Rooney leads comeback as East Islip stuns Smithtown West

Eye black was dripping down the face of East Islip's Mike Rooney like mascara that had run amok. A mixture of intermittent rain and steady sweat produced a rather ghastly image. But given what occurred on Sal Ciampi Field at Boomer Esiason Stadium on Friday, it was a perfect portrait - the face of an improbable winner.

Rooney and his teammates staged a rally for the ages, overcoming a 12-4 late first-half deficit to stun Smithtown West, 17-15, in a remarkable Division I lacrosse duel.

"In 24 years of coaching here, I can't remember a comeback like that," said Joe Ancona, whose Redmen are 2-0.

Rooney, who had three goals and an assist, said: "I don't think there's ever been a game like this in East Islip history. It was awesome."

It certainly didn't start out that way for the Redmen. The Bulls' slick attack of Kyle Keenan and James Pannell sizzled in the drizzle in the first half. Keenan, a junior, scored four goals with four assists and Pannell, a sophomore, had three goals and five assists. That helped the Bulls (1-1) produce a 12-5 halftime lead and plenty of doubts in the minds of East Islip.

"You get down a little, but we figured if they can score 12 goals in a half, we could do the same thing," Rooney said.

Goals by Kevin Hutchinson (two goals, three assists), Chris Joyce (two goals) and Jim Cummings in the first three minutes of the third period made it 12-8. East Islip locked down the Bulls and goals by Tyler Begley and Rooney made it 12-10 after three. The flow of the game clearly had changed from West to East.

SEE PHOTOSEast Islip 17, Smithtown West 15

Another three-goal flurry in the first 2½ minutes of the fourth quarter - Tyler Rigo (two goals, two assists), Rooney and Joyce all scored - gave East Islip the lead. Smithtown West tied it at 13 and 14, but Rooney found Kevin Wendel (three goals, three assists) with 3:03 left and two minutes later, Hutchinson scored unassisted for the clincher.

The dramatic turnaround was keyed by the Redmen's domination of the second-half faceoffs. Bobby Hutchinson switched tactics and won all of his second-half duels, finishing 14-for-17.

"In the first half, I was getting a little frustrated using the clamp," he said. "In the second half, I just flipped it forward. When it worked, we got the fast break . . . Nothing compares to a comeback like this. Nothing."