West Islip Rebounds, Beats Chaminade

A crowd of more than 1,500 lacrosse fans at West Islip was buzzing about the end-to-end dash goalie Kyle Turri made late in the fourth quarter after a save. His attempt at a rare goalie goal hit the pipe, but Chaminade had already felt his sting.

Turri, a junior starting his second varsity game, made 12 saves, several in crucial situations, as both he and his defending state-champion teammates rebounded from an overtime loss to Sachem North on Wednesday with a 10-7 victory over Chaminade Saturday.

"It was his first varsity game and he had some jitters," Lions coach Scott Craig said of Turri. "But he did a great job today, especially at crunch time. We feel he'll be a Division I kid."

There were plenty of D-I players on the field, part of the reason the game attracted such a large crowd. Everyone, it seemed, was curious about this non-league matchup between the Lions (1-1), ranked No. 1 nationally in Inside Lacrosse's preseason poll, and the Flyers (2-1), ranked No. 11.

North Carolina-bound Nicky Galasso (three goals, four assists) led West Islip. Teammates Mike Sagl (Quinnipiac) and Drew Federico (Penn State) each scored twice. Will Himler (Princeton) had two goals and two assists for Chaminade.

"Every year, this game is on MSG and every year, it's one of the biggest games we play," Galasso said. "Kyle was great. He stepped up when we needed him."

That included much of the third quarter, when Chaminade rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie it at 6 with 6:46 left and controlled the ball so much that West Islip managed only one shot on goal for the rest of the period. At that point, entering the fourth quarter tied was like a win.

"Without a doubt, that was huge," Craig said. "We couldn't get a shot, but our goalie and our 6-on-6 defense, especially Eddie Ryan, was outstanding."

After Galasso squeezed the ball onto the stick of a cutting Mike Sagl for a goal that broke a tie at 7 and Rob Moore scored unassisted, Turri had his biggest test. With about four minutes left, the Lions were down a man when Turri turned away a point-blank shot. Twenty-five seconds later, he made his solo clear and attempt on goal. "I saw open space and I was taught at a young age to go all the way," Turri said. "I definitely felt more comfortable today. I knew I had to bounce back and I did."

By BOB HERZOG

Photo credit: Photo by Joe Rogate

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