Martini family leads way for Wantagh boys lacrosse, combining for nine goals to beat South Side
Dylan Martini #7 of Wantagh, left, gets in position to shoot as Patrick Mullin #11 of South Side closes in on him during a Nassau boys lacrosse game at Wantagh High School on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. Credit: James Escher
Wantagh had too many Martinis and a whole lot of motivation.
Dylan Martini scored four goals. His brother, Luke Martini, contributed three. And their cousin, Jake Martini, scored twice and had an assist.
Throw in three goals and an assist from Joe Nicholson and two goals and two assists from Devin Paccione.
It added up to a very good win for a hungry Wantagh team Wednesday, a 15-11 decision on its home turf over South Side, a fellow Nassau Power League lacrosse opponent that had arrived undefeated.
“They do have confidence, but they have been waiting for the opportunity to show that they can compete with some of these big dogs in the county,” Wantagh coach James Polo said of his players. “It’s a pride thing for these kids.”
South Side, an experienced Class B contender coming off a semifinal run, was 6-0 overall and 4-0 in league play, including a win over the two-time defending state champ in B, Garden City. Wantagh, a Nassau C finalist last season, fell to Garden City.
But this victory took the team to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the league.
And it served as a statement.
“Our entire week, we were preaching that if they didn’t know, now we’re on the map,” said Dylan Martini, a junior attackman and Albany commit. “We’re a tough team. We’ve got players at every position that are willing to scrap for 48 minutes.”
Wantagh scored the final six goals.
Paccione and Dylan Martini converted from in close, and it was 11-11 heading for the fourth.
Jake Martini then made a run and scored on Michael Muscarella, who made five of his seven stops in the second half.
Luke Martini scored, and then so did Jake Martini again, this time with a left-side rocket. Nicholson capped the closing run, delivering a goal with 3:03 left.
“It’s always good to beat a good team,” Jake Martini said. “You come out firing. You play finally a full 48-minute game.”
South Side had gone from down 9-7 at halftime to up 11-9 just past the midpoint of the third after Griffin Mills went low to beat Gianni Passaro, who made nine saves.
“We certainly didn’t expect to go 20-something-and-oh,” Cyclones coach Steve DiPietro said. “So this is a good learning opportunity. And they’re a very good team. They’re probably the favorite to win the Cs. So it was against another championship-level team.”
