Shoreham-Wading River's Liam Kershis celebrates a goal in the fourth quarter...

Shoreham-Wading River's Liam Kershis celebrates a goal in the fourth quarter during a Suffolk boys lacrosse game against host Comsewogue on Wednesday. Credit: Bob Sorensen

The big moment for Shoreham-Wading River came a little less than five minutes into the third quarter on Wednesday. A Wildcats’ lead that had been as big as four goals over Suffolk II boys lacrosse rival Comsewogue had been whittled to one and Comsewogue was playing up a man.

That was when Liam Kershis’ considerable offensive talents finally blossomed. At the end of a nearly two-minute possession in which Shoreham-Wading River killed the penalty, the sophomore attack whistled a shot through the defense from about 15 yards out and into the bottom of the net.

It was the first of his five second-half goals as the Wildcats broke away for a 17-9 victory at Comsewogue’s Tom Cassese Field. Steven Cain, Kershis and Alex Gregorek had goals in the game’s first four minutes and Shoreham-Wading River never gave the lead up.

That Kershis goal in the third quarter made the SWR lead 9-7 and started it on a game-closing 9-2 run. Kershis finished with seven goals and three assists and Cain added four goals and three assists to keep the Wildcats (7-0, 7-0) unbeaten.

“He actually started this season sort of slow, but he’s really come on,” SWR coach Michael Taylor said. “Today was a breakout game for him.”

The arc of Kershis’ season changed after a win over Smithtown West in the second game when he neither scored nor assisted on a goal.

“I’d lost my role and wasn’t contributing to the offense,” he said. “When I was on the field it was like the other team had an extra defender. I had to stop playing too far behind the goal, get on the pipe and become a threat.”

The big games by Kershis and Cain were essential to the win because Comsewogue (8-2, 7-2) was doing an excellent job keeping Gregorek, the team’s top scorer, out of the offensive equation. Gregorek did manage two goals and three assists — all in the first and second quarters.

“Alec is a very big part of our team,” Cain said. “People needed to make the most of their opportunities, so we stayed patient on offense and made those opportunities happen.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Gregorek said. “We have a lot of great all-around players and I believe in them. It turned out they did fine with only a small [contribution] from me.”

Liam Gregorek, Alec’s younger brother, did his part to help SWR play a ball-control game by winning 15 of 25 faceoffs.

Justin Bonacci had two goals and two assists and Michael Katz and James Krieg each had two goals for Comsewogue.

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