MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Boys Lacrosse Rankings

West Islip coach Scott Craig had some good advice for his Lions during Saturday's halftime speech. His team was down 4-2 to Syosset in the Long Island Class A championship game (state quarterfinals) at Hofstra University and he knew his club should be playing much better.

"It didn't have a lot to do with lacrosse," Craig said. "It had to do with challenging them as a group and how they wanted to write history, whether they were going to be willing to work for what was necessary for them to be successful."

The Lions listened closely.

They scored nine consecutive second half goals to defeat the Braves, 11-4, and advance to the state semifinals Wednesday vs. Niskayuna at Hofstra at 5:30 p.m.

"We looked up like 'What is going on?'" said junior Nick Aponte, who had one goal and two assists. "We had no energy, no nothing.

"Coach just left it up to us and right away Dylan Illario took charge and he gave the most emotional speech and that was the spark that we needed. We should have been playing like that the whole game but he sparked us. After the first faceoff we got on a roll and we just kept going."

The Lions got to work right away in the third period as Aponte fed Tom Moore (five goals) for a goal just 35 seconds into the half. Jon Reese scored 1:55 later to tie the game and the Lions added two more goals late in the third to go up 6-4.

They totally dominated the final period.

"I think a big factor to shutting them out was controlling the ball on offense," Craig said. "We played so much more offense in the second half than we did in the first half and obviously your offense could be your best defense."

Brendan Smith added three goals and an assist and Jack Kelly made nine saves for West Islip, which is the nine-time Suffolk County champion.

La Costa Canyon wins San Diego Section D-I crown in dramatic style

Aaron Loy scored with 20 seconds to play in overtime to lift La Costa Canyon (22-1) to a dramatic 8-7 overtime win over Torrey Pines for the CIF San Diego Section Division I title.

Tom Riis scored twice in the final two minutes to send the game into overtime as the Mavericks captured their fifth title in the last seven years. They beat Palomar League rival Torrey Pines three times, including a 9-7 victory in April and an 8-7 triple-overtime win three weeks earlier.

Games to Watch

No. 8 Conestoga (Pa.) vs. Radnor (Pa.), Tuesday, PIAA state semifinals, at 1 p.m. at Harriton High.
No. 16 La Salle (Pa.) vs. Mt. Lebanon (Pa.), Tuesday, PIAA state semifinals, at a site and time to be determined
No. 4 West Islip (N.Y.) vs. No. 14 Niskayuna, Wednesday, Class A state semifinals at 5:30 p.m. at Hofstra University.
No. 6 Fairport (N.Y.) vs. No. 17 Ithaca (N.Y.), Wednesday, Class A state semifinals, at 5:30 p.m. at Cicero-North Syracuse

MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Boys Lacrosse Rankings

1. (No. 1 last week) Garden City (N.Y.), 20-0
Dan Marino made 10 saves as the Trojans claimed the Long Island Class B championship Saturday with a 9-2 victory over Sayville. Justin Guterding led the Garden City attack with two goals and three assists and Devin Dwyer added two goals and an assist. Garden City will face Yorktown in the state semifinals at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Hofstra.

2. (2) Calvert Hall (Baltimore), 16-2
The Cardinals delivered a statement victory over Loyola Blakefield in the MIAA A Conference championship game, 17-3. It was their first MIAA crown since 2003.

3. (3) Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.), 20-1
The Purple Eagles claimed their third-straight WCAC championship with the 10-3 win over DeMatha. Gonzaga closed the year with 14 straight wins.

4. (4) West Islip (N.Y.), 19-1
The Section 11 champion Lions erupted for nine unanswered goals in the second half and toppled Section 8 champion Syosset, 11-4, to win the Long Island Class A championship. Tom Moore led the attack with five goals while Brendan Smith had three goals and an assist. West Islip advances to the state semifinals to face Section 2 champ Niskayuna at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hofstra University.

5. (5) Bridgewater-Raritan (Bridgewater, N.J.), 19-0
The Panthers toppled Hunterdon Central, 10-5, to capture their second-straight New Jersey Group 4 championship. Ryan Hollingsworth had four goals and an assist while Ray Mastroianni, Ryan Mygatt and Mike Serrante each had two goals for Bridgewater, which got 10 saves from Zach Jones. Bridgewater begins defense of its Tournament of Champions title Wednesday in the semifinals as the top seed after a first-round bye.

6. (6) Fairport (N.Y.), 19-0
The Section 5 champion Red Raiders scored a rare shutout, 7-0, over Section 6 champ Orchard Park in the first round of the Class A state playoffs. Senior Blaze Riorden had 10 saves to earn the shutout. Fairport will play Ithaca in the semifinals on Wednesday at Cicero-North Syracuse at 5:30 p.m.

7. (7) Haverford School (Pa.), 21-2
The top-seeded Fords suffered a 15-11 loss to Episcopal Academy in the Inter-Ac Invitational finals. But they won the Inter-Ac League title, going undefeated, and went 4-0 vs. MIAA teams.

8. (8) Conestoga (Berwyn, Pa.), 21-3
The Pioneers advanced to the semifinals of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) tournament by topping Carlisle, 12-6, as Bradlee Lord had four goals and two assists. The two-time defending state champions play Central League rival Radnor in the semis on Tuesday at Harriton High at 1 p.m.

9. (9) St. Anthony's (Melville, N.Y.), 16-3
The Friars won their fourth-straight CHSAA Class AAA championship by upending Chaminade, 8-6.

10. (10) Salisbury School (Conn.), 12-1
The Crimson Knights closed their season with a 13-5 win over Choate (Conn.). Their only loss was an 11-10 overtime defeat to Deerfield Academy (Mass.).

11. (11) Duxbury (Mass.), 20-2 
The Dragons advanced in the Division I Eastern Massachusetts tournament with a dominating 16-3 win over Framingham. They face Franklin on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the second round.

12. (12) Chaminade (Mineola, N.Y.), 16-2
The Flyers again dropped the CHSAA title game to St. Anthony's, 8-6.

13. (13) Loyola Blakefield (Towson, Md.), 16-4
A 17-3 loss to Calvert Hall in the MIAA A Conference championship game does not spoil a standout season for the Dons. Loyola Blakefield doubled its win total after going 8-10 last year and also had an impressive 13-7 victory over defending champion Gilman in the MIAA semifinals.

14. (14) Niskayuna (N.Y.), 20-1
The Section 2 champion Silver Warriors blitzed Section 1 champ Mamaroneck, 23-3, in a Class A state playoff opener on Saturday, as Matt Sexton had seven goals and two assists and the Warriors won an amazing 29 of 30 faceoffs. They will meet Section 11 champ West Islip on Wednesday in the semifinals at Hofstra at 5:30 p.m.

15. (16) Episcopal Academy (Newtown Square, Pa.), 18-5
The Churchmen rallied from an early 4-0 deficit and toppled Haverford School, 15-11, to win their first Inter-Ac Invitational championship and snap the Fords' 34-game win streak against Pennsylvania teams.

16. (17) La Salle College (Wyndmoor, Pa.), 19-4
The Explorers advanced to the semifinals of the PIAA tournament with a 12-5 victory over Downingtown West. Matt Rambo had three goals and two assists for the Explorers, who play Mount Lebanon in the semifinals on Tuesday at a neutral site.

17. (19) Ithaca (N.Y.), 17-1
The Section 4 champion Little Red routed Liverpool, 18-8, on Saturday in the state quarterfinals to earn a second-straight berth in the semis and a rematch with Section 5 champion Fairport. Doug Biondi had four goals and two assists and Emile Sassone-Lawless added three goals and two assists. The Little Red's lone loss this year was to Fairport, 12-7, on April 14. They will meet for a state berth at Cicero-North Syracuse at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

18. (NR) La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.), 22-1
The Mavericks rallied to defeat Torrey Pines, 8-7 in overtime, to win the CIF San Diego Section Division I title for the fifth time in seven years. Tom Riis scored twice in the final two minutes to send the game into overtime and Aaron Loy won it with 20 seconds left in overtime.

19. (20) Landon (Bethesda, Md.), 13-6
The Bears capped a brilliant stretch of 10 wins in 11 games as they downed Bullis School (Md.), 7-4, to win the Interstate Athletic Conference championship for the 28th time. Landon is the only school to defeat No. 2 Haverford School this year.

20 (21) Arapahoe (Centennial, Colo.), 19-0
The Warriors claimed their second CHSAA title in four years with an 8-4 victory over Cherry Creek. Bryce Parietti led the Warriors with three goals in the title game.

21. (23) Darien (Conn.), 18-2
The Blue Wave coasted in their Class M quarterfinal, blanking Masuk 19-0, as Case Matheis had five goals and five assists. The Blue Wave plays Wilton in the semis on Wednesday and is playing in the Final Four for the 25th-straight year.

22. (24) Gilman (Baltimore), 12-4
The Greyhounds were eliminated in the semifinals of the MIAA A Conference tournament by Loyola Blakefield (Md.), 13-7. They still boasted wins over No. 17 La Salle and No. 20 Landon School.

23. (25) Deerfield Academy (Mass.), 14-2
The Big Green finished with two huge wins, an 11-10 overtime victory over previously undefeated Salisbury and a 6-5 double overtime triumph over Phillips Exeter (N.H.).

24. (NR) Liverpool (N.Y.), 18-2
The Warriors won their first Section 3 Class A title in 23 years by stunning West Genesee, 6-5 in overtime, on a goal by Kyle Deangelis with 6 seconds left in overtime. Liverpool had dropped a 14-4 decision to West Genesee in the regular season and lost a 7-6 triple overtime decision to the Wildcats in last year's title game. They fell to Ithaca, 18-8, in a first-round state playoff on Saturday.

25. (15) West Genesee (Camillus, N.Y.), 17-2
The Wildcats fell to Liverpool, 6-5 in overtime, in the Section 3 Class A championship game. West Genesee had won 10 straight section titles and 17 of the last 18 crowns.

Dropped out:
Dublin Jerome (Dublin, Ohio), 21-1; Ward Melville (East Setauket, N.Y.), 15-4.

Chris Goldberg, editor and owner of Lacrosse Media, operates Phillylacrosse.com, LILacrosseNews.com and BaltimoreLacrosseNews.com, as well as the new national gear site, LaxGearZone.com. He may be reached at golax@phillylacrosse.com.