FARMINGDALE, N.Y. | The Farmingdale State College men's lacrosse team fired home six of the last seven goals in regulation to force overtime Wednesday afternoon, with the Rams' efforts coming up just shy in a 14-13 loss to visiting Maritime College in a rematch of the 2021 Skyline Conference championship final.
FSC (8-3, 2-2 Skyline) received a game-best five goals from senior attacker Rob Varello (Smithtown, N.Y.), including three in the regulation-tying rally and the leveling goal with 50.1 seconds to go on a man-up effort. Chipping in with five-point efforts were sophomore attacker Thomas Stock (Selden, N.Y.), who dished out four assists, and senior midfielder Johnny McMahon (Albertson, N.Y.), who netted a hat trick and dished off the tying assist to Varello towards the end of the fourth frame. Senior attacker Terrence Haggerty (Centerport, N.Y.) collected two goals and as many assists for the Rams, while sophomore face-off specialist Antonio Kaminskey (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) won 19-of-30 draws at the face-off "x" and scooped 12 ground balls. Junior netminder Kevin Loonie (Lynbrook, N.Y.) made 20 saves in the Rams' cage, with many of his five fourth-period stops coming from point-blank range to keep his team in the contest; his total was one stop short of his career-high (vs. DeSales, March 10).
Maritime (7-7, 5-0) received a strong showing from senior middie Kyle Orton (Lewes, Del.), who won the overtime face-off and scored the golden goal for the Privateers on an around-the-crease isolation play following a time out 31 seconds into the extra session. He ended the day with five points (3 g, 2 a), a team-best 10 ground balls, a game-high three caused turnovers and a 6-of-9 display at the face-off spot. Freshman attacker Parker Reilly (W. Islip, N.Y.) registered three points on the afternoon on a goal and two assists, while teammates Patrick Schnell (Jericho, N.Y.) and Steven Pinto (Oakdale, N.Y.) netted two goals apiece. Freshman keeper Michael Monahan (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) moved to 5-1 on the year in his team's cage with nine saves.
After a 3-3 first period, Haggerty assisted on goals within 59 seconds of each other by Hunter Lyons (E. Islip, N.Y.) and Varello to give the hosts a 5-3 edge with 10:17 remaining in the half. Orton and Sean Foley (Long Beach, N.Y.) knotted the game at 5-all midway through with goals 53 seconds apart, before McMahon put his side in front once more at 6-5 with 4:03 remaining before intermission. The Privateers then took a 7-6 lead into the break, after Brian Drost (Shoreham, N.Y.) scored with 90 seconds to go and Orton followed with a goal off the ensuing draw 10 seconds later.
Maritime scored five of the first six goals of the third stanza, including four-straight goals to go ahead with its biggest lead of the day at 12-7 on Pinto's tally with 5:04 on the clock. Stock responded at the 4:31 mark, before he assisted on back-to-back Wandle strikes to pull their side to within a 12-10 count with 3:20 to go in the period.
Varello cut the Rams' deficit in half 3:52 into the fourth frame, before the Privateers went ahead by two once more on a tally by junior John Killcommons (Garden City, N.Y.) with 6:40 to go in regulation. Varello responded 68 seconds later off a McMahon feed, and then knotted the game at 13-all on a man advantage off a pass from Wandle with 50.1 to go.
Orton won the overtime face-off, before Maritime called time out early into the possession with the senior in trouble down the right channel. From the break, Orton went behind the cage, and roll dodged to the right of Loonie before sending his side to victory.
Head coach Sean Chamberlain's Rams are back in Skyline Conference play Saturday afternoon (April 23), when they play host to the College of Mount Saint Vincent at 1 p.m.