Shoreham-Wading River holds off Smithtown West in boys lacrosse
Shoreham-Wading River midfielder Alec Gregorek celebrates his goal with teammate Liam Kershis against Smithtown West in a Suffolk Division II boys lacrosse game on Saturday. Credit: George A Faella
It may have been a cold, blustery day in early April but the intensity on the field felt like late May.
Each time the Smithtown West boys lacrosse team tried to creep closer in the second half of Saturday’s boys lacrosse game at Shoreham-Wading River the Wildcats had an answer.
Francisco Cortes had four goals and three assists and Alec Gregorek had four goals and an assist in Shoreham-Wading River's 11-9 win in Suffolk II.
“That was a playoff type game and we were getting after it,” Shoreham-Wading River coach Mike Taylor said. “I’m happy with the performance.”
Gregorek scored his fourth goal with 1:49 left to put Shoreham ahead 11-6, but two penalties gave Smithtown West (1-1) a chance to get back in the game.
Ryan Trebing scored his third of the game with 1:11 left, Will Fitzsimmons added his second with 25 seconds to go and Owen Ellick scored his third off a rebound in front with nine seconds left to pull to within 11-9.
“Games like that with two good teams we just need to keep our cool,” Cortes said. “Playoff games are going to be tough like that and our man down did the job.”
Cortes scored two of his goals in the first quarter sandwiched around a pair from Ellick. He then added one each in the third and fourth quarters.
“He’s a leader on the field during games and in practice,” Taylor said of Cortes. “He’s my voice out there. I’m talking to the officials and he’s out there calming the team down. Without someone like that we wouldn’t have the success that we have had.”
Smithtown West was also able to get back into the game thanks to the success of their faceoff man Nicholas Cottage. Smithtown West won 17 of 23 faceoffs.
“He’s very good so we know we were going to play a lot of defense and that’s one thing we did prepare for,” Taylor said. “We knew we’d struggle with faceoffs so we had to be good with clears, play good defense and cause some turnovers.”
As the season moves along both Cortes and Gregorek know they’ll need to continue to produce as others step into larger roles for a team that graduated 16 seniors but has legitimate state title aspirations.
“We always have a target on our backs,” Gregorek said. “We try to lead the team but at the end of the day it’s a team effort.”
“There’s a lot of new blood and their maturity will tell how far we go,” Taylor said. “These types of games get them ready for that. We’ll be ready for intense games when it really counts.”
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.
