St. Dominic boys lacrosse hopes to build on win over Kellenberg
Getting off to a quick start was going to be key for the St. Dominic boys lacrosse team Friday when they traveled to Kelleberg to take on the top-seeded Firebirds for the NSCHSAA 'AA' title.
A little over two weeks had passed since the regular-season matchup when Kellenberg jumped out early and came away with a six-goal win.
“The first time we played we didn’t really show too much, we tried to play straight up and vanilla in our approach,” St. Dominic coach Tom Rooney said. “We just wanted to slow the offense down because we know they have a good defense and they pressured us to go early. We wanted to play offense the way we wanted to and not how they wanted us to.”
All the adjustments paid off for the No. 2 Bayhawks, who got five goals and an assist from Casey Johnson and 15 saves from Michael Ippoliti to defeat No. 1 Kellenberg, 11-7, and capture the championship.
“Having a guy like Mike back there is nuts,” Johnson said. “He keeps up in every single game and he controls the defense. You know you’re going to get 5, 6, 7 or more saves you might not get from another goalie.”
The St. Dominic (12-5) defense was firing on all cylinders early, shutting out Kellenberg (8-9) in the first quarter and holding the high-powered offense led by Adrian Nowak to just two goals in the half. Nowak had five goals and four assists for Kellenberg in the first meeting and had a goal and two assists Friday.
“We wanted to really throw everything at them,” Ippoliti said. “My defense played incredibly and put me in a great position to make saves. The coaches had a great game plan and we stuck to it.”
The Bayhawks will host Iona Prep Monday at 5 p.m. for the chance to get to the championship game.
“Coming off that big win hopefully we can play that into Monday,” Ippoliti said. “We just want to stay strong defensively and I’m sure we’ll put up a great fight.”
Looking ahead
The Nassau boys lacrosse playoffs are back at Hofstra for the first time this week since 2019.
Seven games will take place across two days this week, beginning with the Class A semifinals and a D semifinal on Thursday. Friday will be the Class B and C semis. The games were played at Mitchel Field last year and canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
“It’s what Nassau lacrosse is all about,” Manhasset coach Keith Cromwell said. “I remember going there during my days playing at Hicksville and I know the boys love that experience.”
The A and D championship games will be decided on May 31 and the B and C champions will be crowned on June 1. Hofstra will also play host to all of the Long Island championship games on June 4 and the state title games on June 11.
Manhasset, the top-seed in Class C, hosts a quarterfinal Tuesday before the potential Hofstra games begin.
“Our team is ready to put a stamp on their high school careers there,” Cromwell said. “There’s nothing better.”
Gene Morris joined Newsday's sports department in September 2012 and covers high school sports. He earned a journalism degree from Stony Brook University in 2010.
