Rocco Spallina, Tyler Byrnes help Massapequa boys lacrosse successfully defend Nassau Class A title
Massapequa players pose with the championship plaque after defeating Syosset in the Nassau Class A boys lacrosse championship at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Credit: Derrick Dingle
You might never see a more impressive first half than what Massapequa’s boys lacrosse put together under the lights at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium Tuesday night. Massapequa midfielder Jake Byrnes put it best as he clapped his hands in triumph, surrounded by his teammates as they flooded the field.
“This is our county, baby!”
No. 2 Massapequa stormed past No. 1 Syosset to successfully defend its Class A county title, 19-5. Massapequa (16-3) will return to the Long Island championship game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Stony Brook, facing Suffolk champion Sachem North.
In the first half alone, Massapequa’s Rocco Spallina had five goals and Nolan Wieczorek had three goals and three assists to hand Massapequa a dominant 11-2 lead at halftime. It outshot Syosset 24-8 in the half and 41-20 in the game.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Spallina said. “We lost one to them a few weeks back, so it’s just good to get one back on the biggest stage.”
Spallina added two goals and an assist in the second half, with Wieczorek assisting two more. Massapequa coach Kevin Catalano said the team watched the regular-season game against Syosset, a 13-12 overtime loss on May 15, about two and a half hours before they took the bus to Hofstra.
Did that hype the team up? Spallina said it added “fuel to the fire,” and Catalano agreed.
“Definitely,” Catalano said. “We were able to see things that we did incorrectly — we harped on that all week — and we made sure to capitalize on the things we had to do right.”
Ryan Chabus won 18-of-26 faceoffs with 16 ground balls, helping prevent Syosset (16-3) from gaining a foothold in the game. Massapequa's Tyler Byrnes dominated with five goals and one assist, including scoring off a feed from his brother, Jake, early in the fourth quarter to force a running clock with a 12-goal lead.
“It’s special,” Tyler Byrnes said. “You don’t play with him for that long, and you got to make all those moments count.”
Justin Farrell, Casey Gilchrist and Michael Ippolito led a lockdown defensive effort, with Farrell sticking on Syosset star Brody Waxer to hold him scoreless after Waxer scored seven in the regular-season meeting.
You won’t find a more impressive performance than what Massapequa’s boys lacrosse team just put together against Syosset.
— Michael Sicoli (@Michael__Sicoli) June 3, 2026
An 11-goal first half. Justin Farrell and Casey Gilchrist played suffocating defense.
And once again, Massapequa rules Nassau county. Here’s how it ended👇 pic.twitter.com/BKWqPJmDTA
Wieczorek is already itching to get back to the Long Island championship after it lost to Half Hollow Hills last year. By the way Massapequa played Tuesday, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Jake Byrnes was saying, ‘This is our state, baby!’ come June 14 in Geneva.
“It’s definitely exciting, but it’s just another step to our eventual goal, which is a state championship,” Wieczorek said.
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
