Scott Craig bounced on his lacrosse stick as if it was a pogo stick. The 17-year West Islip coach remained nervous on the sideline for each moment of yesterday's Suffolk Class A boys lacrosse semifinal.

The pressure only increased for top-seeded West Islip as it advanced to its fourth Suffolk final in five seasons with a 7-4 win over No. 4 Ward Melville in front of 1,000 at Rocky Point. West Islip (19-0) will vie for its first title when it meets No. 3 Northport (15-4) at 7 p.m. Friday at Stony Brook University. Ward Melville (13-5) has lost in the semifinals four straight times, the last three to West Islip.

"This was a very tense situation," Craig said. "If nothing else, this is going to help us take it to the next level. Our kids had to respond under pressure."

Craig's anxiety stemmed from West Islip scoring its fewest goals and having its slimmest victory margin this season. The Lions had won their previous games by an average of more than 10 goals.

At least Alex Smith provided some measure of comfort. The senior attack scored three straight times in a 4-0 second quarter as West Islip took a 5-1 halftime lead. Jeff Flandina gave West Islip its largest lead at 6-1 just 36 seconds into the second quarter to cap a six-goal spurt in a 15:03 span. Flandina created a turnover while riding, then finished on an open net.

"We just started taking control," Smith said. "A lot of people think this is the year we are going to do it. We just had to keep going hard."

Flandina's cross-cage feed to Kevin Federico 25 seconds into the second quarter broke a tie at 1. Smith then started his spurt when he put away a pass from Matt Sullivan to make it 3-1 with 8:24 left.

"When we get ahead like that, we had to come out and shut them down," said West Islip midfielder Dan Galasso, whose goal with 2:27 left in the first quarter tied it at 1. "We're not used to playing close games like this."

"We squandered a lot of opportunities, and offensively, we have struggled all year," said Ward Melville coach Joe Cuozzo, who will return for his 37th season looking to expand on his 22 Suffolk, 15 Long Island and seven state titles. "There is a lot of pressure on these guys because people expect them to win every year."

West Islip carries that burden this season.

Suffolk Class A semifinal

Ward Melville 1021- 4

West Islip 1411- 7

Goals - WM: Ben-Eliyahu, A. Blechman, Giardinello, Ward. WI: Smith 3, Federico, Flandina, D. Galasso, Messina. Saves - WM: Simonin 7; WI: Barcia 5.

WEST ISLIP 7

W. MELVILLE 4
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