Northport celebrates their win during the Long Island boys lacrosse...

Northport celebrates their win during the Long Island boys lacrosse Class A final between Northport and Port Washington on Saturday June 4 2022 at Hofstra. Credit: Bob Sorensen

When Northport’s Tyler Kuprianchik gets on a roll, it makes the game look easy for the rest of his teammates.

Kuprianchik was on top of his game Saturday, winning 19 of 25 faceoffs to help spark Northport to a 13-9 win over Port Washington in the Long Island Class A boys lacrosse championship game at Hofstra.

Freshman Jack Deliberti opened the scoring 18 seconds in, Tim Kirchner added a goal just under a minute later and 12 seconds after that Will Murphy put the Tigers ahead three goals just 1:19 in.

“To get a big lead early and having Kup dominate on faceoffs was huge for us,” said Mike Meyer, who assisted on two of the opening three goals and finished with a goal and three assists.  

But as has been the case all season long for Port Washington (13-4), the Vikings kept battling back to make it a game.

“They have a lot of one-goal games and they’re a team that continues to battle,” Northport coach Larry Cerasi said. “It’s a credit to their coaching staff and they gave their best today. I’m really proud of our guys that were able to rise up to the challenge.”

Nobody rose to the challenge more than Kuprianchik, who was playing banged up after suffering an injury that visibly hobbled him during Wednesday’s Suffolk championship game.

“It’s inspirational,” Meyer said. “He’s been battling injuries all season and for him to dominate the way he did today meant so much for our team.”

Port Washington’s Gavin Jacobsen scored a man-up goal later in the third quarter to tie it at 7, but Northport had a quick answer.

Jack Helrigel put the Tigers (19-1) ahead 8-7 by scoring with nine seconds remaining in the quarter and Quinn Reynlods scored directly off the opening faceoff of the fourth quarter to go up two. Meyer finished the three-goal run just over a minute later and Northport never led by fewer than two goals the rest of the way.

Henry Haberman led Port Washington with three goals and an assist.

“When they just kept coming back we stayed calm and fought through it,” Kuprianchik said. “As a team we usually come out a little flat but our motto today was to come out strong and we would win the game.”

The Tigers move on to play Scarsdale in a state semifinal Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the University at Albany.

“It felt like an opportunity was stripped from us last year because the LIC was it [because of the pandemic],” said Kirchner, who had three goals and an assist. “Everyone wants more and to keep winning. Every single day we get to come to the field is paradise, it’s beautiful. Playing with the guys we’ve been with for 15 years, I just love every moment of it.”

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