Hicksville’s varsity lacrosse team held their annual Senior Day last Wednesday afternoon. It always presents a chance to reflect as a four-year career winds down. For Pat McCormick and T.J. Kilmetis, they left quite an impression in their penultimate home game in the regular season.
The two seniors combined for eight goals and two assists (McCormick— five goals, two assists, Kilmetis—three goals) in a 15-4 rout of Mepham.
“We knew this was an important game, coming down towards playoffs. We knew we had to get on a roll fast and it would really help us,” said McCormick.
The senior attacker started the scoring for the Comets with less than two minutes into the first quarter. After the Pirates made it even, McCormick and Kilmetis combined for three of the next four goals to push the lead to 5-1.
The chemistry of the team, particularly of Kilmetis and McCormick continues to play a pivotal role.
“I’ve been playing with Pat since I started playing lacrosse so the chemistry is definitely strong. Brian Lang coming over from Holy Trinity helped our offense even more,” said Kilmetis.
When the Pirates began to settle down in the second quarter, scoring their second goal of the game, McCormick and Kilmetis again combined to squander any potential run. McCormick scored three of the Comets’ second quarter goals. Kilmetis put an exclamation mark on the opening half with his third of the game with 1:01 remaining.
“It wasn’t really anything special,” said McCormick on his five-goal performance. “I just took what the defense gave me and I had a good shooting day today.”
Head coach Chuck Arnone noted that his team was the better team on the day as he continues to be happy with his team’s performances throughout the season.
“We’ve played well the whole year. I’m happy with the performance and the consistency,” he said.
With the regular season winding down, the team could be hitting another gear right before playoffs.
“After the ‘Pequa loss, we kind of meshed together and realized there was only three games left before playoffs so we’re making the most of every single day. We’re just going to keep on trucking,” said McCormick.
Kilmetis has certainly found his stride offensively over the last few games after a slow start offensively from the middle.
“I’ve had a slow season at the beginning, but I’ve had to pick it up going into playoffs. I know we need more offensive production,” Kilmetis said.
Not only was it a big win on the scoreboard for the Comets, it’s a game that’s always special to win. With such a comfortable lead, every senior was able to take the field.
“It’s really important,” said McCormick. “As a group, as seniors we really want to make this last year really memorable for us, I wouldn’t want to play with any other guys.”
