Sports

Sachem North Lacrosse Eliminated by Smithtown West from Suffolk County Playoffs

Come up short in 13-8 defeat on the the road.

What started off as a magical season thanks to an overtime win over nationally-ranked West Islip, ended Tuesday afternoon on a sour note for Sachem North boys lacrosse.

Against a pesky Smithtown West squad boasting numerous future college players, seventh-seeded North (11-7) had no answers on offense in a 13-8 defeat in the Suffolk County Class A Quarterfinals at Robert W. Pratt Field in Smithtown.

"We didn't shoot well at all," said Sachem coach Jay Mauro. "We shot at the goalies ankles. We talked all week to shoot better, but we didn't do that today."

Find out what's happening in Sachemwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Third-seeded Smithtown (14-4) advances to play No. 2 Ward Melville Friday in the semifinals.

After Phil Schaefer, who led the Arrows with three goals, scored to open the game for Sachem at 9:42 of the first quarter, it was shaky from that point forward. The Bulls took a 4-2 lead after the first on an array of shots and goals from James Pannell, Matt Schultz and Kyle Keenan.

Find out what's happening in Sachemwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Trailing only 6-3 after the first half, Sachem had plenty of time to recapture some late game magic, but failed to take clutch shots in the critical situation.

Instead, Smithtown had its way on the field and buried four more goals in the third quarter. Pannell, who finished with four goals and an assist and is the younger brother of Cornell All-American Rob Pannell, was able to spring free multiple times.

"He goes hard and is a talented player," Mauro said. "Did they do anything special? I don't think so."

Mauro was proud of defender Alex Harris and his performance against the Duke-bound Keenan, who still finished with three goals and two assists.

"He did a great job one-one-one," he said.

Though the score shows only a five-goal deficit by game's end, it was a much larger scoring gap until the final two minutes of the contest when multiple flags were thrown and Smithtown was left short-handed. Sachem scored three man-up goals.

"Even though it's 13 goals, I don't think that really sums up what we did defensively," Mauro said. "We weren't getting the job done offensively. I feel bad for the seniors that they have to go out like this. It's a life lesson that if you don't come to play every time you step on the field this can happen."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here