Northport Downs Sachem North In Volleyball Semis

Through the majority of three games, Sachem and Northport had traded punches both on the court and on opposite sides of the bleachers in the Northport High School gym Monday evening.

With the score tied 20-20 in a pivotal game three, senior captain Chris Haun found a soft spot in the Tigers defense and appeared to give Sachem the lead. As the Flaming Arrows began to celebrate, they were interrupted by the referee who ruled that Haun had apparently made contact with the net and awarded Northport the point.

Northport (16-1) reeled off four of the next five points to capture game three and breezed through the fourth game, eliminating Sachem and punching their ticket to the Class AA finals, 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-21, 25-13). They will face udnefeated Lindenhurst in the championship game on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Longwood High School.

"It was a pivotal point in the game," said Sachem head coach Matt Rivera. "We try to talk to our players all year long about staying focused, not worrying about officials and calls. I think we got too wrapped up in the point getting taken away from us than focusing on the next point. It really undermined what we were trying to do. That hurt us in that game."

The loss ended what was a promising season for Sachem (10-6), who earned the no. 3 seed before knocking off Smithtown East in the tournament's opening round, returning the favor the Bulls paid them a year ago.

"We really had a great season," said Rivera. "We had nine seniors, really a great group that led this team to that three seed. We turned it on towards the second half of the season. We dealt with some injuries, some adversity and we came back a little stronger for that."

One of those seniors, Matt Cahill, willed Sachem to a game two victory, as well as a 16-13 lead in midway through game three. He led the Flaming Arrows with 13 kills.

From the start of the game, the Arrows looked tentative. They surrended seven of the game's first eight points en route to dropping game one, 25-19.

"This is the first time we’ve been in the semifinals in a few years," said Rivera. "I think the energy and the intensity of the night got the best of us. We let our emotions get the best of us [in game 1]. Once we settled down, we started playing good volleyball going back and forth. It carried over into the second game, but really what cost us was us losing our composure a bit towards the end of game three."