The Port Jefferson High School boys lacrosse team made history Tuesday afternoon when they defeated Center Moriches in the Suffolk County Class D Championship. The Royals bring home their first title in program history following their 8-7 victory.
Port Jefferson (9-6) and Center Moriches (6-9) last faced-off just two weeks before the championship, where Tuesday’s victors actually soaked a 12-9 loss to the Red Devils. Prior to this season’s matchups, Port Jeff and Center Moriches last competed in 2019, when the Royals secured an 18-6 victory.
The Championship was off to a slow and steady start when both teams finished the first half with just a point on the board each.
Momentum finally started to pick up after halftime when Center Moriches took a 3-1 lead with two back to back goals from juniors Aidan Knoetgen and Jack Kleinman. Then, just three minutes later, this duo replicated these goals in succession to bring the score to 5-2.
It wasn’t long before Port Jeff’s attackers, Kyle Scandale and Daniel Koban, scored consecutive goals within 10 seconds of one another to close out the third quarter. Koban quickly collected another goal in the first minute of the last quarter to bring the game to a 5-5 tie.
Scandale tallied about four points in today’s game, adding to his 50 points collected throughout the regular season. The junior attacker says, “We were super energized coming into the game and it definitely helped us get an early goal and hold Center Moriches to a few points in the first two quarters.”
From then on, it was an intense fourth quarter. As tension rose on and off the field, so did the number of penalties. Both teams’ defense became scrappy in their attempts to hold off goals, causing a number of calls to be made within the remaining 10 minutes of regulation.
Simultaneously, the Royals took their first lead of the game— credits to sophomore attacker Brady DeWitt, who was quickly followed up by another goal from Scandale.
DeWitt tallied 3 points on Tuesday, totalling 28 points for the season. “This was a big win for the program since it’s our first county championship,” he said. “As a sophomore it means a lot looking to the future.”
Port Jeff went from a trailing third quarter to then a 6-0 scoring run to close out the final quarter. “I think our team stepped it up considering we were down 5-2 in the third quarter,” DeWitt assessed. “I knew that I needed to play smart and create opportunities for my teammates to score.”
However, Center Moriches didn’t go down without a fight. Red Devils juniors, Richard Spivak and Richie DeChiaro, were able to bring the final score to 8-7 in the final 3 minutes, falling just 1 point short of becoming season champions.
“It feels amazing to win that game especially after seeing all my teammates work so hard for this packed schedule this season,” Scandale said. “No one deserves it more than these guys.”
