Keith and O’Keefe Carry Syosset Over Port Washington

A year ago Mac O’Keefe was just a 8th grader dreaming of an opportunity to star for the Varsity Braves. 

Tuesday afternoon in Port Washington, O’Keefe’s dream became a reality. O’Keefe scored four goals and Cornell bound senior Andrew Keith added two goals and four assists to help the Braves defeat the Vikings 11-5. 

Syosset opened the game with great energy, controlling the ball in the offensive zone and keeping the Vikings defense off balance for most of the game. Matt Raffa, Anthony Carchietta, and Keith all scored in the first quarter to give the Braves an early 3-1 lead. 

Syosset would score four unanswered goals to lead 7-1 at the half. Two of those goals featured two different over the shoulder highlight tape goals from Alex Concannon and O’Keefe. Keith would find a charging Anthony Carchietta for a great transition score to close the half out for Syosset. 

Keith had everything working for him in his arsenal on this day for the Braves. Keith often drew multiple double teams and different defensive schemes from Port Washington and dominated each challenge. 

“I was able to get a bunch of dodges and draw double teams,” Keith said afterwards. “My teammates were able to use that and into open areas to score.” 

Port Washington would score two quick goals to open the third quarter to cut the game to as close as 7-3 but that would be as close as they would get, after Syosset scored goals from Carchietta, John Diaz, and Keith. 

O’Keefe scored Syosset’s lone goal of the 4th quarter to close out the game for Syosset, and afterwards head coach John Calabria spoke about the team win. 

“Our kids played great,” Calabria said. “We really put together four quarters.”

Syosset’s defense rose to the occasion today. Led by All American senior goalie Ryan Feit, the Braves defense battled hard all afternoon. Feit finished the game with 11 saves and continues to anchor a defense that has raised its game to new levels this season. 

“I thought the defense was phenomenal today,” Feit said. “Kyle Haber and Liam Blohm were able to shut down their two standout players and the rest of the defense was able to handle Port excellently.” 

“We played team defense,” Haber added. “We always have a man sliding and we did a really good job playing as a team and getting the job done.” 

O’Keefe played his best game of the season for the Braves. O’Keefe was a ball hawk offensively as his quick release and tremendous stick skills propelled the Braves on the offensive side of the ball. 

Though just a freshman, O’Keefe clearly belongs on the Varsity level, as Calabria only calls up 9th and 10th graders, he thinks can help the team win immediately. O’Keefe is thankful for the opportunity to play on the Varsity level. 

“I definitely feel like it’s a privilege to be playing on this team,” O’Keefe said. “I try to get playing time by working hard in practice. My teammates had a large impact on my performance today. We moved forward as a team today.” 

With the win Syosset improves to 3-0 in the league and 6-3 overall as the defending Nassau class “A” champions continue their quest to repeat.