Michael Ippoliti was a brick wall Saturday.
The senior goalkeeper made 14 sensational stops for Farmingdale (17-3) in a 5-3 win over Northport that helped secure his boys lacrosse team’s first Long Island Class A title win since 2011.
“This feels incredible,” Ippoliti said following the victory at Stony Brook University’s Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. “All of the hard work we put in in the offseason, the practices, the time in the weight room, it’s all poured into this, so it feels great to win a championship today.”
The James C. Metzger MVP Award-winner battled it out with Northport senior Michael Tittmann (nine saves) through much of the first half, even making back-to-back-to-back stops to open the second, but the Tigers (16-4) took a 2-1 lead into the halftime break.
“You always just try to get ready to play,” Ippoliti said. “You never know what to expect, so you just take it one play at a time. That’s been our motto.”
The senior made five more stops in the third, including another three straight right after junior midfielder Sal Posillico tied it up at the 9:44 mark.
“It was a stalemate,” Ippoliti said. “We knew it was going to be a battle, but our offense did a great job playing against a tough Northport defense and capitalizing on the opportunities they had to score.”
Junior attack Brendan O’Keefe gave the Dalers their first lead of the game with 9:24 left in the fourth quarter.
“They hit me with it on the back side,” O’Keefe said. “I saw open space so I dodged, raced down the right side, took a shot and hoped it went in.”
With time winding down, Jake Norton wrapped around the right side and fired a rocket up high into the right corner for a two-goal advantage. He sealed the deal just under two minutes later with his second straight.
“We all knew how bad we wanted it. Everyone on this team wanted it,” said the senior attack. “These guys pick me up. Mike Ipp was giving us so many great opportunities by keeping us in it — giving us so much momentum making save after save for us. They’ve had my back, always, and it means the world that I could do something for them.”
Senior Andrew Miller and junior Giancarlo Valenti — both long stick defenders — scored in transition for Northport in the first quarter, and Miller capped off the scoring after scooping up a ground ball off the faceoff and taking it all the way with 2:22 left to play. Junior attack Caden Lennon recorded the first goal for Farmingdale off a feed from O’Keefe.
“The defense was sliding adjacent and we switched up one time to go zone — the defense did a great job seeing the shots, helping me see the shots I wanted to see and everyone did their job,” Ippoliti said. “A lot of preparation went into this, and it all helped us gain the victory today.”
Norton said the football team, which also won the Long Island championship with a win over Ward Melville last fall, provided some extra motivation. Posillico, Lennon and senior faceoff specialist CJ Mangio, among others, are members of both teams. The rest of the Dalers were in the crowd showing their support.
This Farmingdale team moves on to play Scarsdale of Section I in the state semifinals at the University at Albany’s Fallon Field on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
“We’ve been playing together since we were young; we grew up together,” Norton said. “I know everyone wants more. It’s only uphill from here.”
