Landon Silverstein nets four goals to help St. Dominic boys lacrosse capture CHSAA Intersectional title
St. Dominic’s Landon Silverstein scored four goals and had one assist in the CHSAA Class A Intersectional final on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
SOMERS, N.Y. — The lacrosse players from St. Dominic gathered on the Kennedy Catholic turf after Wednesday’s game, some sitting, some standing, all posing for a team photo — a championship team photo.
Their navy blue uniforms were soaked after playing for much of the second half under a downpour, but nothing could dampen their spirits.
The Bayhawks were the last team standing on the last day of the season.
Landon Silverstein delivered four goals and an assist, Michael Romanelli added three goals and Johnny Nawojchik made 12 saves on the way to a 12-8 win over the Gaels in the CHSAA Class A Intersectional championship game.
“I’m just really happy for everybody on this team,” Silverstein said. “Everybody helped out. It’s not just me. It was the whole team.
“… To be honest, we were kind of in a rebuild phase this year, so I didn’t really know how the season would go.”
The season included an 8-6 loss here April 29. But it also came with the NSCHSAA Class A championship and a 13-5 record.
“It’s always been about the kids,” said Mike Schwalje, who coached the program in its first three years of existence and returned this season for a second stint. “I’m just thrilled for them.”
St. Dominic trailed, 4-2, but then Silverstein scored with a shot off the helmet of a Kennedy defender as time expired in the first quarter. That ignited a run of eight straight goals through the third.
“I think offensively we started to control the tempo of the game a little more,” Romanelli said.
Romanelli also scored as time expired to give the Bayhawks a 6-4 halftime lead.
“That really gave us a lot of momentum going into the half,” Schwalje said.
Romanelli, JJ Ramsay, AJ Laibach and Silverstein scored in the third, and Nawojchik stopped four shots. It was 10-4.
“The defense held strong the whole game,” Nawojchik said. “I made a couple of good saves.”
Mason Kauffman countered with one of his three goals and Jake Wu scored two, cutting it to 10-7.
That was as close as it got.
“They have six good players that can all score, so it’s hard to shut off every guy,” said Vin Savastano, who guided the 13-6 Gaels to an eighth straight CHSAA Class A city title. “… When they have six good shooters and they spread the ball around like that … they really hurt us on that end.”
