Finley Boys’ Lax-White Compiles
6-4 Mark
A powerful offense helped the J. Taylor Finley Middle School boys’ lacrosse “white” team compiled a 6-4 record this past spring.
The Falcons were coached by Vinny Tannazzo and Matt Perlongo The roster included 14 players who were with the team for their first season. “This was a young group of smart lacrosse players,” Tannazzo said. “They were fun to coach. Every game was exciting. The games that we lost were all by a few goals. This team played hard in every game and they were a pleasure to coach.”
Seventh grade midfield Torin Bograd led Finley with 16 goals and two assists. “He has a high lax IQ and a knack for scoring goals,” Tannazzo said.
Eighth grade attackmen Joe Boyle (4g, 10a) and Billy Burton (9g, 4a) also sparkled. “Joe is an unselfish attackman with a power shot,” Tannazzo said. “Billy is a ‘sneaky’ attackman with great stick skills.”
Eighth grade midfield Ryan Baker notched nine goals. “He’s a great two-way middie,” the coach said. Seventh grade midfield Liam Hassett tallied eight goals and four assists.
Finley had above average depth for a middle school team. Eighth grade attack Mike Wright contributed eight goals and three assists while seventh grade midfield Jack Krisch had six goals and two assists, but even more importantly he won 50-of-55 face-offs. “Jack’s a smart, quick face-off man,” Tannazzo said.
The Falcons’ seventh grade goalie Alex Fascilla stopped 64 shots between the pipes. “Alex is a strong goalie who can stop anything and he’s smart on clears,” Tannazzo said.
Finley defeated Bay Shore (7-2), Stimson (9-4), Finley “blue” (8-4), Commack “white” (12-8), Commack “gold” (8-3) and Candlewood (5-4). The Falcons dropped games to Northport (11-9), West Islip Beach Street (7-4), Oldfield (7-6) and East Northport (6-5).
The highlight of the season came against Oldfield. “We were down by four goals in the final minutes,” Tannazzo said. “We rallied back to tie. We decided to play sudden death overtime and lost, but it was exciting and we had a moral victory coming back in the end to force OT.”
Finley appears poised to field a very good team next spring. “We have a strong core of seventh graders that are returning,” Tannazzo said. “The players’ skill levels are up and their lacrosse IQs are high. Both the middle school and high school teams should be very competitive with this group.”
Falcon Notes: The squad was captained by Joe Boyle, Ryan Baker and Jaden Jernigan . . . Torin Bograd led Finley in goals while Joe Boyle had the most assists . . . Alex Fascilla recorded the most saves in goal . . . Jack Krisch won the most face-offs.