After falling behind by one right out of the gate, the Smithtown East varsity lacrosse team scored two quick goals and never looked back on its way to a 12-5 victory over Riverhead Thursday.
Riverhead's Dan Czelatka scored off a rush less than three minutes into the game to give his team an early lead, but then Joe Saggese scored back-to-back goals minutes later to give the Bulls a lead they would never relinquish.
The second quarter was where the Bulls pulled away as they scored six times to increase the lead to seven at the half.
"We had a rough end to the season so we used the time to get better and prepare," said head coach Jason Lambert. "We knew they were going to be a tough, scrappy team.
Riverhead fought hard and cut an eight-point deficit down to five in the fourth quarter before Smithtown East pulled away for good.
"We have to clean up the 1st and the 3rd a little bit and get a full game in going forward for next Tuesday," Lambert said.
Saggese led the team with three goals and three assists while sophomore attack Brian Willets added three as well. Senior goalie Brian Balkam made 12 saves in net.
The Bulls will host No.5 West Islip Tuesday, an opponent they defeated once this season.
"It's going to be a very difficult challenge to try to beat them twice in one year" Lambert said. "We have a good group of kids, a very good senior class and we are going to lean on them these next couple of days to get ready."
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