Gordon, Dwyer team up for Garden City's winning goal

A wild scramble near midfield that resulted in a Garden City possession in the first minute of the second overtime may have seemed like a good time for a timeout. But Garden City's dynamic attack duo of Tom Gordon and Devin Dwyer were thinking, "Not this time, coach. Not this time."

"I didn't want a timeout. I wanted that unsettled situation," Gordon, a junior, said of a rare fastbreak opportunity that resulted from defenseman Brian Fischer's clear. "We run the fastbreak all the time in practice."

So Gordon raced to his favorite spot in the Trojans' triangle formation - bottom right - while Garden City coach Steve Finnell considered calling time. At the top right of the triangle stood Dwyer, waiting for Fischer to pass him the ball. "If coach called time then, I'd have been pretty angry," Dwyer, a sophomore said. "When I see us in transition, I look to go."

Turns out, Dwyer and Gordon had the angles figured perfectly. Dwyer delivered the pass and Gordon fired accurately, high into the right corner 52 seconds into the second OT, as the Trojans outlasted Comsewogue, 9-8, Tuesday in the Long Island Class B boys lacrosse championship game played at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium. Garden City faces Niskayuna tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. at Hofstra in the state Class B semifinals.

"That's our hookup. I was definitely looking for him," said Dwyer, who had five assists in this thrilling defensive struggle that Garden City (17-3) barely survived to end a four-year losing streak in the LIC. Comsewogue, which got three goals from Tom Cleary and two each from Ryan Brunet and Doug Foley, finished 17-2.

"We were talking about a timeout," Finnell admitted. "But Fischer is one of our best athletes. He made a good pass to Devin . . . Tom did a super job. He missed some opportunities earlier but he kept playing."

Gordon nearly won the game at the end of the first overtime. He was on the doorstep one-on-one against Comsewogue goalie Patrick Bonacum (13 saves), who made a hockey-like kick save - a beauty with 0:00 on the clock on a shot that would've counted. "The goalie makes an outstanding save and instead of putting his head down, Tommy wants the ball."

Gordon wanted it all afternoon. His third goal also was huge. With Comsewogue leading 8-6, Gordon scored unassisted on a slick spin move with 2:01 left in regulation. Then sophomore Liam Kennedy scored his third of the game with 10 seconds left on a terrific feed from Dwyer stationed behind the net to force overtime.

"I definitely knew that this team could come back," Gordon said. There was just enough time, no timeout needed.