For the second straight season, Garden City is headed to the Long Island Class B boys championship game. The Trojans are loaded with plenty of seniors contributing. Cornell commits Jack Cascadden and Brendan Staub have led the way.
Garden City was challenged with an extremely hard non-league schedule. They faced great teams through the course of the year like Mount Sinai and Cold Spring Harbor. Those games led up to the Woodstick Classic with Manhasset. It’s the oldest rivalry in all of high school lacrosse and it had a primetime matchup headlining the game. Senior Jack Cascadden had to face Duke Commit Cal Girard at the faceoff X. It was a back and forth game but the Trojans came away with the overtime victory with the help of Cascadden’s performance on faceoffs and on the offensive end of the field. Cascadden said “The game could go either way, I had to keep my mind fresh going against Cal (Girard) he’s an outstanding player…. I think we did a great job. Brendan on the wings, Luke Schmidt and Jack Archer on the other side.. They did an amazing job and winning a game like that was unreal”.
Since the victory over Manhasset, the Trojans have stayed in the win column . They’ve pulled off 10 straight wins. Brendan Staub has led the defense so far this season. The Cornell-bound senior has anchored a defensive group who has only allowed 3 goals per game in their last 5 contests. They cruised through the Nassau Class B semifinals but they had a tough matchup against Calhoun in the county final.
Calhoun came off of a dramatic overtime win over MacArthur and was led by one of Nassau County’s best players within Alex Veini. The entire Trojans defense stepped up, pulling away with a 12-5 win. Staub has been no stranger to facing the other team’s top option and he thrived with the assignment on Wednesday. Staub said “I think its pressure but I don’t think it’s overwhelming because I know I have a defense behind me and in terms of the Calhoun game, I think I was a little bit more off ball. The first time around I was more on ball, so adjusting to that other role I think was crucial for us”.
With the county title win, Garden City gets a date with a familiar foe. The Trojans will have a rematch with Comsewogue. Last year Garden City won the matchup by the score of 5-1. Cascadden played a big role in winning a lot of faceoffs. He also scored one of the five goals for the Trojans in their championship victory last year. The Warriors have put together another great team and the Trojans’ most challenging test of the postseason is on the horizon. Cascadden said “We need to keep our composure on the offensive end… just stay calm and put the ball in the back of the net”.
The Trojans also will go against another terrific offense. Comsewogue is loaded with talent including Michael Katz and Justin Bonacci who have eclipsed over 80 points. Staub said “The next 48 hours before the game are gonna be crucial. We got a ton of film to watch. A ton of stuff to talk about with our coach…and when your going against a really good player like both of those guys are (Katz and Bonacci) I think its not trying to do too much and being able to roll with the punches… Having the mental toughness to rebound after a mistake, I think that’s gonna be huge for us especially in an environment like it’s gonna be on Saturday at Hofstra”
Cascadden, Staub and the rest of the Garden City crew will face off against Comsewogue this Saturday at 3 o’clock at Hofstra University.
Checkout the full interview below.
