Finley Boys' Lax-Blue Finishes Strong
A powerful offense, exceptional goalie play and a stingy defense lifted the J. Taylor Finley Middle School boys' lacrosse "blue" team to a 7-2 record this past spring under coaches Joe Roy and Leland Davis.
The only Falcon losses were to Oldfield (16-8) and Commack-Gold (9-5). "Though these were setbacks, the team was determined to finish strong and won its remaining games against West Hollow-Black (13-3) and Kings Park (9-7)," Roy said.
Finley's offensive standouts included Mike Bast (18 goals, five assists), Jim Pugliese (12g, 2a), Drew Monahan (8g, 5a), Brian Weigold (9g, 3a), Josh Hallman (4g, 1a), Cooper Cook (4g) and Andy Callahan (3g).
The Falcon midfield featured an exciting mix of solid defense and slick offense by Jared Leake (6g, 5a), John Brendel (7g), Chris Abbondandelo (2g, 5a), Dylan Schedler (1g, 3a) and Danny Browne (1g, 2a). Leake and Abbondandelo were Finley's faceoff specialists along with Mark Rafuse (1g) and Brendan Simpson (1g).
Finley's defense was paced by Cooper Makohon (1g), Lawrence Leake (1g), Will Wright, Louis Annunziata, Ryan Hoffman and Sam Bibow. Goalies Ethan Dwyer and Nick Lanzisero combined to record 91 saves, some in dramatic fashion and at just the right time.
While Bast usually plays attack, he performed double duty in "man down" situations by swinging the long pole on defense, along with midfielder Sean Paton (2a). Jose Veliz (1a), who is new to the sport, shined on defense and was named Finley's Most Improved Player.
"The eighth graders really matured from a very difficult and problematic seventh grade season," Roy said. "The seventh grade infused with the eighth was an easy mix and worked well."
Blue Devil Notes: Bast and Makohon were named Finley's co-MVPs . . . There is so much interest in boys' and girls' lacrosse at Finley that the Huntington School Board has allotted funding for two teams for each program . . . The two teams are equally balanced with seventh and eighth graders.