Mineola Boys Lacrosse Knocks Out Knights 8-6

The uneven midground of Alva T. Stanforth field was making grounders difficult to pick up Friday afternoon. Dust had been kicking into the eyes of Brian Gaffney and the other players on the Mineola boys varsity lacrosse team the whole game against Floral Park. Scrums for loose balls had been taking far too long, especially in front of the nets.

The Knights had already taken a 2-1 lead in the first quarter, scoring on a wide-open net.

Now it was Gaffney’s turn. The Mustang junior would rattle off another two nets in the second for a hattrick,

“(We have) high expectations,” Mineola head coach Mike Perro said of the Mustang leadership this season.

A physically aggressive offense kept Floral Park to one additional goal in the first half with the Mustangs netting another two, including another from Gaffney and one from Nick Fabiano to head into the break 6-3.

A slashing call on Mineola did nothing to aid Floral Park’s cause as Steven Napolitano added another goal for Mineola, helping to keep the Knights off the board until the final minute of the third. The Mustangs were quick to tally another goal to start the final frame with possession changing rapidly as their offense began to switch to a game of simple keep-away.

A work-around by the Knights lined them up against the Mineola net for a one-on-one to being them within two, but were unable to draw closer.