Henry Gibbons #7 of Garden City follows through on a...

Henry Gibbons #7 of Garden City follows through on a shot during the Class B boys lacrosse Long Island Championship against Comsewogue at Shuart Stadium on Saturday, June 4, 2022. Credit: James Escher

This level of pressure was anything but new for the Garden City boys lacrosse team.

And as another Long Island crown hung in the balance entering the fourth quarter on Saturday afternoon, their previous experience in those intense moments shone through.

With the score even going into the final quarter, Garden City displayed its championship mettle yet again, scoring four of the final five goals to defeat Comsewogue, 9-6, and earn the Long Island Class B championship at Hofstra’s James M. Shuart Stadium.

Garden City’s goal-scoring barrage in the fourth fittingly mirrored its current run of success on this stage, as the Trojans won their fourth Long Island championship over the past five seasons. The meeting was a rematch of last season’s showdown, which Garden City won 5-1.

Defensemen Brendan Staub and Cole Webber earned co-Most Valuable Player honors.

Garden City (17-2) advances to the Class B state semifinals against Rye (Section I) on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at SUNY Albany.

“It means everything to us,” said Henry Gibbons, who broke a tie at 5 at the 9:36 mark before sealing the title with the final goal with 37.2 seconds remaining. “Our coaches preach that first it’s the county championship and then it’s the LIC.

“It’s really special. The younger guys learn so much from us in practice and it helps prepare them to keep it going.”

Gibbons led the way with three goals and Luke Schmitt added two goals. Stevie Finnell, son of coach Steve Finnell, followed up Gibbons’ go-ahead goal with one of his own 37 seconds later.

Mike Fargione then tacked on another goal with 6:51 left to extend the lead 8-5 prior to Michael Katz’s final goal for Comsewogue with 5:18 to go. He scored four on the day.

Chris Allen had eight saves for the Trojans.

“Going into this game we knew this was going to be hard,” Schmitt said. “But we knew we had to be tough and that’s something we always try to do.”

Trailing 4-2 at halftime, Comsewogue (13-6) battled back with three unanswered goals to take its first lead late in the quarter. Gibbons proceeded to tie it with just under a minute left and set the stage for another Garden City Long Island championship-clinching finish.

“Every year is different with an awesome group of kids,” Steve Finnell said of Garden City’s dynastic run. “I think these guys wanted to put their stamp on it and they did. They’ve done a great job.

“The expectations are high, but the kids want it. We’re not going to shy away from it. We play a lot of really good teams in non-league and it prepares us for these playoff runs.”

In a frightening moment less than four minutes into the game, Comsewogue midfielder Thomas Kennedy received a hard hit and was tended to by medical staff while remaining down for approximately 40 minutes before being stretchered off the field and transported to a nearby hospital via ambulance.

Comsewogue coach Peter Mitchell said after the game that Kennedy was OK, speaking and had movement in all his extremities. He was undergoing further evaluation.

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