Galasso leads West Islip to LI Class A title

Thousands of West Islip fans, a veritable sea of blue, were asked before last night's game to relocate to the visitors' side of Hofstra's Shuart Stadium. Once the game started, the team they came to cheer was a veritable tidal wave.

The Lions, ranked No. 1 in the nation, rode the spectacular play of Nicky Galasso to a 13-1 victory over Farmingdale in the Long Island Class A championship game. West Islip, 19-1 and riding a 19-game winning streak, will face Lakeland in tomorrow's state Class A semifinal at 8:30 p.m. at Hofstra.

West Islip won the LIC for the second time in a row and the sixth time in the last seven years. The Lions are the defending state champions and have won three of the last four state Class A crowns.

Galasso scored five goals with two assists, raising his Long Island-leading totals to 121 points and 61 assists. His nearly even split between goals and assists is remarkable for an attack, most of whom are usually feeders or finishers. Clearly, the North Carolina-bound Galasso is both.

He not only scored and passed in traditional fashion, but he also added a few original style points. He scored a spectacular one-handed wraparound-style goal early in the third quarter and then made a one-handed pass to Drew Federico that made it 10-0.

Galasso scored the game's first two goals and also concluded West Islip's skein of 12 unanswered goals when he took a feed from Federico (two goals, two assists) and scored with 10:48 left.

At that point, by rule, running time was employed, meaning no clock stoppages other than for timeouts. Farmingdale (16-3) finally scored on Greg Catalano's unassisted goal with 6:04 left, but running time was restored when reserve attack Tom Moore scored for West Islip.

SEE PHOTOSHigh school sports -- June

By that time, the sea of blue was streaming for the exits.