The Port Washington Vikings barely let the Uniondale Knights have a chance to cradle the ball at the Senior Day game on May 11. The Vikings destroyed the Knights with a final score of 19-6 after each senior player walked across the field with their parents and presented those who helped make the day possible with flowers.
Seniors honored at the ceremony included no. 1 Crew Weingard, no. 3 Justin Masi, no. 7 Ben Floch, no. 8 Luis De La O, no. 16 Tommy Carillo, no. 17 Rhys Jackson, no. 19 Jordan Schaffer, no. 25 Owen Mitchell, no. 27 Robbie Connors, no. 30 Jack Lefkowitz, no. 33 Joey Manno, no. 38 Chris Hernandez, no. 40 Michael Hartman and no. 44 Brian Crawley who played the first quarter of the game with great defense and skill.
The Vikings came out of the gates ready to win, scoring two goals in the first three minutes of the first quarter. However, first quarter seemed to be played point for point as the Knights tried to keep up, scoring one goal seconds later.
The Vikings quickly followed it up with their third goal with the Knights trailing behind with their second and third score, tying the game. After no. 44 Crawley was able to put the Vikings ahead only to have the Knights score their fourth goal, once again tying the game. A final goal scored by the Vikings put them in the lead at the end of the first quarter with a score of 5-4.
The Vikings didn’t let the Knights score once in the second quarter, with great defense played by no. 9 AJ Galassi, no. 16 Carillo, no. 22 James Dalimonte, no. 24 Zander Stapleton and no. 32 Donovan McCurty. Goals were scored no. 26 Harry Basham and no. 27 Connors, who scored twice, no. 22 Dalimonte and no. 5 Drew Turner, with the second quarter score ending in 11-4. Yet again the Vikings wouldn’t let the Knights score a single goal in the third quarter, with a score of 18-4. Goals were made by no. 26 Basham, no. 5 Turner, no. 14 John Athanasian and no. 22 Dalimonte.
The Knights tried to make a comeback in the fourth quarter, to no avail. With no. 19 Schaffer scoring the first goal of the quarter and final goal of the game, the Vikings solidified their win against the Knights who made their last two goals with five minutes of the game left, making the final score 19-6.
“Today’s game was a game to right a few wrongs,” said head coach Isaac Neal. “The last three games that we had, we lost, but we had been on a really solid role, so I think for us it was important to come out and take advantage of the last two days of practice and really put it against another team.”
The Port Washington boys’ lacrosse team currently has a record of 10-5, having won games against Locust Valley, Freeport, Baldwin, Seaford, Hempstead, Hewlett, Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK, Oceanside and East Meadow.
“The last three games were pretty rough,” added one of the team’s captains, no. 44 Crawley. “We were 0 and 3 against some teams we’ve had trouble with in the past, so today we needed to take care of business and that’s exactly what we did.”
Not only is senior Crawley one of the team’s captains along with Manno, Weingard and Masi, he has also been given the honor to wear the no. 44 jersey, which holds huge significance for the team. One of Crawley’s close family friends had a father who passed away from cancer, so the team decided to pass down Crawley’s friend’s number in honor of him and his father.
“Whenever he’s around he makes you smile, he’s the best, so over the past few years we’ve had this tradition where we pass down the no. 44 and it kind of resembles the guy who represents our team,” said Crawley. “It’s definitely humbling to wear the jersey and it’s a huge honor. It’s a new tradition, but I know it will go on for a while and it’s really something special to be a part of.”
