Nassau boys lacrosse preview

Will the 120th installment of the Woodstick Classic be only Round 1 in this year's Garden City-Manhasset anthology?

With the two-time defending state Class C champion Indians having moved up to Class B, the hype machine is set to turbo.

"It was inevitable," Garden City coach Steve Finnell said of the talk about a possible Garden City-Manhasset county final. "It's gonna be a big hype game, but it doesn't mean a thing in the playoffs."

As for the other corner?

"People just think we're automatically going to play again," Manhasset coach Bill Cherry said. "We're going to prepare for it as a regular non-league game for us."

Regardless, defending state Class B finalist Garden City and Manhasset, winner of 37 straight, are widely regarded as Nassau's top two teams.

The Trojans, who play in Conference B-I, boast 10 Division I players. All-Americans Stephen Jahelka and Brian Fischer team with J.P. Burnside and goalie Dan Marino to form a defense that's allowed just eight goals in its first three games. Devin Dwyer, Tom Gordon, Patric Berkery and Liam Kennedy were the team's top scorers last season and all four return.

For the Indians, a Conference B-II team, All-American defender Rob Duvnjak protects returning goalie Frank Morelli. Tom Gavin is one of the top defensive midfielders in the county, and Harry Kucharczyk paces the offense.

Wantagh will have something to say in the Conference B-I race behind goalie Jake Gambitsky. Ryan Walsh is the team's main offensive threat, along with Matt Balzano. James Bonanno is an excellent two-way middie.

Bethpage, Hewlett and South Side will all be in the Class B mix.

CLASS A

Defending champ Farmingdale returns leading scorer Sal Tuttle, plus sidekicks Korey Hendrickson and Brian Prendergast in addition to All-American defender J.J. Ostrander and Smithtown West transfer, middie Mike Perettine. Massapequa has four senior attacks returning, including Jamie Shand and Dylan Sheehan. Steven Romano is the top middie, and junior Joe Danaher takes over in net.

Syosset goalie Ryan Feit is one of the best in the county. He's protected by Alirio DeMeireles, and Ryan Hunter leads on attack. Other Class A contenders include Hicksville, led by Joe Leonard, Long Beach, led by Joe Radin, and Oceanside, behind Chris Hughes and Nick Sherry. Division is off to a shaky start, but attack Tom Nuckel leads Long Island with 20 goals.

CLASS C

Friends Academy, behind Harry Dellafera, and Cold Spring Harbor, led by Chris Moriarty, are the teams to beat, and Seaford will be in the mix.