CSH Wins Overtime Thriller Against Hicksville

After Cold Spring Harbor beat Hicksville, 8-7, Wednesday, Chris Moriarty, who scored the winner with 59 seconds left in the second overtime period, said, "I guess we hydrated enough.''

That was a reference to directions from his coach, Dennis Bonn, to drink extra fluids in the days leading up to the game. "He's crazy about that stuff. He said it was going to be record highs,'' Moriarty said of Bonn, who noted the forecast that predicted yesterday's unseasonably high, 80-degree temperatures.

"They don't understand that you can't get all the water you need an hour before the game," Bonn said.

Turned out to be good advice. When the non-league boys lacrosse game stretched into extra time on a warm afternoon at its home turf field, Cold Spring Harbor didn't get fatigued.

Moriarty scooped a loose ball in front of Hicksville goaltender Zach Hoehing and sent a shot to the bottom left corner. It was the only time the Seahawks (6-0) led.

"It was a scramble in front of the net,'' said Moriarty, a junior midfielder. "The goalie came out for a second and missed the ball. I picked it up and saw an open net. It was the best feeling ever once it went in.''

Moriarty was one of six Cold Spring Harbor players to score against Hicksville (3-1), the defending Nassau Class A champion. Cold Spring Harbor attackman Jack Wallice tied it at 7 with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter with a shot from the left wing that bounced off the inside of the far post.

That capped a comeback from a 7-5 deficit with 4:53 left in the third quarter, when Hicksville attackman Joe Leonard scored his fifth goal. Then Cold Spring Harbor's defense locked down and goaltender Tom Cox (eight saves) made key stops, including a point-blank save just before Wallice tied it.

Both sides had scoring chances after that. Wallice sent a shot wide right with 36 seconds left in regulation, and each team had one clean shot attempt in the first overtime but missed. Hicksville's Tim Parker (two goals) also sent a close-range shot from the bottom of a pile wide left at the end of the first overtime.

"The worst thing I could be is wrong," Bonn said about the heat. "But if I'm right [and we don't hydrate], maybe we lose."

By COREY McLAUGHLIN

Photo Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy

Newsday