Moore's 5 goals key West Islip to state semifinal win

West Islip's offense showed its explosiveness and its depth last night in a thrill-a-minute 20-10 shootout victory over Lakeland/Panas in a state Class A semifinal at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium.

Long Island's leading scorer, Nicky Galasso, was held relatively in check by quick, feisty 5-foot-1 Andrew Fazio, a long-stick middie who showed his individuality by wearing purple shoes. But a pride of Lions stepped to the forefront.

Most prominent were senior middie Rob Moore, who scored five goals, senior middie Andrew Hodgson, who scored four goals with four assists, and senior attack Matt Gebhardt who scored three goals. Galasso had two goals and two assists, giving him 65 goals and 64 assists for the season.

The Lions (20-1), who have won 20 straight, will go for a second straight state championship Saturday at 4 p.m. against Fairport at Stony Brook University's LaValle Stadium. Fairport defeated Ithaca 8-6.

Shawn Honovich scored four goals for Lakeland (18-4) and Robert Caffrey added three. The busiest player on the field had to be besieged goalie Robert Belger of Lakeland. He faced 59 shots, 38 on goal, and made 18 saves, many of them outstanding. Lakeland, from Section 1, tried to run with West Islip, which made for an entertaining game, especially early, as the Lions led only 8-5 at halftime.

But the Lions staged a dazzling eight-goal party in the third quarter to blow this one wide open. Moore and Galasso scored twice each in the period, with the other goals coming from Mike Sagl, Conor Braddish, Hodgson and Drew Federico.

At one point, Lakeland cut it to 9-7 with 8:56 left in the third. That's when the Lions roared loudest, as 37 seconds after the Rebels cut the deficit to two, Galasso finished off a feed from Braddish that ignited a 4-0 run. Two of those goals came six seconds apart - by Moore and Hodgson.

SEE PHOTOSWest Islip 20, Lakeland/Panas 10

When the Rebels cut it to 13-9 with 2:01 left in the third, West Islip again went on a fastbreak spree, scoring three goals in 1:32 to close out the period - by Moore, Federico and Galasso.

Galasso's goal, with 5.9 seconds left, was pure serendipity. From high in the slot, he fired a pass intended for Federico in front that handcuffed Belger and wound up in the net. That was a familiar landing place for a bunch of shots all night.