Cold Spring Harbor boys lacrosse wins fourth straight Long Island Class D title

As half of the Cold Spring Harbor boys lacrosse team tackled senior Andrew Hadjandreas, taking their fellow Seahawk to the turf, it became the latest celebration in a long list of fond memories for Cold Spring Harbor lacrosse in Class D.

The Seahawks won their fourth straight Long Island Class D title Wednesday at East Islip Middle School with a 16-8 win over Center Moriches.

Cold Spring Harbor (13-6) will face the Section I champion, either Bronxville or Pleasantville, at Yorktown High School at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in a state quarterfinal.

“It’s always special, it never gets old as coach [Dennis Bonn] likes to say,” said senior Alex Bauer, who had four assists. “We love raking them in.”

Center Moriches came out firing, with Mason Walsh winning the first faceoff before Caden Leslie gave the Red Devils an early lead less than two minutes into the game. A back-and-forth opening quarter saw Cold Spring Harbor lead 4-3 after 12 minutes.

“I think we were just feeling them out in that first quarter,” Bauer said. “Our defense really started to settle in, figure out the matchups and it all worked out from there.”

The Seahawks responded with the same display of firepower that has led them to three consecutive state titles, scoring seven second-quarter goals with brothers Roger and Roy Testa accounting for five of those scores. Roger Testa, who had six goals, was named the game’s MVP.

“I love playing with him. It’s the last year playing together, that’s really special,” Roger Testa, a senior, said. “I love how all the teammates, not just me, were contributing.”

Roger Testa was one of nine Seahawks to log a point. Rex O’Connor had a goal and three assists. Kevin Burns had three goals and an assist, all within 1:46 left in the first quarter to 9:01 left in the second quarter.

“We always have a mentality of never letting up and [keeping the foot] on the gas,” Burns said. “As time went on we showed we were the better team.”

Alex Vitale was brilliant for Cold Spring Harbor at the X by winning 19 of 22 faceoffs. Center Moriches didn’t have an offensive possession for the first four minutes of the second quarter, with Cold Spring Harbor scoring four goals in that span.

“You get confident,” Bauer said. “The offense gets in a rhythm when you start getting the ball a lot.”

Bonn noted how losses to Garden City and Bethpage prepared this team for the playoff run that had led Cold Spring Harbor back upstate. The Seahawks have won three elimination games by a combined 45-10.

“It doesn’t matter what happens in the first five or six games, it matters what happens in the last five or six games,” Bonn said.

Center Moriches ends its season with a 9-9 record, with the team writing new history this season with its first county title. With only eight graduating seniors and promising returners in Walsh, Leslie, Will Jordan, and Gavin Jevetski, the future remains bright for the Red Devils.

But the present remains in Cold Spring Harbor. That didn’t change Wednesday, nor will it anytime soon.