It’s Cole Marsala’s world, and we’re just living in it.
The Mt. Sinai junior quite literally attacked the cage Wednesday morning, netting five goals in Mt. Sinai’s 13-8 win at Bayport-Blue Point to remain undefeated.
“Every game I just try to do my job the best I can,” Marsala said. “This game I had a lot of opportunities, and I’m glad I finished my chances and was able to help us win. It was definitely good challenge for us as we go deeper into the season.”
The Mustangs (10-0) showed there’s quite literally nothing they can’t do. It all started with senior Austin Oppenheim coming away with the faceoff wins. The first three Mt. Sinai possessions led to good goals by Joey and Jake Spallina and James Carretta.
Then came junior goalkeeper Brayden Wilcken’s stops. He made several of his six saves early and late to preserve Mt. Sinai’s margin.
“We have a really great offense, so getting the ball every time is a big factor,” Marsala said. “Any one of us can go to the goal, which makes us very dangerous – we have many great players that can make plays — so having Austin and Jake at the ‘X’ is crucial to winning big games.”
“He’s been huge for us,” Joey Spallina said.
But the Phantoms (4-4) weren’t going to go down that easily, with sophomore attack Ben Morris scoring back-to-back goals, the second with four seconds remaining in the first quarter, to tie the game at 3-all heading into the second.
The Mustangs’ defense was also on-point. Senior longstick midfielder Dylan Sageder forced a turnover early, and Jake Spallina’s check late led to a Nick Jaferis ground-ball scoop.
“Our defense did a good job of eliminating what they wanted to do, and we got timely saves,” Spallina said. “The energy was just through the roof. It was a big game for us, so we all came in fired up and we were ready to do whatever we had to do to win. And we did that.”
The second quarter is where Marsala shined. Spallina passed across the field to his brother Jake, who hit Marsala up front for a put-in at the top left of the cage. Spallina found Marsala again 30 seconds later, and once more with 4:47 left in the first half for a 6-4 lead.
“Cole is a beast,” said Spallina, who has been playing with his teammate since third grade. “He’s a water bug — he flies around on the field. He’s been playing great, and he really knows how to play off me, which is awesome. Playing with him is a lot of fun.”
Because the Phantoms were hyper focused on Spallina, it left plenty of opportunity for other Mustangs to get to goal.
“Their focus was to try and stop me, so I was dodging hard, drawing the double and moving the ball to an open teammate,” the senior said. “It’s awesome to get everyone involved, and when everyone is involved in the offense we score easy goals.”
“Anywhere Joey dodges I sneak backside, which has been working,” Marsala added. “I was looking for the defender to turn his back as Joey pushes. And when Joey had a defender hung, we do our best to find a seam. The connection has been very good.”
Both Spallinas, Carretta and Lucas LaForge came away with two goals apiece. Joey Spallina finished three assists and Marsala, LaForge and Jake Spallina also had a feed.
Joey Spallina said Marsala both said they feel their Mustangs are in good spot right, and are excited for the rest of the season.
“I feel very confident,” Marsala said. “A big thing for us is energy, and when we connect we are a really great team. We are going to continue to do what we do – play hard — and take it one game at a time.”
