Until yesterday.

Manhasset capped its perfect season with a 13-5 win over Section V's Penn Yan in the Class C state final at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium, ending a season of nearly unattainable expectations with the program's second championship.

"You start getting close and get a little hungry for it," Lowe said of his team's 20-0 record. "We've been here 30 years. This is kind of nice."

"We" refers to Lowe and veteran assistant Bob Rule, who was the goalie on the 1967 Manhasset team, the last to go a full season without a loss. The Indians won the state title in 1995, losing once in overtime.

Thoughts of winning it all began in the preseason. "We knew we had a lot of good players," Lowe said, "but we had some questions, too. When you have a sophomore in goal, if you say you are going to win 20 games and a state championship, you have to question that."

But Pat Judge, the sophomore goalie, not only sufficed, he excelled. He was named Defensive Player of the Game for his 10 saves. Unlike his composed demeanor during the contest, Judge looked like a baffled 10th-grader afterward.

"It still hasn't sunk in," Judge said. "It's kind of unreal."

The season may have been flawless, but the finale was not. Manhasset missed several scoring opportunities in the second and third quarters and had some ugly turnovers during that span.

Penn Yan (17-6) scored the last two goals of the second quarter to close to 6-3, and it could have been worse for Manhasset if not for a well-timed lunge by Mike DeMeo.

Judge had a clearing pass deflected and Penn Yan's Kyle Eakens had the ground ball with a wide-open cage. DeMeo dived through the crease and in front of Eakens' shot, deflecting it with 1:05 left in the half.

Manhasset scored the first three goals of the third quarter - two by junior Gavin Petracca, who had three goals and three assists - and was poised to take its crown.

"We knew if we could just put some shots on the cage, everything would start clicking," said Petracca, named the game's MVP.

Chris Finn had three goals and two assists for the Indians.

On a team with so many juniors and sophomores contributing, it was a senior who put the exclamation point on the season. Brian Connors ended the Manhasset scoring with a gorgeous goal. He took a pass from Finn to the right of his head and wrapped a shot around his helmet and into the cage.

Connors said that after losing in a state semifinal last year, Manhasset was keyed in on winning it all this season. "Every year our goal is to go further," he said.

With such a young team, maybe the Indians can be even more perfect next year.

MANHASSET 13

PENN YAN 5
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