Comsewogue's complete game on display as offense, defense dominate

You never know which unit will step up when the Comsewogue boys lacrosse team hits the field.

They used their strong defense in a grind-it-out first half Friday against Westhampton, heading into the break up a goal.

In the second half, things clicked offensively and their array of talent was able to control the pace and light up the scoreboard.

In the end it added up to a 12-5 win in Suffolk II that showed that any team that hopes to beat Comsewogue (10-1) will have to play a complete game.

"We’re able to play a lot of different ways offensively and a lot of different defenses," Comsewogue coach Pete Mitchell said. "This is a dynamic team, but we still have a lot more work to do because there are a ton of great teams we’re still going to see."

Mike Katz had four goals and an assist, Vincent Herbstman had four goals, Jake Deacy had four assists and James Matione added a goal and three assists for Comsewogue.

"We definitely have eight or nine guys that can really move the ball and shoot," Deacy said. "It’s good to have that depth so we can rest guys when we need to but we have problems everywhere on the field."

SEE PHOTOSGame photos: Comsewogue vs. Westhampton

Westhampton (6-5) got off to a quick start, getting goals from Peter Traina and Jack Moloney to take a 2-0 lead four minutes in. Comsewogue answered with three straight goals before Westhampton went back ahead 4-3 on a goal from Dan Naglieri late in the first half.

From that point forward Comsewogue went on a 5-0 run that spanned 16:45 of game time.

"We talked to the boys at halftime and we just said we need to stay calm and collected," defenseman Aiden McCaffrey said. "We just needed to go out there and play the way that we play."

The defensive unit of McCaffrey, Brendan McCrary, Ryan Mimnaugh and Matt Sparhuber effectively shut down the Westhampton offense the rest of the way and allowed the team to get into a rhythm. It also helped that face-off specialist Kevin Radmann won 15 of 21 to help keep possession.

"I think we definitely have the best defense in the county," Deacy said. "We shut teams down that have been putting a lot of goals on the board. It’s a big energy thing, when our defense does good it helps us step it up."

It’s a scary thought for the rest of the Suffolk B teams to come up against a Comsewogue squad firing on all cylinders late in the season.

"We’ve been consistently scoring and shutting teams down," McCaffrey said. "We just have to keep it going and soon enough we’ll be in the playoffs."

By Gene Morris

gene.morris@newsday.comGeneMorris

Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.