by Nick Greco

This month the OHS Boy’s Lacrosse Team began their season with Guidance Counselor Mr. Emmerich as their new coach. The Sailors come off a 7-10 season last year when they made the playoffs and lost in the first round to Syosset. Despite last year’s early playoff exit, the Sailors return poised to improve on last year with returning leading scorer Jack Passuello (who led the team with 32 points last year) and star defensemen and Adelphi commit, Chase Bier.  

The Sailors are currently 5-1 with wins over Seaford, Locust Valley, Calhoun, Carey, and MacArthur. Unfortunately, the Sailors did lose a thriller of a game to Long Beach 9-8. The sailors have scored 55 goals for and have only allowed 35 goals against. Star sophomore Owen Mazikea leads the team with 21 points – 12 goals and 9 assists. Jack Passuello follows with 19 points – 10 goals and 9 assists. Chase Bier leads the team with 30 groundballs and 26 takeaways. Chase Bier and his 26 takeaways currently rank 2nd on Long Island. Also, Goaltender Riley Hickam has a 65% save percentage which is sitting right outside the top 10 on Long Island. 

With 5 wins, the Sailors already have more than half the wins they had last year and still have 10 games left to play. The team is definitely on pace to surpass last year’s win total as they try to make the push to return to the playoffs at Hofstra. Starting midfielder Ethan Silber, who has 11 points this season said, “The team has a lot of strong leadership all  around. With a lot of seniors, the team has great chemistry.” Ethan attributes a lot of the team’s success to the team’s strong leadership and chemistry.

The Sailors still have more than half of the season left as they prepare for the harder parts of the schedule and a very hard matchup this afternoon against Lynbrook. I had a chance to ask Coach Emmerich the question “After an amazing start to the season, how do you feel about the team’s readiness for the last month of the season and to make a deep playoff push?” Coach Emmerich responded, “I think because of the fact that we are an experienced team with many returning players and because so many of our games already have been close exciting games through the 4th quarter, we are ready for the high stakes of the playoffs. We play every game like it’s our last. Playoffs will be no different.” With a month left in the season, the OHS Boy’s Lacrosse Team hopes to make a final playoff push and hopefully host a home playoff game this year.