WARD MELVILLE 13      SACHEM 5

MAY 1, 1999

Great game. Two teams with something to prove. Melville matched up to the man to man defense of the Arrows. Drew Casino wasted no time in taking his one on one opportunity, driving hard past his man and rifling a left handed shot home for the opening goal of the contest.

As the first quarter progressed it was clear that the game would be fast paced.  There were some great saves made by Derek Kunkel stopping a Sachem player at point blank range.  After a clear, Nick Mayer made a strong drive to the goal and fed Brendan Morgan in front of the cage for a 2-0 lead. Melville added a third goal by Matt Monfett on a feed from Kurt Gerry on a man-up situation.  The quarter ended 3-0 Melville.

Melville's fourth goal was scored after the opening face-off when Willy Passavia fires a shot to make it 4-0. Sachem scored on a man-up when Rizzuto put his own rebound after a splendid save by Kunkel. After a Sachem penalty the Melville man-up worked the ball to Monfett for a goal, 5-1 Melville. Sachem scored again on a man-up to make it 5-2 with 2:18 left in the first half.  As the quarter was winding down, Kunkel stopped a Sachem shot and cleared to Chris Passavia who passes to Todd Cunningham who put the ball in the net for a 6-2 Melville lead at half-time.

The second half began with the same intensity for Melville.  They dominated the face-offs which led to many possessions.  Matt Monfett then worked the ball around and scored on a fast shot. This was followed by Derrick Preuss with a  drive ending with a 10 yard shot making the score 8-2 Melville. After a failure to advance by Sachem, Matt Monfett drops a feed to Brendan Morgan who one-timed it home.   9-2 Melville.  By now, the Sachem crowd was out of the game.  Sachem scored their third goal on a man-up to make it 9-3 after the third quarter.

To open the fourth, Brendan Morgan controls the ground ball after the face-off and releases a centering pass but the loose ball bounces to incoming Nick Mayer who scoops it up and fires in one motion for goal number 10.  Sweet Goal!!! The Melville defense sends the ball back to Monfett on attack who drives for another goal. Sachem scored on another man-up after a Melville penalty to make it 11-4 Melville.  The closing goal for Melville after a face-off by Chris Biel, Mike Carolan scoops up the ball with his long stick and fires a shot home to make the final score 13-5 Melville.

Tonight the game was dominated by the Melville defense and midfield.  The defense of Brian Mendez, Ryan Kelaher, Nick Belvedere, Chris Passavia,  and Mike Carolan had a good game. They consistently hounded Sachem and most often disrupted the offense by causing loose balls and intercepted passes. Both midfield lines completely controlled the game.

Go Patriots.

See Newsday Article: return to Melville home page and select Long Island Lacrosse button; then select Newsday Sports link
At Newsday Sports page select High Schools along top row. Then select article 'Kunkel...'

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