Canes Drop Two, But See Improvement Against Comsewogue

It’s been a rough start to the 2013 campaign for the Westhampton Beach boys lacrosse team. After opening the season with a loss to defending Class C state champ Shoreham/Wading River, the Hurricanes followed with a one-goal loss to Bayport/Blue Point and a defeat at the hands of county Class B runner-up Comsewogue.

The Hurricanes took on a young and rebuilding East Hampton team on Monday and finally got their first win of the season, beating the Bonackers handily, 14-2 to move to 1-3 on the year. The Hurricanes were led by Zach Moore, who had three goals. Brian Corrigan split time in goal and on the field and had two goals while also making two saves. Jack Murphy had two goals and three assists for Westhampton Beach, while Wyatt Foglia and Evan Gagne also had two goals.

Westhampton Beach traveled to Bayport/Blue Point on April 2, looking to even up its record after an opening-day loss, however, the Phantoms got the last laugh in a nail-biter, scoring the eventual game-winning goal with just more than two minutes to go in the game.

After the first quarter, Westhampton Beach trailed 3-2 with both its goals coming off the stick of Moore.

The Canes evened it up less than a minute into the second quarter, thanks to another Moore score, but the Phantoms regained the lead three minutes later on a Brian Ward goal.

Then Westhampton Beach was dealt a serious hit when Tim Hoare was called for an illegal body check to the head, a two-minute, non-releasable penalty. Bayport/Blue Point capitalized, scoring a pair of goals, thanks to Ryan Hake and Kevin Ward, while playing a man up. Murphy got one back for the Canes with just more than a minute to go in the half for a 6-4 halftime score.

After the third quarter, the Phantoms led 8-5 and despite a five-goal fourth quarter, the Hurricanes were unable to overcome their deficit. Phantom Austin Belz scored the eventual game-winner with 2:25 to go in the game.

Moore finished the day with four goals trailed by Casey Hickey with a hat trick and one assist. Murphy, Gagne and Corrigan each netted one goal and Pat Yager chipped in with two assists. Corrigan also spent time in the cage, making five saves, while Patrick Dean had eight.

“I don’t think we played our best game,” Westhampton Beach head coach Drew Peters said. “I think we have yet to play a solid 48 minutes of lacrosse this season. We came out kind of flat and sloppy. We weren’t taking care of the ball. Defensively, we had some problems and those mistakes cost us in the end.”

Following the loss to the Phantoms, the Hurricanes saw a first-quarter slim lead disappear quickly as they fell to Comsewogue, 13-6, at home on April 6.

Comsewogue, like Shoreham/Wading River, puts out a solid varsity squad each season and in 2012, the Warriors lost to Sayville in the Suffolk County Class B Championship game after entering the postseason as the top seed.

Westhampton Beach managed a 4-3 lead after the first quarter but it was all Comsewogue after that as the Warriors outscored their hosts, 4-0, in the second quarter for a 7-4 lead. It was much of the same in the second half with six goals for the visitors and just two for the Hurricanes.

Gagne was his team’s leading scorer with three goals while Hickey added two goals and an assist. Moore scored once and Murphy dished out three assists.

Corrigan made 11 stops in the cage.

“We came out and played better than we had in the previous two games,” Peters said. “We played harder. The score isn’t indicative on how hard we played but we were just outmatched by a better team.”

He continued, “We have something to build on from the Comsewogue game. We didn’t care what the score was going to be. We wanted to get better, work harder, have a better effort, and take care of the little things like winning groundball match ups. It’s something to build on this week.”

ON THE SCHEDULE: Wednesday, 4/10, vs. Elwood/John Glenn, 4:30 p.m.; Friday, 4/12, vs. Huntington, 7 p.m.; Tuesday, 4/16, at Mount Sinai, 5:30 p.m.