

@ Islip

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 14 - Islip 4

May 2

Tuesday

Rocky Point

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 16 - Rocky Point 7

May 5

Friday

Babylon

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 15 - Babylon 3

May 9

Tuesday

@Comsewogue

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 8 - Comsewogue 9

May 11

Thursday

@Harborfields

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 12 - Harborfields 6

May 17

Wednesday

Shoreham

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 9 - Shoreham 7 

May 19

Friday

HH Hills West

4:00 PM

League

Hunt 11 - HH West 2

Huntington 17- Kings Park 12

Huntington 8 - Comsewogue 18

                         2000 Stats     (Updated 5/21/00)

NAME

Goals

Assists

 -

 -

-

 -

 2000 Varsity Playoff Stats  

NAME

Goals

Assists

 2000 Goalie Stats

Saves/Shots

 Goalie Pay-off Stats

Port Washington

Stony Brook

HHH East

W Babylon

Northport

Hauppauge

Kings Park

St. Anthony's

Hand Tourney

Freeport

Smithtown

East Islip

Ward Melville

Islip

Rock Point

Babylon

Comsewogue

HHH West

B Semi Finals KP

2000 Action Photos

Blue Lax News

The Comsewogue boys lacrosse team had won four straight Suffolk Class B titles, yet the Warriors believed they were not given the respect they deserved entering the season. With yesterday's 17-8 thrashing of No. 1 Huntington in the Class B final before a crowd of 700 at Ward Melville, No. 2 Comsewogue clearly earned respect and its fifth championship as well.

"There's been a lack of respect all season," said attackman Matt McGuire, who tallied eight goals for the second consecutive playoff game. "I don't know what everyone else thinks, we pretty much win it every year." The Comsewogue players thought Huntington was overlooking them. Whether or not that was true, it was evident the Warriors came out with more intensity and had a 5-0 lead a minute into the second quarter.

"I thought we were ready," Huntington coach Paul McDermott said. "I give Comsewogue a lot of credit, they were pumped." When Huntington (12-5) finally answered with a goal from Rob Liedke to cut the lead to 5-1 with 7:35 remaining in the first half, McGuire pumped in his fourth goal of the first half on a flying over-the-shoulder shot past Huntington keeper Blake Maybeck.

Matt McDonnell scored his second and third goals of the half within nine seconds of one another the latter at 5:19, and Comsewogue (15-3) held an 8-1 advantage.

"We wanted to stay on them," McDonnell said. "Coach [Pete Mitchell] got us pumped up. We wanted this game bad." Huntington's problems, a slow defense and trouble clearing the ball, were exposed early and often. In fact, Huntington did not have an offensive possession until the sixth minute of action and Comsewogue's speedy attack created too many mismatches that led to a 10-3 first-half deficit.

And if Huntington thought a letdown was in store in the second half, it was wrong. McDonnell, Josh Marksberry and McGuire all scored to propel Comsewogue to a 13-3 lead with 6:17 left in the third quarter. The Warriors also got a great performance in net from Antonio Masone (16 saves), who stifled Huntington's high-powered attack of Matt Howell, Chris Einhorn and Ryan Laffey.

"Our goalie was outstanding today," Mitchell said. "He really saw the ball well." Mitchell dedicated the win to Scott Hession, the Comsewogue athletic director who died of cancer this year. Each Comsewogue player had the initials S.H. taped onto their legs to honor Hession.

by Dan Galvin Staff Writer                                                                                                 

  His coach calls him the quarterback and he's going to Notre Dame next fall on an athletic scholarship. But Matt Howell doesn't play football. The senior attackman on Huntington's lacrosse team had four goals and six assists to lead the Blue Devils to a 17-12 win over No. 4 Kings Park in a Suffolk Class B semifinal yesterday in Huntington.

Howell will take his 226 points-and-counting to a football school, but not before trying to capture the county Class B title when No. 1 Huntington faces No. 2 Comsewogue on Wednesday at Ward Melville.

"I told Matt that he had to continue being the quarterback on this team," Huntington coach Paul McDermott said. "We worked pretty hard to get to this point; we would be disappointed not to win it." Disappointment is a topic about which Huntington can speak with authority.

The Blue Devils lost the Class A championship game last season to Ward Melville, and many of the players were on the football teams that lost in the 1997 and '99 Suffolk championship games.

"I'm just going there to win. This is my last opportunity to win a county championship," said senior attackman Ryan Laffey, a football linebacker.

Late in the first half it looked as though Huntington (12-4) might not get a chance to defy its fate. Kings Park (10-7) tied the score at 5 with 1:13 left in a half in which Huntington dominated time of possession, shots on goal and every other statistical category. "We should've been up by a few more goals in the first half," Howell said. "But we had the open looks and knew we would score." Huntington did. Howell took possession and drew the defense into the left corner before firing a pass to Laffey streaking across the crease, and Laffey beat Kings Park goalie Ryan Cavanaugh for a 6-5 lead with 51 seconds left in the half. Laffey fed Doug Kocis 11 seconds later and Huntington had a two-goal lead. Ralph Carino opened the second half with two goals, the latter assisted by Howell, and the Blue Devils led 9-5 with 7:23 remaining. Kings Park would never get closer than three goals again.

CLASSB TOURNAMENT Semifinals                                                     

Kings Park......................2 3 2 5-12                                                                                    Huntington.................   2 5 5 5-17                                                                                                    Goals: KP: Goger 3, Smart 2, Nelson 2, Nally 2, Ferrara, Muller, Cavanaugh;                                         H: Howell 4, Laffey 4, Carino 4, Einhorn 3, Kocis 2.                                                                      Saves-KP: Cavanaugh 18; H: Maybeck 10.

The Blue Devils raced to a 5 to 1 half-time lead, with senior standout Matt Howell (4 goal & 2 assists) doing what he has always done throughout his brilliant high school career - setting up goals with sweet assists and scoring when his team needs it the most. Joining Howell in scoring were senior middie Justin Marsh (3 goals - 14 in last 7 games!), junior sharpshooter Ralph Carino (2 goals) and the ever steady duo of Laffey and Kocis (1 goals each).

The second half saw alot of feisty play and hard hitting from both teams, with Huntington’s size and depth taking an obvious toll on the Colts. Coach McDermott substituted liberally throughout the 3rd & 4th quarters, with Tom O’Leary. Dave Bergmann and Marc Shroads playing very well.

The Huntington defense was very physical and did not make the visitors feel very welcome on a dark, cold and windy afternoon. Assistant coach Scott McGilvray's defensive unit was solid and Blake Maybeck once again provided the team with a mix of consistency and brilliance in goal.

The Blue Devils finished their first season of Division II play with a record of 11 & 1. Huntington is looking forward to Thursday’s opening round home playoff game and will use the time off to recover from yesterday’s bruising affair.

Huntington.................3 2 4 2 -11                                                                                                   H.H.Hills West..........0 1 1 0 - 2                                                                                                         Goals - HHHW: Spivey, Horner                                                                                                           H: Howell 4, J. Marsh 3, Carino 2, Kocis, Laffey.                                                                           Saves - HHHW: Holman 15; H: Maybeck 6, Davis 2.

To all in attendance, it was clear that SWR’s dominance on faceoffs (SWR won 12 of 19), patience on offense and super goalkeeping by SWR’s senior netminder Mike Virdone (17 saves, many very difficult) had the Devils on the ropes late into the game. The men in the black & white stripped shirts played a big part in the game’s outcome, prompting the SWR faithful to hoot and holler (sometimes justified) from their vantage points in the stands.

During the second half Huntington was allowed to call a crucial timeout, even though SWR clearly had possession after forcing a turnover behind Huntington’s cage (with a SWR player poised to walk in on the Blue Devil’s goalie). But the back-breaker was Huntington’s Coach McDermott’s decision to call for a stick check on SWR’s senior standout Pete Vlahakis with just over 4 minutes left in a game tied at 8. The stick was found to be illegal (when the ref turned the stick over, the ball wouldn’t even fall out!) and Vlahakis had to serve a 3 minute, non-releasable penalty. During this advantage, Huntington kept pressure on the SWR defense, but Virdone stoned the Devils repeatedly, until Marsh took a beautiful feed about 10 yards in front of the net and bounced home the winner.

SWR controlled the pace of the contest throughout the day. Executing a game plan that emphasized ball control, SWR was intent on forcing Huntington to try and force takeaways or to become inattentive. All day long, Huntington’s defense was lulled into watching the SWR patient offense deliberately moving the ball around the defense’s perimeter. Several times Blue Devil defenders were standing and staring, while their men cut back-door for easy scores. SWR inverted and tried to break down Huntington’s defenses from behind, taking advantage of several mismatches. Huntington’s man down D looked particularly out of sync, but junior goalie Blake Maybeck made the big saves when Huntington really need them.

Huntington      1  2  4  3  -  10                                                                                              Shoreham-WR 1  2  2  3  -  8                                                                                                           Goals -- H:  Carino 3, Liedke 2, J. Marsh 2, Laffey, Howell, Boccard;                                              SW: Vlahakis 3, Unterstein 2, Ferrara, Tenaglia, DeTurris.                                                            Saves -- H: Maybeck 9   SW: Virdone 17

Huntington regrouped following a tough game on Tuesday and coasted past host Harborfields. The Blue Devils rested some banged up players, which afforded plenty of playing time to all.                      

Huntington.................4 5 0 3-12                                                                                  Harborfields..............2 0 2 2-6                                                                                                        Goals -- HU: Carino 4, Howell 3, Laffey 3, Liedke, J.Marsh;                                                              HA: McAlpine 2, Distefano 2, Brown, Kalmar.                                                                                 Saves -- HU: Maybeck 6, Davis 1; HA: Brennan 10.

Comsewogue Turns Back Huntington

By Daniel Hodes. STAFF WRITER

After Comsewogue and Huntington played yesterday in one of the most intense games in boys lacrosse this season, victorious Comsewogue coach Pete Mitchell had a simple message for his Warriors: "Boys, we're definitely gonna see them again." Matt McDonnell's fifth goal, with 1:40 to go in the game, lifted Comsewogue to an 8-7 victory over Division II leader Huntington at Comsewogue. The Blue Devils (8-1) controlled the ball for most of the final 100 seconds, but could not get to the goal for the equalizer against the tough defense.

"Comsewogue has a more aggressive zone than we're used to seeing this year," Huntington coach Paul McDermott said.

Aggressive was the tone set by Comsewogue just 1:42 into the contest.

Defenseman Mike Fernandez delivered a clean, hard check on Huntington's Aaron Marsh.

Comsewogue was aggressive on the offensive end, too, as McDonnell scored on a pair of blistering bounce shots to help give the Warriors a 3-0 lead after one quarter.

McDonnell downplayed his big day. "If one of us isn't scoring, someone always seems to pick up the slack," he said.

Huntington standout Matt Howell made his presence felt in the second quarter by scoring twice to cut Comsewogue's lead to one. However, McDonnell quickly added an assist and a goal to give Comsewogue (8-1) a 5-2 lead at halftime. And after McDonnell's fourth goal with 5:25 to go in the third, Comsewogue had a seemingly comfortable 7-3 lead.

But Huntington rallied. Rob Liedke and Mark Boccard scored to trim the lead in half after three quarters. Early in the fourth, Comsewogue got a super effort from defender Joe Bivona to kill a Fernandez penalty.

However, Fernandez left the penalty area five seconds early, and on the additional extra man assessed, Doug Kocis made it 7-6 at the 6:39 mark. The comeback was complete 21 seconds later, when Ryan Laffey tied the score at 7 on a great feed from Howell. There it stayed until McDonnell's heroics.

Laffey believes these two teams will meet again come playoff time. "We need to show more intensity in some areas, but settle down our ball movement against that defense," said the midfielder, who added three assists.

Mitchell put the victory in perspective. "This is a big win for the program, and I'm proud of these kids," he said. "But the road to a championship will go through Huntington."

Huntington.....................................................0 2 3 2-7                                        Comsewogue................................................. 3 2 2 1-8

Goals-H: Howell 2, Liedke 2, Boccard, Laffey, Kocis;                                                                          C: McDonnell 5, Diderikson, McGuire, Fernandez.                                                                      Saves-H: Maybeck 9; C: Masone 14.

In a home game where the outcome was never in doubt, Huntington controlled the action and methodically worked the ball all day against a persistent, yet badly out manned Babylon team. The Blue Devils raced out to a commanding 9 - 0 half time advantage, with junior goalie Blake Maybeck making 6 first half saves. Fellow netminder junior Leyland Davis played the second half, allowing 3 goals while working with a variety of defensive player combinations, as Huntington freely substituted after the intermission.

Midfield play was once again a strength of the Blue Devils game, particularly in the defensive zone. Juniors Doug Kocis (5 of 7 faceoffs and 1 goal) and Aaron Marsh 1 of 3 faceoffs & 1 groundball) teamed with seniors Curtis Williams (1 goal & 4 grounders), Rob Liedke (3 goals & 2 groundballs) and Justin Marsh (4 groundballs) to dominate first half play. Juniors Rob Marchhart (1 goal & 4 groundballs) and Tom O’Leary and sophomore Mark Boccard were all over the field in the second half, giving the Blue Devil faithful a glimpse at the program’s promising future.

The defense was its customarily disciplined and effective group, with senior close defenseman Craig McGilvray leading the way with another all-star performance. Junior John Orr has taken his longstick middie and close defense play to the next level, making him an impact player in this defensive scheme.

The attack provided just what we have come to expect from this lethal unit. Senior Ryan Laffey (1 goal & 5 assists & 4 groundballs to go with a perfect 9 of 9 faceoffs) was rock solid as usual, and he was joined by fellow senior Travis Rave - who scored an amazing jumping & twisting, unassisted goal - and junior sniper Ralph Carino (4 goals) to put away the Panthers early on. Juniors Derek Basini (1 goal) and Jared DeMarco were super throughout the second half of play.

But the story of the day was the play of Matt Howell, now Huntington’s all-time career point producer. Coming into the game Howell had 185 career points, just one behind Brendon Carey’s record established between 1990 & 1992. Carey went on to star at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Howell will take his game to Notre Dame, where he will enroll this fall. An exceptional student- athlete, Howell’s accomplishments on the lacrosse field are indeed impressive:
 

Registering 86 points as a junior playing for a Huntington squad that competed against Division I powers, leading the Blue Devils to playoff victories over Smithtown and Sachem, before falling to the eventual & perennial state champs, Ward Melville in the Suffolk County Finals last spring at Hofstra,

• Overcoming an injury that caused Howell to miss a good part of his sophomore year,
• Dishing out 6 or more assists during a single game 5 different times over the past 2 seasons,
• Handing out a school record 9 assists in a game against Lindenhurst last spring, in which he also scored a goal, giving him 10 points for the outing (just 1 point shy of Paul Cicio’s 1984 single game record 11 points),
• Scoring 7 or more points in 4 games over the last 2 years

True, Matt Howell has had the good fortune to play with some other fine attackmen during his varsity career, including former teammate Andrew Kuskowski (Class of 1998, now playing for Franklin & Marshall College) and his current line-mates Ryan Laffey, the injured Chris Einhorn, Travis Rave and Ralph Carino. But it is Howell who stands above all others as a point producer, earning this mark of distinction as a result of hard work, consistent excellence and fiery competitiveness.

Do not be the least bit suprised if Matt Howell follows former teammate Doug Logigan (Class of 1999, playing for the Crimson of Harvard) as                                Huntington’s next All-American

The story of the day was the awakening of Huntington’s midfield play. Huntington’s senior captain Ryan Laffey was the game’s most dominant force, winning 14 of 18 face-offs, dishing out fearsome hits and adding points on 3 goals and 3 assists.  Laffey’s dominance on the face-offs dictated the game’s outcome.

Joining Laffey with great efforts were fellow senior middies Rob Liedke (3 goals), Curtis Williams (1 goal & 2 assists) and Justin Marsh (3 goals) and junior Doug Kocis (1 goal).  Liedke showed flashes of brilliance (long anticipated by the Blue Devil faithful this season) making strong sweeps and firing bullets on the run.  Williams was unstoppable when inverted and Marsh woke up and performed beautifully in the second half.  Kocis has emerged as the steadiest and most reliable of a seasoned group. Kocis knows the value of hard work, tireless defense and offensive patience.  Huntington’s middies inverted and converted all afternoon, taking advantage of superior size, strength and quickness.

Senior attackman Matt Howell (1 goal & 4 assists) found junior crease man Ralph Carino (4 goals) time and again, and Carino found net as usual. Howell controlled the flow and tempo, out-performing Rocky Point’s fine long stick William Lewis.

Huntington settled down and played solid positional defense from the second quarter on.  All long poles played well, supporting another fine effort in net by junior goal keeper Blake Maybeck.

Huntington dominated face-offs, taking 16 of 17. Senior middie Rob Liedke, an Empire State player last spring, won 8 of 9 face-offs and finished with 1 assist & 3 groundballs for the day.  Junior Doug Kocis, who was outstanding in all areas of midfield play, won all 5 of his draws and added 1 goal. Ryan Laffey won his 3 face-offs, scored 1 goal, had 1 assist and came up with 4 big groundballs.  

With face-offs, came possessions and with possessions Huntington controlled the tempo of the game, similar to the way they did on this same field in last season’s County Semi-final win over Sachem.  The only offense mustered by the Kingsmen, came off of Huntington turnovers (of which there were plenty). Kings Park showed flashes of talent in the transition game, finishing well on the opportunities Huntington handed them.  However, when the defense was set, Kings Park just could not beat the aggressive Blue Devil defenders.  

The tone of the game was settled early, with Huntington’s talented attack controlling the pace and action.  The Kingsmen only had one offensive possession in the first quarter (they scored in transition).  Blue Devil senior attackman Matt Howell (3 goals, 4 assists & 1qroundball) worked the ball to senior middie Curtis Williams (1 goal, 3 groundballs) and junior Ralph Carino (2 goals) for early tallies.  Seniors Justin Marsh (1 goal & 1 groundball) and Ryan Laffey scored and played very well and Huntington led 6-2 at half. Throughout the game, ball movement was much improved, with Kyle Messinger and Mark Boccard making solid contributions.  

Senior defenseman Craig McGilvray played exceptionally well and made several, big-time takeaways. Senior D-men Chris Mooney (4 groundballs) and Paul Thomson (2 groundballs) - who will be teammates this fall when they attend Delaware together on football scholarships - were rock steady and consistently scored takeaways. Once again Matt Ackerely (4 groundballs) and John Orr, playing short stick middie today, played tenacious defense.  

Huntington’s clears operated smoothly all day, and defensive substitutions were seamlessly made throughout the game by the coaching staff.  

Junior Blake Maybeck was super in the cage again, registering 6 saves.  

The Blue Devils host St. Anthony’s this Saturday. That non-league game has an 11 AM start time.

Huntington traveled to Hauppauge Friday and beat a well coached and enthusiastic Eagles squad. The game was considerably closer than many expected, in part due to:

• very solid goal-tending by the Eagles #40 (sorry, no Hauppauge rosters were available) - who turned away better than 20 Blue Devil shots,
• a patient and conservative defensive scheme that emphasized positioning over take-aways, and
• outstanding face-off play (player's name A. J.) that Hauppauge totally dominated until mid-way through the second half, when Huntington turned to senior defenseman Chris Mooney (4 of 8) to take the draws. Even then, Huntington finished the day only 6 of 17 on face-offs.

Once again the Blue Devil offense was orchestrated by senior Matt Howell (who has decided to attend Notre Dame next year). Howell was credited with 2 goals and 2 assists, and scored the game breaker after a midfield turnover while the Eagles were trying to clear the ball midway through the 4th quarter. Junior sniper Ralph Carino tallied 4 goals in traffic.

The Huntington defense was too much for the Eagle attack, although there were missed slides on man down D and all even slides were at times hesitant. Mooney dominated play, adding 6 groundballs to his face-off efforts. Craig McGilvray (5 groundball) was joined by Paul Thomson, Matt Ackerley and Orr in turning back the Eagles offensive thrusts. Junior Blake Maybeck (9 saves) was spectacular in the final period when the Eagles consistently pressured the Blue Devils. Maybeck's acrobatics and athleticism literally saved the day for Huntington.

Top-seeded Huntington got a scare from Hauppauge , but Ralph Carino made sure that's all it was. The junior attackman scored the go-ahead goal with 2:45 remaining in the third quarter to lead Huntington to an 8-6 win over Hauppauge.  Steve Mitchell brought Hauppauge  with in 7-6 when he scored  with 3:11 left in the game but Carino scored with 26 seconds left to ice the win for Huntington. Carino finished with four goals and Matt Howell had two goals and two assist for Huntington.                          Huntington Goals Carino 4, Howell 2, Laffey, Liedke.                             

Northport Prevails in OT

Christian Lynch scored his fourth goal of the game 1:22 into overtime to give Northport an 8-7 win over Huntington in a non-league boys lacrosse game yesterday at Northport.

Northport's James Gallucci won the face-off to start the sudden-death overtime period and the Tigers quickly called a timeout to set up a play.