Syosset Edges Sachem North in OT

John Calabria warned his team that Sachem North might not be prepared emotionally to play a team like Syosset. Not that the Braves are demoralizing enough to scare an opponent like Sachem, but the Flaming Arrows headed into Saturday night's game having beaten the No. 1 school in the nation after upsetting West Islip in sudden-death overtime on Wednesday.

"I was wondering how they would react after that win," said Calabria, a 1989 Sachem graduate. "Sometimes when you have that level of high in a win, you can show up the next contest a little low."

That's exactly how it panned out. Syosset beat Sachem, 8-7, in overtime after Nick Bruno scored with 25 seconds left in the extra period of the non-league battle that took place under the lights at Massapequa's Field of Dreams.

"Sometimes there's a lot of luck involved with who ends up putting the final goal in the net," Calabria said. "Our kids are getting better every week. That's what the non-league games are for to get your intensity up before the league season. Our kids did a tremendous job tonight when it counted, in the fourth quarter and overtime."

Sachem's Phil Schaefer led both teams with four goals. Jared Godsell led Syosset with two tallies.

Syosset's (1-2) Jonathan Sullivan scored with 1:15 left in regulation to tie the game at 7. By that point, it was clear the Braves were set on retaliating on the score sheet after Schaefer scored to put Sachem ahead with less than three minutes left.

"We scored most of our goals quickly on offensive possessions," said Calabria.

It was a neck-and-neck game for much of the contest. Though Sachem hit the cage 15 times with shots compared to Syosset's 14, it took many more attempts that sailed wide.

Schaefer, who scored the game-tying and game-winning goals against West Islip, looked on his game again, scoring two go-ahead goals in Saturday night's contest and handling the ball exceptionally well in crucial situations.

Sachem took a 1-0 lead in the first quarter after Schaefer put one past goalie Jonathan Cohen. In the second, Syosset took a 3-1 lead when Doug Tesoriero, D.J. Schmieder and Godsell posted goals. Andreassi and Cody Ciolino scored later in the quarter for Sachem to send both teams into halftime tied at 3.

Schaefer broke the tie in the third with two goals, and Ryan Hunter answered quickly to edge Syosset back to a 5-4 deficit. Andy Lee tied the game for the Braves, but Andreassi scored on Sachem's next possession after multiple rotations toward the net were either blocked or pushed aside by Syosset's defense.

Tesoriero scored his second and most critical goal of the game at the midway mark of the fourth quarter before Sullivan and Bruno did their magic.