South Side Takes Down East Islip 12-9 for Long Island 'B' Title

<p>For the first time in 20 years, South Side has won a Long Island Championship. South Side took down East Islip 12-9 for the Long Island Class B title. South Side and East Islip met in the football championship in the fall - 19 players from South Side and 22 from East Islip were also playing in this championship game. East Islip won the football championship, but South Side got revenge and captured a title on the lacrosse field. A special senior class led the way all season long for the Cyclones and came to play when it mattered most.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Game Changing Sequence </h2>   <p>After trailing 8-3, East Islip fought back in the third quarter. East Islip went on a 3-0 run and was only down 8-6 late in the third quarter. They had a classic 4-on-3 fast break chance, but Michael Muscarella would make one of the most incredible and acrobatic saves you'll see to keep the Suffolk County champs off the board. South Side would go down the field and get a clutch goal from [player_tooltip player_id='30757' first='Griffin' last='Mills'] to make it 9-6. The Cyclones would then go up 11-6 and stay in control en route to their 12-9 LIC victory.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">South Side's Top Performers<br><br></h2>    <p class="text-gray-700">Melkonian was a game-changer at the face-off X. He has had an incredible postseason run, which featured him going 15-of-17 vs. Carey and 22-of-23 against Manhasset for the county title. Against East Islip, he went 21-of-24 from the X and was named MVP. East Islip threw out different looks to try to disrupt Melkonian but it didn't work. He had a talented Charlie Kalinowski hounding him the entire game, but Melkonian constantly secured possessions for his team. He won the majority of his faceoffs to himself with clean exits, showing off his speed once he got the ball. Melkonian is one of the best pure athletes you'll see at the FOGO position in the country. He blazed by pressure and was able to either get a touch in the box or find one of his teammates easily. Melkonian helped South Side control this game and showed why he's one of the top faceoff specialists in the country. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">The Bryant-bound senior had a game-high four goals, with all four coming in the first half. West set the tone for this game by scoring the first goal of the contest in physical fashion, initially starting at X and dodging up just above GLE, where he backed down his defender and made him stumble before finishing easily. He then showed his versatility on his next goal. West started up top, and his defender was taking away the middle of the field before West responded with an excellent dodge. He kept his stick in his right hand where he got underneath his defender and powered through a stick check and a physical slide while shooting to net his second goal. He continued his bully ball style of play for his third goal. His defender attempted to take away his right hand but he got to it and ran hard downhill, lowering his shoulder and stinging a high bounce shot past the goalkeeper. All three of those tallies came in the first quarter and he had an inside finish in the second quarter to finish with four goals on the day. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Lynch only had eight goals last season and now has 47 tallies in a special junior campaign. He finished with a hat trick in this game and now has at least three goals in every playoff game. His first goal came very early in the game where South Side elected to play fast and it paid off. A flag was on the field and the Cyclones had a free possession. Lynch had the ball on the wing and noticed confusion with the defense. He went straight to the cage from the low lefty wing and showed no fear as he finished through a big hit to give South Side a 2-0 lead. The crafty lefty also showcased his off-ball prowess, as that's how he scored his second. After the ball hit the pipe, Lynch saw his teammate pick it up and he then timed his cut perfectly. Lynch got into a pocket, where he had a great angle, and immediately displayed his quick release on his second tally. His third goal came on a sneaky cut from that low lefty spot when South Side was man down. He caught the Redmen sleeping and was able to make them pay. </p>     <p class="text-gray-700">One of the unsung heroes for the Cyclones all season showed up on the big stage in a huge way, posting two goals and an assist. So good at doing the little things well, Mills' first impactful play didn't show up on the stat sheet. He had an incredible ride for the Cyclones, keeping up with All-American Matt McIntee and forcing him out of bounds. The play gave South Side a ton of momentum after just turning the ball over, and it would score on the ensuing possession. Mills also had one of the most important goals of the game in this one. East Islip was currently on a 3-0 run, only trailing by two goals late in the third quarter. After an acrobatic save by Michael Muscarella, Mills went to work on offense. He had a short stick matchup at X where he got to his right hand and turned the corner for a goal and a huge momentum swing. He netted his second tally in the fourth quarter, ripping a low-to-low laser while fading away to put them up 11-6 with 9:30 left in the game. </p>    <p></p>    <p class="text-gray-700">In the second half of this season, Aiello became the catalyst for South Side. He had another great day for the Cyclones, putting up two goals and three assists in the victory. The physical lefty attackman has put together an All-American caliber season and showed his scoring ability and lacrosse IQ in the Long Island title. Aiello showed off his strength and awareness on his first goal. He was leaning into his defender and put himself in a position to pull off an inside roll and quickly finish for his first goal of the game. His IQ came into play when he caught East Islip's defense sleeping. The Cyclones were man down, but as Aiello was killing clock he noticed Lynch open on a cut down low and he threw a dime of a home run pass to Lynch for the easy finish. He continued to display his vision by threading the needle on a pass from X to [player_tooltip player_id='32152' first='Liam' last='Livingston'] for a highlight reel behind-the-back goal in the 4th quarter. Aiello put the icing on the cake with the team's final goal of the game, a hard lefty sweep to the middle of the field which resulted in his 51st goal of the season.</p>

For the first time in 20 years, South Side has won a Long Island Championship. South Side took down East Islip 12-9 for the Long Island Class B title. South Side and East Islip met in the football championship in the fall - 19 players from South Side and 22 from East Islip were also playing in this championship game. East Islip won the football championship, but South Side got revenge and captured a title on the lacrosse field. A special senior class led the way all season long for the Cyclones and came to play when it mattered most.