On July 7th and 8th, one of the most exciting events of the summer took place within the NLI. On those two days at Ward Melville High School, amazing teams across Long Island and a couple out of state teams battled it out. It was the best going against the best, and everyone put on a show. Take a look at the top 10 teams from the National Lacrosse Invitational.
1. Chaminade- The Flyers lived up to the hype during the NLI. Chaminade’s depth was on full display as they pulled together a complete team to beat terrific teams like Northport, Mount Sinai and Bayport-Blue Point. Quinn Ball dominated at the X and the Flyers were playing “make it take it”. Chaminade ended up taking the NLI title without a single loss.
2. Bayport-Blue Point- During the NLI, you could’ve made the argument that the phantoms had the most explosive offense. Bayport showed off their high powered shooters throughout the tournament. Even without a true faceoff specialist, they made it look easy against great teams such as Ward Melville, East Islip and Bay Shore. Bayport ended up making a championship appearance.
3. Farmingdale- The Dalers got off to a hot start and won 5 games before falling in the semi finals. The goalie duo of Mike Ippoliti and Jimmy Caputo played amazing. The Dalers back end was terrific throughout the event. They held California power Marin Cathlic and New England powerhouse Lincoln Sudbury to a combined 3 goals.
4. Ward Melville- The host team went 2-1 in pool play, before drawing a very talented Garden City team in the first round. The Patriots answered the bell when they had to play the Trojans. Ward Melville took a big 8-6 victory and a big reason why was stud midfielder Nick Bruckner. The Patriots ended up going to the quarterfinals before falling to Bayport.
5. East Islip- The Redman made a statement at the NLI by making a semifinal appearance. Matthew Mcintee was shredding defenses and led the way on offense for East Islip. Rising star Drew Walendowski played great in cage and helped EI grab multiple playoff wins
6. Northport- The reigning Long Island champions had a solid performance at the NLI. The Tigers were led by the electric LSM Drew Miller. They went at it with two other Long Island title winners within Garden City and Cold Spring Harbor. Northport was able to pull away from the Seahawks in the playoffs and fight Garden City to a 5-5 tie.
7. Garden City- Despite a first round exit, The Trojans still showed a dominant effort. It was business as usual in pool play on the defensive side of the ball. They locked down those opponents to 5 goals or less. Stevie Finell did his thing on offense and Garden City is reloading with talent
8. Marin Catholic- Nobody knew what to expect from the west coast catholic school, but Marin Cathlic put on a show offensively. They had major wins over Cold Spring Harbor and West Islip. Lefty attackman Colin Pucket in the class of 2024 made a name for himself. Pucket’s laser of a shot was extremely entertaining to watch.
9. Bay Shore- In a very tough bracket, Bay Shore came away with some tough victories. They defeated a solid Smithtown West team before having to play against a great Massapequa team in the playoffs, The Marauders responded very well, with a great win over the Chiefs and made a quarterfinal appearance .
10. Mount Sinai- The defending Suffolk Class C champions showed a lot of great up-and- coming talent. Cole Marsala led the way for the Mustangs in this event. Mount Sinai fell to Chaminade in the first round of the playoffs, but came away with an awesome victory over Cold Spring Harbor.
