Garden City snaps Manhasset's win streak

The Garden City players jubilantly passed the Woodstick Trophy around from player to player, just the way the ball moved around on offense. Seemed like everybody got a touch.

The Trojans used a balanced attack, featuring nine assists, and scored six straight second-half goals to beat Manhasset, 10-6, Saturday night in the 120th edition of the Woodstick Classic before an overflow crowd of more than 3,000 at Manhasset High School.

The Indians' 45-game winning streak, dating to 2009, ended as they fell to 9-1. Garden City improved to 9-2 with the non-league victory.

"A lot of our goals were assisted. Assisted goals are really nice," said Garden City junior attack Devin Dwyer, who received assists on all three of his goals and had an assist himself. "This feels awesome. We lost [the Woodstick] two years in a row, so this is the first time for me. Coach [Steve Finnell] won five of them and he always talks about it. Now I now how he feels."

It was a feel-good night for senior tri-captains Tom Gordon, a middie who scored two goals, and defensemen Steve Jahelka and Brian Fischer, who limited Manhasset's scoring opportunities.

"To hold a great team like Manhasset to six goals is great," Finnell said. "We're a defensive team, first and foremost. But we had a balanced offense. We were unselfish and several guys had points."

Ryan Matthews tied it at 4 for Manhasset with 9:20 left in the third quarter. But that was the Indians' last stand. Dwyer took a slick feed from Liam Kennedy (two goals, three assists), faked high and shot low to put the Trojans ahead to stay on an extra-man goal with 7:42 left in the third. Kennedy scored in front on a feed from Patric Berkery with 1:35 left in the period for the first two-goal lead of the game.

The Trojans broke it open with a four-goal flurry in the fourth quarter. Dwyer scored twice, and Berkery and Gordon had goals to make it 10-4.

"Our offense really moved the ball around," Fischer said. "We didn't just get shots. We got great shots."

They also got great work from their defense and midfield, and goalie Dan Marino, who had several doorstep stops among his nine saves.

"Manhasset depends on its clearing game, but we did a good job clearing and controlling the ball," Fischer said. "For the seniors, this is a great way to go out, but it isn't just about us."

That's why Gordon, Jahelka and Fischer were the first three to hold the trophy, after it was presented to them in the annual postgame ritual by Manhasset coach Bill Cherry.

"This is more than a game," Jahelka said of the oldest continuing high school lacrosse rivalry in the country. "It's about their town. It's about our town."

Manhasset owns a 66-54 advantage in the series, which began in 1935. But for now, the Woodstick moves back to the city, Garden City, that is.