Sachem North boys lacrosse's Johnny Calabria scores four goals in win over father's team, Syosset
Johnny Calabria of the Sachem North boys lacrosse team competes against his father, Syosset boys lacrosse coach John Calabria. Credit: David Meisenholder
This non-league lacrosse game meant a little bit more to Sachem North’s Johnny Calabria. It was a matchup against Syosset, the team coached by his father, John.
Nerves were flowing, but Johnny had himself a day to remember.
“I was nervous leading up to this game, scared in the locker room,” Johnny Calabria said, “but things settled down. I let the game come to me and I’m proud of this and proud of my boys, I love them.”
Johnny Calabria scored four goals to lead visiting Sachem North to a 10-9 victory over Syosset in non-league at Syosset High School on Saturday.
The game started off fitting, with Lucas Bouchard finding Calabria down low for the first goal of the game with 9:32 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Sachem North created separation. Calabria added two more goals to take a 5-1 lead at the half.
Defensively, Sachem North was aggressive and made plays. Luke LaRocca and Tyler Jerome both had four caused turnovers and Patrick Gandley had 18 saves.
“Our defense is one of the strongest parts of our team,” Sachem North coach Anthony Muratore said. “These guys have been playing together for a long time and they are resilient.”
Sachem North continued to be in control in the second half. Bouchard scored his second goal of the game to give Sachem North a 10-4 lead with just 3:47 to go.
Syosset then put together an incredible run. Matt Azevedo won faceoffs, Brody Waxer scored twice and Gio Accardo added a goal to trail 10-7 with 2:11 left.
Accardo then scored twice, and Syosset trailed by one with 44 seconds left. They had one more chance, but Gandley made a save with 20 seconds left to end it.
“I was so proud of our guys, there was absolutely no quit and we almost had them,” Syosset head coach John Calabria said.
“Johnny and his teammates have gotten better and it showed today. Johnny is a junior so we get to do this again next year. It’s a great Nassau-Suffolk game and it gives me an opportunity to see my son play so I’m grateful for that.”
There will be one more guaranteed round of this father-son matchup, but this time, Johnny gets the last laugh.
“It’s just unreal to play against him,” Johnny Calabria said. “Not a lot of people have a moment like that so it feels good and it felt good to get him today.”
