Rye boys lacrosse beat Highland 19-3 on Saturday to advance to the Class C state semifinals.
Five minutes into the regional final at Middletown, the Section 9 champion Huskies led the Garnets 2-1. For a minute, it looked like a game. But over the remaining three and a half quarters of play, Rye outscored Highland 18-1.
A running clock was activated midway through the third quarter, and every Garnet on the roster saw playing time in what ended up being the most lopsided victory all season. Rye has now won six games in a row, outscoring opponents by a combined margin of 95-22.
Rye face-off specialist Wilson Redd’s dominance at the dot established an early, consistent, and highly frustrating trend for the Huskies: it’s pretty tough to score if your team doesn’t have the ball.
Eleven different Garnets scored, including Rye’s Harvard-bound senior captain Nigel Strazzini. After a bone-rattling, ball-dislodging Strazzini hit on a Highland attackman – which led to an immediate Sam Scully goal – Strazzini’s encore came just 46 seconds after the start of the third quarter.
It was one of the rarest and most exciting plays in lacrosse: a long pole goal, to put Rye up 11-3. From that point forward, it was clear sailing for the Garnets.
Rye (15-5), currently ranked No. 2 in New York Class C, advances to the state semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Thursday against No. 1-ranked Wantagh (16-3), the Long Island regional champion. The Warriors earned their spot in the semifinal with an arduous 12-11 victory Saturday over Sayville.
Wantagh hasn’t lost since April 14, but if the Garnets can reverse that trend, they’ll move on to the Class C state championship on Sunday, June 14, at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y.
