Federico leads West Islip to victory

With a chip on his shoulder, senior attack Drew Federico made sure the chips fell just right for West Islip.

Federico scored two goals and made two assists as the Lions defeated Connetquot, 6-2, Friday in a Suffolk Class A semifinal that drew a large crowd to the bleachers on both sides of the field at West Islip High School.

Despite being the leading scorer on a team that has now won 39 in a row, 18 this season, Federico was not named as an All-American. According to Lions coach Scott Craig: “That was a slight snub. I think he felt it, too, and came out with a little attitude.”

Attitude or not, goals were hard to come by for both teams until Federico beat Zach Oliveri (10 saves) with a solo dodge from behind the cage for a 1-0 first-quarter advantage.

He scored in transition on a feed from Nick Aponte late in the third quarter for a 3-1 lead and after the Thunderbirds (13-5) made it 4-2, Federico set up Jon Reese and Brendan Smith for fourth-quarter goals that put the game out of reach. The Lions, winners of the last seven Suffolk Class A titles, will face Smithtown West for the county championship Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Stony Brook University.

“This year is the first time I’ve ever had more assists than goals,” said Federico, who has 41 assists. “They moved me to ‘x’ because that’s the role they need me to play.”

Among those now doing more goal-scoring is junior attack Tom Moore, who contributed two goals. “When he’s scoring out there on the left wing,” Federico said, “that completes the team.”

SEE PHOTOSWest Islip 6, Connetquot 2

What really completed Federico’s offense Friday was a lock-down defense, led by senior Kyle Carrick. “We played great man-to-man defense and our slide packages worked well,” Craig said. “We didn’t give them any quality looks and we didn’t give them anything inside.”

Carrick helped keep the crease clear and force shots from outside against goalie Kyle Turri, who had to make only five saves. “Coach said trust Kyle and take away the easy shot,” Carrick said. “I think we frustrated them a little at the end when they couldn’t get any good looks.”

Carrick said the Lions’ defense always plays with a bit of a chip on its shoulders because the unit gets overshadowed by the potent offense. “You know what they say about playing defense: All the work, none of the credit,” Carrick said. “But two goals is enough credit for us.”