This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Massapequa Chiefs Boys Lacrosse: 2011 Season Preview

The Chiefs eye a Nassau County championship after falling in the finals last season.

The Massapequa Boys Lacrosse team is gearing up for another run at the Nassau County title run in 2011 and potentially beyond. Just a season ago, the Chiefs tasted bitter defeat in the County finals with a 9-8 loss to Farmingdale at Hofstra University following wins over both East Meadow and Hicksville in the previous rounds.

Massapequa concluded the 2010 regular season with a 14-4 overall record and a 9-1 mark in Class AA, where they will be competing again under third-year head coach Tim Radomski.

“We expect to be able to get back to the County finals and win it this time with a very senior-oriented team,” Radomski said. “We just need to play one game at a time and essentially play until May, when the playoffs start, and then from there, play to June, when the states start.”

Find out what's happening in Massapequawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

From top to bottom, Massapequa is arguably one of the most talented teams on the island, backed by a defensive line featuring seniors Rob Enright and Rob Chiocco. Enright has received a scholarship to play lacrosse at one of the nations’ top programs in Johns Hopkins and Chiocco will play at CW Post on Long Island.

“We want to win the County championship after losing a heartbreaker last year. This year we just need to finish it out,” Enright said. “We should be very solid defensively with an experienced group. We also want to get more aggressive on offense bringing guys up and on defense, constantly keeping up the pressure.”

Find out what's happening in Massapequawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Senior Ian Lukaszewicz, who will play college lacrosse at Division III Swarthmore, will be looked at to bolster the scoring attack for the Chiefs along with another senior attack man in Jamie Shand. With Massapequa looking to increase the pressure as Enright pointed out, midfielders such as senior Steve Romano and junior Danny Muller figure to play very key roles in the hope for success this season.

“I am looking forward to play with the attack I played with last year. We played a whole lot and have great chemistry as a team,” Lukaszewicz said. “We have most of the team coming back from last year so that should help a lot. We know what we need to do this time.”

Massapequa will look to fill a key departure from last season, that of All-American goalie, Eric Schneider, who has gone on to play for Johns Hopkins. Two goalies will compete to succeed Schneider, senior Connor Haran and junior Joe Danaher.

“That is the big key and we just need to find the right situation. They’ll have big shoes to fill,” Radomski said of the early goalie competition. “We have to hope someone steps up big and performs well.”

Massapequa has a tough schedule ahead of them in Class AA with league games against top opponents such as Farmingdale, Oceanside and Syosset. The Chiefs have the opportunity to play a challenging non-league schedule as well with solid programs like Chaminade, John Jay, Wantagh and Connetquot ahead.

“Chaminade will definitely be a good first test along with Connetquot. In our league, Oceanside, Farmingdale, Hicksville and Syosset will all be big games to really see where we are at,” Lukaszewicz added.

Massapequa open up their season with a loss on the road against Chaminade on March 23th and the team currently has a 2-1 record. The first home game of the season for the Chiefs will take place on April 6th at 4:30 p.m. against league opponent Baldwin at

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?