Islanders Win Big At Faceoff, But Lose Game 11-7 To Sachem North

Jack Cooper won all but three faceoffs for his South Fork boys lacrosse team Monday, but the Islanders struggled to maintain possession and capitalize on their chances in an 11-7 loss to Sachem North.

“It’s really nice having him out there,” J.P. Amaden said of the sophomore midfielder. “We have offensive possession nearly every single time, so we know we don’t have to worry about that, we just have to finish more.”

But the junior attack wasn’t lacking in that department. Amaden ended the game with three goals, and Cooper also came through with a goal and two assists in what was the Islanders’ fourth straight loss.

“I’m proud of the boys for the way they played today,” head coach Matt Babb said. “This was probably the best effort we’ve had all year.”

Senior goalkeeper Stephen Sutton came up with back-to-back saves to open the first quarter, and sophomore longstick midfielder Luke Castillo scooped up one of his many ground balls, but Cooper had his first two shots saved before finally putting the ball away from 25 yards out off a feed from Charlie Corwin with 20 seconds left in the first, cutting the deficit in half, 2-1. At one point, South Fork had the ball for two minutes, but struggled to find an open lane. Corwin had his shot attempt saved at 4:36 to turn the ball over.

The game remained close through much of the first half, though, with the Islanders down, 4-2, at halftime, but Sachem North scored several times in transition to cut the wind out of South Fork’s sails. The first scored this way came with 3:05 left in the first half for a 4-1 Flaming Arrows lead, but a Cooper faceoff win led to Amaden’s first goal to cut the lead in half.

“We started off slow, down 2-0, but something turned on and we started playing really well — started crisping up our passes and scoring,” Amaden said. “We had them on the ropes.”

With Sachem North leading, 5-2, off a fast break, despite Cooper winning the opening faceoff of the half, the sophomore scooped up the ball again on the ensuing battle at “X” and was finally repaid for the win. His inbounds pass to Joe Scully hit its mark at 9:47 for the Islanders’ first goal of the stanza.

“Jack’s consistent — this is how he’s been all year. He’s old reliable,” Babb said. “We can put him out there and we know what we’re going to get. We just need to pick up the play around him, and today we did that.”

Amaden challenged a defender to the side of the goal and scored to cut Sachem North’s lead to 6-4 at the 7:24 mark, but despite the faceoff and 50-50 ball wins, South Fork didn’t actually tally another goal until over eight minutes into the fourth quarter, which was Amaden’s hat trick goal that brought the score to 10-6.

“It’s nice scoring and helping out your team. Everyone was hyped,” Amaden said. “We normally play a zone defense and switched to man[-to-man], and that worked out a lot better.”

“He found a spot, I think,” Babb said of the junior attack, smiling. “He was a midfielder in the beginning of the year and we switched him to attack out of necessity, and now you’re seeing that he’s getting comfortable. He’s producing as a result of that. He can play anywhere on the field for us.”

The Islanders did earn a goal with 1:44 left in the third, but that’s because a rebound off a Noah Thompson stick check that was placed into the crease by a defender just rolled over the goal line.

Evan Hacker rocketed a shot into the lower left corner for South Fork’s final goal. It was a lucky one for the Hampton Bays senior, who was playing in front of his home crowd on the Baymen’s turf for the only time this season. The Islanders typically play in Southampton, but made an appearance out West to honor the seniors. It’s also the first time Hampton Bays student-athletes have competed at the varsity lacrosse level since 2019. Sutton, Hampton Bays’ other senior, made six saves on the evening.

“It was a good environment; good crowd. I’ve never played here before, and I loved it,” Cooper said. “We pulled up today, rallied together and had a good game.”

The sophomore added he especially enjoyed the energy his Islanders brought in the second half, saying, “we really put our foot down and drove forward.” His coach agreed.

“They played great,” Babb said. “With this kind of energy, I feel we have a couple more wins coming our way.”

The South Fork team, made up of kids from Hampton Bays, Southampton, Pierson, Bridgehampton, East Hampton and Ross, travels to William Floyd for a 4:30 p.m. matchup Thursday, April 28, before heading to undefeated Northport for a 6:30 p.m. game Monday, May 2.

“We’re coming together,” Cooper said. “We just need to keep our heads up and concentrate — work on the basics like passing and catching — but we’re still learning how to work with each other.”

“We have a good shot against William Floyd,” Amaden added. “We have to win one big game to make it to playoffs at the end of the season.”