Dalers Sink Vikings, 14-8

Tuesday may have been the best weather day thus far in 2011, but it was not enough for the Port Washington Vikings boys' lacrosse team to prevail on the field. The Vikings were throttled at Paul D. Schreiber High School when they faced the unbeaten Farmingdale Daelers, to the tune of  14-8. It was not nearly as close as the score board would indicate.

The Daelers have widely been regarded as one of the best lacrosse programs in the past 15 years on the Island, and it seemed like early on Port was unsure about its ability to compete with them. Vikings goaltender was bombarded with shots from the start, and made many crucial saves before finally buckling against the relentless Farmingdale attack. Sal Tuttle of Farmingdale would be the first of many to break through on Ristic, tallying two goals to put the Daelers in front 2-0. Port seemed to be flat and relying heavily on Junior Jake Froccaro. Froccaro would rip two shots that completely missed the net before tallying the first Port goal, to cut the lead to 2-1. That would be as close as the Vikings would get all afternoon as the Daelers turned up the pressure. Farmingdale would add two more goals before the end of quarter number one to extend the lead to 4-1. Frustration and disappointment showed on the faces of the entire Port team.

Their heads remained out of the game as a 4-1 deficit became a 10-2 deficit at halftime. It seemed as if coming out of the gates and throughout most of the second half, Farmingdale’s foot was off the gas pedal a bit. Port would score the first goal of the half, when John Crawley hit the top corner to cut the lead to 10-3. Scoring became frequent after this goal as Daelers attack man Pat Starkey answered right back to extend the lead to 11-3. Port then retaliated as Jake Froccaro and Richard Greenberg gave life to the Vikings with back-to-back goals to make it 11-5. However this feeling was short lived, when Sal Tuttle scored another goal in his multi-goal effort, extending the lead up to 12-5.

It was too little too late for Port in the fourth quarter when they outscored their opponent 3-1. At times it seemed like Port didn’t think it deserved to be on the same field as the Daelers, and it showed. They were outrun to every loose ball and at times completely out manned on every hit. The Vikings will have to put this game behind them quickly and bring a much better and needed effort Friday afternoon versus Calhoun.

Heroes: Port's Froccaro with three goals, and Jake Crowley with two goals, were the noticeable contributors at points in this game.

Turning Point: Sal Tuttle’s third period Farmingdale goal ended any life the Vikings had in them after scoring back-to-back goals to make the game 11-5. The game then became out of reach.

 Quotables: Port Washington Senior Midfielder Breig Bevilacque on the game, “In the first half we should’ve came out with more heart and we didn’t, our next game is vs. Calhoun and if we don’t win that we will not make the playoffs.” He added,” From here on out we are just trying to win every game and end on a positive note.”

Key Stat: One – the amount of goals the Vikings totaled in each of the first two quarters. With a little more offense the team could have hung in this game to the end.

Bottom Line: There is a reason Farmingdale is undefeated, and today was a good showing of why. They are fast and attack the net with reckless abandon, something this young Port team just couldn’t handle and match.

Whose next: Port Washington takes on Calhoun on Friday at 4:30 pm.

Goals: Jake Froccario (3 Goals)  John Crawley (3 Goals)   Breig Bevilacque (1 Goal) Richard Greenberg (1 Goal)