Huntington Boys Upset Comsewogue To Reach Class B Final

Somewhere in the aftermath of Dan Plant's game-winning goal, a cry rang out from the bench.

"Sixteen wins and one Blue Devil loss!" was the yell.

While they were in middle school, the current Huntington boys lacrosse players watched their predecessors play for Suffolk County, Long Island and state titles. They will finally get their shot next Wednesday after beating previously undefeated Comsewogue 12-11 in overtime in Wednesday’s Class B semifinal.

“Since I was a kid watching , I always wanted to play at Stony Brook,”  senior Will Coffey said. “It was a season goal as seniors and as a team to get there. It doesn’t feel any better than right now.”

Hero: After Huntington's Nick Saputo won the all-important opening faceoff of overtime, the Blue Devils called a timeout. After a brief setup, the ball ended up on Plant's stick. He took it up the right side and fired a quick, high shot that beat Comsewogue goalie Pat Bonacum to put the Blue Devils into the Suffolk County final.

 "Nicky won the faceoff, and none of that happened without him winning it,” said Plant. “Our plan was to attack the short sticks. We saw that I had the short sticks, so I just got the ball from the side. The coaches said “attack them”, so I did and I scored.”

Plant’s game-winner was his third goal of the game. Huntington’s leading scorer was Nick Saputo, who scored four, all in the first half.

Comsewogue midfielder Connor Duddy scored four for the Warriors, including the goal that tied the game with 42.4 seconds remaining in regulation.

Turning Point: Considering that the Blue Devils needed overtime to win a game they led 11-5 midway through the third quarter, you could say that the game winner was the turning point. But Huntington was able to build that lead with some quick strikes off of faceoffs in the first quarter. The Blue Devils followed each of Comsewogue’s first two goals with goals of their own off just seconds after the ensuing faceoff.

“They bring their faceoff guy off the field real quick, so we were creating a 6-on-5 situation, keeping the long pole on,” said head coach Paul McDermott. “We were working on that in practice. We wanted to push the ball if we were going to win the faceoff, because we had the advantage.”

Quotable: “I’m at a loss for words here today,” said McDermott. “We’ve just gotten so much better as the season progressed. Our offense has been jelling, and the defense has been playing well all along.”

Upcoming: Huntington will play Shoreham-Wading River in the Class B final at Stony Brook University June 1 at 5:30 p.m.

Box Score:

Scoring Summary:

1st Quarter

4:03 - Huntington goal - Saputo (1) - 1-0 HUNT

6:34 - Huntington goal - Saputo (2) - 2-0 HUNT

8:02 - Comsewogue goal - Menezes (1) - 2-1 HUNT

8:11 - Huntington goal - Saputo (3) - 3-1 HUNT

9:29 - Comsewogue goal - Duddy (1) - 3-2 HUNT

9:35 - Huntington goal - Castelli (1) - 4-2 HUNT

9:52 - Huntington goal - Coffey (1) - 5-2 HUNT

10:08 - Comsewogue goal - T. Donnelly (1) - 5-3 HUNT

2nd Quarter

1:31 - Comsewogue goal - Duddy (2) - 5-4 HUNT

2:48 - Huntington goal - Plant (1) - 6-4 HUNT

4:02 - Huntington goal - Castelli (2) - 7-4 HUNT

7:39 - Comsewogue goal - Drane (1) - 7-5 HUNT

9:29 - Comsewogue goal - Foley (1) - 7-6 HUNT

10:32 - Huntington goal - Saputo (4) - 8-6 HUNT

3rd Quarter

1:07 - Huntington goal - Roselli (1) - 9-6 HUNT

2:19 - Huntington goal - Plant (2) - 10-6 HUNT

2:38 - Huntington goal - Cutrone (1) - 11-6 HUNT

7:37 - Comsewogue goal - Duddy (3) - 11-7 HUNT

8:43 - Comsewogue goal - Hughes (1) - 11-8 HUNT

4th Quarter

6:08 - Comsewogue goal - Hughes (2) - 11-9 HUNT

7:05 - Comsewogue goal - Scalera (1) - 11-10 HUNT

11:17 - Comsewogue goal - Duddy (4) - 11-11

Overtime

:14 - Huntington goal - Plant (3) - 12-11 HUNT

Huntington

Goals: Saputo 4, Plant 3, Castelli 2, Coffey, Roselli, Cutrone.

Assists: Cutrone 2, Saputo, Coffey.

Saves: McGrath 8.

Comsewogue

Goals: Duddy 4, Hughes 2, Menezes, T. Donnelly, Drane, Foley, Scalera.

Assists: Duddy, Scalera, Russell, Hughes, Brunet.

Saves: Bonacum 6.

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