Smithtown West reaches lacrosse 'A' final

Smithtown West's boys lacrosse team believed it had gotten the better of Ward Melville the previous time they played, on April 13.

But the scoreboard said otherwise, and the Bulls had to wait more than a month to avenge the overtime loss.

They did so in convincing fashion Friday and find themselves one win from a county title.

Matt Schultz had four goals and James Pannell and Kyle Keenan each added three goals and two assists as No. 3 Smithtown West pulled away in the second half to beat the No. 2 Patriots, 15-7, in a Suffolk Class A semifinal.

The Bulls will meet No. 1 West Islip in the final at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Stony Brook University.

"It's a huge team win today," Keenan said. "Everyone on the team took part in this win."

West (15-3) held a 7-2 lead at halftime, but the Patriots (16-2) responded with four straight goals, and Will Mazzone's score with 4:44 left in the third cut the lead to 1.

SEE PHOTOSSmithtown West 15, Ward Melville 7

But with nine seconds remaining in the quarter, Schultz scored to make it 8-6.

"We were just looking to settle the ball down," Bulls coach Sean Keenan said. "We made some mistakes in the third quarter, and Matt's goal settled us down."

Trailing 10-7 in the fourth quarter, Ward Melville pulled goalie Connor Ryan and doubled the ballcarrier.

Frankie Reda responded with a natural hat trick -- two empty-netters and a man-up goal -- to extend the West lead to 13-7 late in the quarter.

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"It was a 10-7 game when they decided to press out, and when you press out, it's a gamble," Sean Keenan said.

Goalie Ryan Adler stopped 13 of 20 shots and Craig Madarasz won 15 of 23 faceoffs to help set up the offense's second-half surge.

The win advances the Bulls to their first county championship appearance since 2009, when they lost to Sayville.

A win over West Islip would give the program its first county championship. Said Kyle Keenan: "It would be huge for the whole program, especially the senior group, with all the hard work and dedication we have put in.