Vikings Lacrosse Knocked From Playoffs By Dalers

The Schreiber boys varsity lacrosse team had a tough task ahead of them on Thursday. The No. 8 seeded Vikings took to the road to take on the No. 1 seeded Farmingdale Dalers, who not only defeated Schreiber earlier this season, but didn't drop a single game in Conference I this season.

And sadly there was no storybook ending for the Vikings, who fell 15-6 in the Nassau Class A quarterfinals.

The Vikings came out of the gate slow and were held scoreless in the first quarter, which ended with them trailing 5-0. Despite valiant efforts by Port, the Dalers offense started off strong and continued its domination of their home turf. "They took possession in the first quarter and executed their game plan early," coach Joe Mascaretti said. "They built a lead that was hard to chip away at."

The team got on the board with two goals in the second quarter, once each by Owen Caruso and Richard Greenberg. One spectator, former Vikings goalie (Class of '09) Kyle Lewis, watched intently as the Dalers scored another four goals to take a 9-2 lead into the half. "Our goalie took on too many one-on-one's," Lewis said.

Cody White, the Vikings' senior goalie, added, "We played too much on the defense and our clearing game wasn't where it should be."

In spite of the pressure, Port managed to play a pretty even second half. Greenberg scored his second goal of the afternoon for the team's lone third-period goal and the Vikings outscored the Dalers, 3-2, in the final period with two goals by Jake Frocarro and one by Brandon Henne.

But Farmingdale maintained its ferocious fight and proved to be too much for the Vikings on this afternoon.

"We fought hard from the beginning to the end of the game," Caruso said. "Unfortunately it wasn't the outcome we were hoping for."

Although the season ended in a loss, Mascaretti said it was a great season overall and one to build on for the future. "I am very proud of the seniors who have done a great job to turn this program around and also the underclassmen who took on a very larger role at a young age," the coach said. "We will look to build around them in the future. It was an exciting first year and while I will surely miss these seniors, I am excited for the future."

The last game was clearly bittersweet for the seniors. "Today's loss was tough as every loss is, but it was a great season playing with these guys," said Henne of his last high school game. "It was an experience that I will never forget."

Farmingdale will take on Syosset next Wednesday, May 26, at Hofstra in the Nassau Class A semifinals.