Vikings Lacrosse Loses to Oceanside

Despite the inspirational presence of 91-year-old lacrosse legend and national Hall of Famer Harvey Cohen on the sidelines, the Schreiber varsity lacrosse team fell to the Oceanside Sailors, 15-10, earlier this week. 

Although Port Washington (5-3 Conference I, 8-4) struck early in the first quarter with two goals by Brandon Henne and one goal by Brieg Bevilacque, the team went into the half trailing, 7-4.

Cohen, who taught many of the players on both sides as well as the coaches, said he wasn't entirely happy with the Vikings' performance. "Their goalie played very well," Cohen said of the first half, "but some of our shots were way off."

Schreiber fell even further behind in the third period, putting up only two goals — one each by Henne and Owen Caruso — to Oceanside's five. However, adversity breeds strength, or so it's said, and the Vikings came bounding back in the fourth quarter with four goals — two by Caruso and one each from Bevilacque and Richard Greenberg. But the Vikings comeback ultimately fell short with a 15-10 defeat at home.

Vikings coach Joe Mascaretti attributed his team's loss to the Sailors' greater skill set that day that he said was a direct result of stronger discipline in the fundamentals. In other words, practice and more practice. "We'll be working harder," he said.

Vikings players said they intend to spend the next few days doing just that in preparation for the playoffs, which they clinched a spot in with a win over Plainview JFK last week.

"We know what we have to do," said junior midfielder Joe Mele.

The team's next game comes this Saturday against a very formidable opponent — the Hicksville Comets (5-2 Conference I, 9-3). And no one knows their strengths better than Mascaretti, who was a member of the team during his playing days.

The game, which is part of Port Washington Lacrosse Day, an annual event where all four high school teams play in a morning and afternoon packed with lacrosse action, is set to be the day's finale, starting at 1 p.m. Girls JV lacrosse vs. Long Beach will start at 9:30 a.m., followed by boys JV lacrosse vs. Hicksville at 11 a.m. The girls varsity lacrosse team will take on Long Beach at 11 a.m. as well as the team can clinch its conference title with a victory.