Long Beach holds off Carey

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After netting four goals in both the second and third quarters at Carey last Friday afternoon, Long Beach was unable to score in the last 12-plus minutes of the Nassau Conference B-1 boys’ lacrosse matchup played in less-than-ideal weather conditions.
Turns out the Marines already had enough offense in the bank to escape with just their second conference victory in six tries. They possessed the ball for most of the final four minutes and got some clutch saves from senior goalie Luke Mignoli to hold off the Seahawks, 9-8.
Senior Kieran Rowley’s unassisted goal with 50 seconds remaining in the third quarter gave him the hat trick and held up as the winner on a day where neither team led by more than two. Rowley and senior Caleb Monzon (two goals, two assists) had four points apiece while sophomore Shane Murphy added a goal and a helper. Sophomore Jimmy O’Connell led Carey (1-4 in B-1) with two goals and two assists. Both teams are 5-9 overall.
“It was nice to see us do all the right things late in the game and finish it off,” Long Beach coach Jason Pearl said. “It was back-and-forth all day and we knew we had to play our hearts out in the fourth quarter.”
A pair of late penalties, with 1:57 left in regulation, limited Carey’s odds of forcing overtime. The hosts pulled within one on junior Connor Murray’s goal with 7:43 remaining.

“We didn’t have enough possessions, mainly because of penalties, and we turned it over too much,” Seahawks coach Tom Aiello said. “We also have to give their goalie credit. He made two big saves in the fourth quarter.”
Each of Mignoli’s seven saves came from close range. “He’s our vocal leader in the back and he works hard,” Pearl said.
Both offenses cranked in the second quarter after Carey freshman Dean Metzger and Monzon traded goals in the first. It was 3-3 midway through the second as Rowley sandwiched goals around a pair by Carey sophomore Michael Faraone.
The Seahawks took a 4-3 lead when senior Matt Gaughan set up O’Connell with 2:07 left in the half, but soon the momentum swung for good. Monzon, who Pearl describes as Long Beach’s “go-to,” tied it with 14.6 seconds remaining in the half and then set up junior Wally Sofield’s tally less than 10 seconds later as the Marines grabbed a stunning 5-4 lead.
“Caleb was cramping a little towards the end of the half, so we moved him from midfield to attack,” Pearl said. “And he came up huge.”
Underclassmen stood out defensively on each side. Sophomore Dylan Goldstein joined forces with seniors Alex Ramirez and Billy Tighe to lead Long Beach’s unit, while sophomores Nick Cowen and Joseph Todaro were the workhorses for Carey along with senior Ben Wettstein.
Both teams have one game remaining before the Nassau Class B playoffs open next Monday. Aiello believes the Seahawks are locked into the No. 7 seed, while the Marines are likely to be sixth.