And now comes the biggest of them all.

There is no more successful program in New York boys lacrosse than West Genesee. The Wildcats from Section III have won 11 state titles, including the last two with a pair of thrilling one-goal games against Long Island teams.

West Islip will try to measure up to West Genesee (22-1) in the Class A state final at 4 p.m. Saturday at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium. It will be the third of three championship games, beginning with South Side vs. Corning East at 11 a.m. and Manhasset vs. Penn Yan at 1:30 p.m.

"If we can get it done, we'll have gone through three of the premier programs in the country," West Islip coach Scott Craig said. "If you want to be recognized as the best, you've got to beat the best."

West Islip (22-0) already has that recognition, ranked No. 1 in the nation by Inside Lacrosse, but it heads to the final showdown just a day and a half removed from its closest brush with imperfection.

In Thursday night's semifinal at West Point's Michie Stadium, the Lions looked listless against Shenendehowa (Section II) and trailed at the half for the first time this season. A string of six straight goals to open the second half then produced a five-goal lead en route to a 12-5 win.

"At the half we told them that if the game was over right now, they didn't deserve to win," Craig said. "We just weren't sharp. We were still kind of on the bus."

Ah, the bus. The one that almost cost the Lions a shot at the title. Stuck in traffic because of an accident on the Tappan Zee Bridge and congestion from the end of the Yankees game on Thursday, it took West Islip more than four hours to make the trip. The team stepped off the bus just 35 minutes before the scheduled start of the game, and the mix of weariness and anxiety showed.

Shenendehowa (16-5) took advantage of West Islip's woes. The Lions were undisciplined with the ball, had trouble clearing and looked as if they were trying to score a game's worth of goals on each shot.

"Sometimes when we are pressed, we try to do everything at one time," Craig said. Three fast-break opportunities - the soul of the West Islip attack - turned into disappointments with weak, poorly judged shots. After two quarters, West Islip trailed 4-3.

"We were lucky it was only a one-goal game at that point," senior midfielder Troy Turri said. "We probably couldn't have played any worse."

The third quarter wasn't much better until West Islip finally slowed down its offense.

Matt Sullivan scored the first of his three goals on a dodge from behind the cage with 4:11 left to tie the score at 4, and Turri grabbed a loose ball and scored 28 seconds later for West Islip's first lead. The Lions scored nine of the 10 second-half goals.

CLASS A

STATE FINAL
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