St. Anthony's Boys Lacrosse Tops Holy Trinity, 13-5

Junior attack Sean McDonagh scored five times in the game’s first 18 minutes Thursday to power the boys to a 13-5 road win over Holy Trinity.

After allowing the Titans to score first, St. Anthony’s poured in 13 unanswered goals to take a commanding lead in a battle for second place in the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA. The Friars led 11-1 at the half as coach Keith Wieczorek pulled his starters midway through the second period. The starting lineup took the field to start the third but quickly returned to the bench – this time for good. 

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The Friars (11-2 overall, 5-1 CHSAA) also scored an 11-4 win over Holy Trinity on April 12. The Titans (10-5, 4-3) actually led the first meeting after one quarter and proved feisty throughout. Not so this time.

Heroes: It was the Sean McDonagh show in the first half. The Harvard commit and Huntington resident scored the equalizer with 4:45 left in the opening quarter. Nick Alibradi put the Friars up 2-1 with 2:23 left and St. Anthony’s never looked back.

But McDonagh was just getting started. He scored five goals – all in a 10-minute span – and added an assist.

Junior midfielder Brian Sherlock had three goals and one assist while senior attack Christian Bennardo tallied three assists.

Turning Point: It happened in practice Wednesday when Holy Trinity senior goalie D.J. Mauro suffered a possible season-ending injury. The league’s best stopper took a shot off his foot, according to athletic director Chris Hardardt. The result: A severely dislocated – or worse, fractured – toe. The Titans clearly missed Mauro against the relentless Friars.

Quotable: “We jumped on them early and often,” Wieczorek said. “We have 49 kids on the active roster and we got 36 in the game today.”

Bottom Line: It was a strong tune-up before the rematch with rival Chaminade in Mineola on May 11 at 6 p.m. The Friars simply couldn’t hang with Chaminade in the first meeting, a 10-5 loss on April 5.

The good news is the Friars owned the faceoff circle and possessed the ball against Holy Trinity. A positive vibe on offense is what St. Anthony’s needs considering how the attack stalled against Chaminade.

This one will be for first place and the top seed in the playoffs. So the memory of the first game can be erased with four brilliant quarters.

Key Stat: Two. As in two starters missing from the Friars’ lineup. Senior defenseman Matt DeLea (a Binghamton signee) sat out. But the big loss is senior midfielder Charlie Raffa, who will miss the rest of the regular season. Raffa, who signed to play lacrosse at Maryland, has not dressed since suffering a concussion and jaw injury in a 9-8 OT loss to Darien (Conn.) on April 27. Raffa, who is fighting the option of getting his jaw wired shut, hopes to return for the playoffs.

Who’s Next: St. Anthony’s @ Chaminade, Wednesday, 6 p.m.

Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA Boys Lacrosse

Teams………..…...1…..2…..3…..4 – F

St. Anthony’s…..4…..7…..2…..0 – 13

Holy Trinity.......1…..0…..2…..2 – 5

Goals – SA: McDonagh 5, Sherlock 3, Chanenchuk 2, Alibradi, Koerner, Long; HT: Plaia 2, Condon, Pues, Zecher. Saves – SA: Burke 14, Caliendo 9; HT: Russell 8.