Mineola Lacrosse Bid for .500 Derailed at Locust Valley

Anyone who witnessed the varsity lacrosse game between Mineola and Locust Valley Tuesday – played in rain, mist and salt spray on a narrow and sandy isthmus leading to Centre Island – might have asked themselves what, exactly, if anything, was at stake?

On the face of it, Mineola had traveled to the northeast corner of the county to play a regular season finale against the Falcons that had little more at stake than bragging rights.

Both teams were in the middle of the conference standings, sporting .500 records. Both teams were . Win or lose, they’d both be seeded to play teams that were just ahead of them in the regular season standings.

Those realities didn’t stop the two teams from waging an intense battle. For four quarters, Locust Valley (4-4, 9-6) and Mineola (3-5, 7-8) duked it out in a contest that was much closer than the final 14-7 score indicated.

Through three quarters the two teams were neck-in-neck, with the Mustangs trailing by only one with less than a minute remaining in the third.

In fact for most of the game, the outcome was in doubt. Mineola was first out of the box, scoring at the 7:01 mark on a transition play finished by Nick Fabiano on a pass from Dylan Dombrowski.

The two teams swapped goals for the rest of the first – Mineola scoring on a Fabiano-Brian Gaffney net-shaker and a solo effort for Fabiano – to knot it at three.

In the second, the Mustangs were still within range, managing a goal from the stick of attackman Josh Lopes swinging around from the back of the goal, to trail by two at the half.

A goal from Fabiano and fast break goal for Steve Napolitano kept the differential to one with 1:16 left in the third.

After that, however, it was all Locust Valley. A late goal to close out the quarter was followed by three scores in the first 40 seconds of fourth quarter play – and Mineola’s hopes for a win evaporated. The closest the Mustangs got to the Falcon goal was a pipe shot that bounced harmlessly out onto the field with 57 seconds left.

“Those three quick goals put the knife in us,” Mineola coach Mike Perro said afterwards. “We had a good game going to that point, you can come back from one or two – but those three goals set them loose.”

The post-season begins Friday for the Mustangs when they visit the Seaford Vikings in round one of the playoffs.