South Side's Chris White had six assists yesterday, but he definitely knew which one was his favorite. The South Side senior attack enjoyed the behind-the-back pass to Kent Lucas on the left side that set up the Cyclones' final goal with 9:40 left.

"That," White said, "was a nice one."

South Side's offense dominated Shoreham-Wading River, 16-7, in the Class B Southeast Regional final yesterday at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium. By winning its first Long Island title, South Side (18-1) advanced to face defending state champ Yorktown (16-3) of Section I, a 13-4 winner yesterday over LaSalle of Section II. The state semifinal will be at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow at West Point.

Shoreham (16-3) missed a chance to win a third straight Long Island title. The nine-goal margin is the largest in the Class B Long Island final since 1994, when Garden City beat Stony Brook by 15.

"We do [the fancy passes] in practice all the time, but it's so exciting when it happens in a game," Lucas said. "That was ridiculous."

Kevin Hill (five), Eddie Ege (four) and Lucas (three) were among seven different goal scorers that helped South Side jump out to the lead and stay there. White also fed Lucas on his goal that beat Zak Bates (eight saves) and initiated running time at 15-5 with 11 minutes left.

Dale Pescitelli's 10-yard rip with 4:35 left provided the final margin and stopped the running clock.

"We had a little more breathing room and this was a good win for our program," said Joe Baccarella, whose team won its first Nassau title in a one-goal decision last Wednesday. "We have a lot of weapons and played unselfishly."

Shoreham lost momentum when Pescitelli's shot that appeared to rip through the right side of the net was ruled to have traveled outside of the cage with 3:24 left in the first quarter.

South Side extended its 1-0 first-quarter lead by scoring five of the first six goals in the second quarter. John Kennedy made 13 saves in the first half, when South Side led 7-2. Danny Orlando had seven second-half stops.

"They jumped on us," Shoreham coach Tom Rotanz said. "It seemed like things were bouncing their way."

Kevin Unterstein put a shot into the right corner with 10:15 left in the third quarter to cut Shoreham's deficit to 7-4, but it would never get any closer.

Kevin Hill concluded a five-goal spurt for South Side with his last goal to make it 14-5 when he finished on a fast break with one second left in the third quarter.

"Our offense just hit our shots," Hill said, "and our defense was on fire."

South Side had never appeared in a Nassau final before this season. The Cyclones, with a 15-game winning streak, are two victories away from taking the state crown.

"Every game, it's totally different people," Ege said. "There's no other team like this. We score at will. Right now, not many teams can stop us."

SOUTH SIDE 16

SWR 7
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