'Unfinished Business' For Massapequa Lacrosse

The T-shirt says it all.  

“‘Unfinished business,’” Massapequa Boys Lacrosse Coach Tim Radomski said. “The kids came up with [the slogan]. Most of these guys have been with us the last three years. So they know what it’s all about. There’s another game coming up.”  

Top-seeded Massapequa overpowered No. 4 Farmingdale, 13-4, in a Nassau Class A semifinal Tuesday night before a crowd of 1,000 at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium. Now the Chiefs will play for the county title for the fourth straight season.  

The previous three trips to the final? All Massapequa losses.  

But these Chiefs are out to break that string of title-game losses. Unfinished business, indeed. And with contributors like Joe DeMarco driving Massapequa forward, who would doubt the Chiefs?  

DeMarco pushed the ball from the faceoff X in the direction of the Farmingdale goal. Just as quickly the Massapequa senior midfielder scooped and cradled it as he charged the cage.  

In the blink of an eye, DeMarco buried the ball in the back of the net for an early 2-1 edge. That gave Massapequa the lead for good. But DeMarco wasn’t done. He scored off the faceoff once more to make it 5-2 with 26 seconds left in the first quarter.  

“I saw the lane and I saw my opening,” said DeMarco, who won 13 of 19 faceoffs and will play at Connecticut College next year. “I said, ‘That’s my goal right there.’”  

The most remarkable part of his singular performance? Those marked the first two goals of DeMarco’s three-year varsity career.

“He just went down and stuck two,” Radomski said. “He came up big for us. He got us a little momentum and that got us going.”  

Massapequa (14-2) advances to the championship game next Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. at Hofstra. The Chiefs will face the winner of Wednesday’s Port Washington-Syosset semifinal.  

“They’re very good,” longtime Farmingdale Coach Bob Hartranft said. “They’re skilled and unselfish. Really a heckuva lacrosse team.”  

The Chiefs also beat Farmingdale, 9-5, in April.  

One week after outlasting Hicksville in a quarterfinal win, Farmingdale (11-5) simply couldn’t get on track. John Ragno, who scored four times last week, was shut out.  

Massapequa got a total effort on offense. Chris Vigilante (3 goals), Paul Bentz (2), DeMarco (2), Ian Kirby (2) and Paul Dilena (2) each had multi-goal games.  

Nassau Boys Lacrosse Playoffs
Class A Semifinal – At Hofstra
Teams………………1…..2…..3…..4 – F
Farmingdale…...…2…..0…..1…..1 – 4
Massapequa….…..5…..1…..3…..4 – 13
Goals –  F: Morris, Scheuerer, DePalma, Lopez; M: Vigilante 3, Bentz 2, DeMarco 2, Kirby 2, Dilena 2, Hawthorne, Yevoli. Saves – F: Muscarella 7; M: Russo 6.