CSH boys lax falls in state 'D' semifinals - Newsday
MIDDLETOWN — The last time Cold Spring Harbor had seen Chenango Forks on a lacrosse field before Wednesday was back in 2022 at Hofstra. The Seahawks cruised to a 16-goal win to launch their dynasty — not one, not two, but three straight state Class D titles.
The teams met again Wednesday at Middletown High in the state final four, and it was a very different game.
The Blue Devils had a freshman in goal in that 2022 championship game. That kid is now a senior bound for Syracuse.
This time, Lucas Bartlow made the last of his 20 saves with the clock heading for 30 seconds left in a tie game, then cleared the ball himself. Gabe Pavlick eventually ended up with it and fired it in with just 2.1 seconds on the clock, taking down the giants of 'D' boys lacrosse.
The Nassau and Long Island dynasties continue with four straight crowns, but the state dynasty ended with this 5-4 semifinal loss.
“Listen, sports are cruel,” coach Dennis Bonn said. “Sometimes you’re the victor and sometimes you’re the losers, and today, unfortunately, we’re the losers.
“It hurts. I feel terrible for the 15 seniors because that’s the last time they’re going to wear a CSH uniform, and it’s not easy to say goodbye to a place that you’ve been for so long, six years [in] middle school, high school.
“To have the run that we had to win three in a row and come up a little short … We had the shots that we wanted. Hats off to the goalie.”
The goalie was the main reason Chenango Forks (14-3) will play for the title against Penn Yann of Section V Saturday in Geneva. Believe it, Bartlow remembered losing 17-1 to CSH.
“I was a little young [three] years ago, but I just came ready and hungry to get my revenge,” Bartlow said. “I did it.”
Pavlick made him a winner, beating Matty Kammer from about 14 yards out.
“It was wicked exciting in the moment,” the long stick midfielder said. “I’m going to look back at it forever and be like, my junior year, I won the game for us.”
He’s the son of Chenango Forks’ coach.
“It makes it a little special, right?” Dave Pavlick said.
Roy Testa beat Bartlow with a high shot, tying it at 4 with 4:36 left. But he dwelled more on that final shot that Bartlow stopped.
“I had the last shot, so that was the difference there,” Testa said. “Put it in and we win. I didn’t. We lost.”
Of course, it came down to a lot more than that.
Dylan Reilly had two goals, but the Seahawks (14-7) trailed 3-2 at halftime.
Chenango Forks' Brody Polacek scored his fourth to make it 4-2 early in the third, but Brady McKean cut it to 4-3 31 seconds later.
It ended with OT just a couple of heartbeats away.
“It stings,” senior Alex Bauer said. “Obviously, you never want to lose like that, and you never want to lose.”
Brian Heyman covers high school, college and pro sports. He joined Newsday in 2021 and previously worked as a sportswriter for The Journal News in White Plains and The Hudson Dispatch in Union City, New Jersey. His work has appeared in The New York Times, MLB.com and Baseball Digest magazine.
