Sports

Boys Lacrosse: Tuckers lose but give Westhampton a game

The chase is on for a ground ball. From left, Westhampton Beach's Evan Gagne, left, and Wyatt Sommer join Mattituck/Greenport/Southold's Dylan Marlborough in pursuit of the ball. (Credit: Garret Meade)
The chase is on for a ground ball. From left, Westhampton Beach’s Evan Gagne, left, and Wyatt Sommer join Mattituck/Greenport/Southold’s Dylan Marlborough in pursuit of the ball. (Credit: Garret Meade)

HURRICANES 12, TUCKERS 7

On paper, it had rout written all over it. On the field, however, it was a different story. The damage caused by the Hurricanes wasn’t the devastation some might have expected. 

Then again, the days of a few powerhouse teams running roughshod over everyone else in Suffolk County Division II boys lacrosse may be over. Shoreham-Wading River coach Justin Arini seems to think so. He recently stated that just about every team in the division can put up a competitive game against anyone else.

A fine example of that was seen on Friday. The Westhampton Beach Hurricanes started the day in fifth place; the Mattituck/Greenport/Southold Tuckers were 18th. A blowout in the making, right?

Wrong.

After twice taking one-goal leads in the first quarter, the Tuckers never led again, although they trailed by only one goal after three quarters. Then Evan Gagne scored two of his four goals when Westhampton Beach went on a game-ending 4-0 run for a 12-7 result in its favor at Mattituck High School.

It was the fifth win in six games for Westhampton Beach (9-3, 7-3). The Tuckers (3-8, 2-7), meanwhile, dropped their sixth loss in seven games.

Through the first three quarters, Westhampton Beach never led by more than three goals as the Tuckers hustled, scraped and dominated in face-offs, 15-5.

With a game-high 13 ground balls from Connor Malone, the Tuckers edged Westhampton Beach in that category, 35-33.

The big difference was shots, with Westhampton Beach holding a 34-20 advantage.

Enough of those shots went in for the Hurricanes. Zak Jones produced three goals and one assist, and Dylan Laube had two goals, one assist and eight ground balls. Tim Hoare had one goal and two assists. Henry Moreta took nine shots; he didn’t score but he assisted twice.

The Tuckers were led by Tim Schmidt’s three goals and one assist. Jack DiGregorio had three assists on two goals by Schmidt and another by Joe Bartolotto.

Westhampton Beach goalie Pat Dean stopped 11 shots. Tuckers goalie Alec Durkin saved 10.

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