This past Wednesday, the Ward Melville boys varsity lacrosse team defended their county championship title in a close 9-8 game- defeating long time rival Smithtown East. The Stony Brook University football stadium was packed at 3:00 pm on May 31st with everyone from current students to WM alumni to parents and friends of the players.  The crowd was loud, as usual, and there was plenty of Ward Melville pride to go around. The beginning of the game gave fans quite a scare when Smithtown held a four point lead until junior Liam Davenport scored late into the second quarter, followed by Zach Hobbes (junior), making the score 5-3 at half time. Michael Giaquinto, a starting junior whose job is to take the face offs, says he never once doubted the team’s ability to come back and win it, “I knew at half-time we would be ready to come out and play the way we’re truly capable of.  Our coaches were confident in us which gave us the extra strength to push back and come out with the win.” Noah Kepes, a senior attackman, had the golden goal yesterday when he scored after an assist from Eddie Munoz (senior) to make the score 8-7 with 4:18 left in the fourth quarter.  At 1:45, Jack Purdy (senior) cushioned Kepes’ goal making it 9-7 for the patriots. Smithtown player, Dominic Pizzulli, scored with 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter, making Purdy’s goal crucial for the patriot victory.  It wasn’t just the offense that won Ward Melville it’s county championship on Wednesday, however, the defensemen came out just as hungry for the gold.  Senior defender, Andrew McKenna, successfully kept one of East’s best players, Connor DeSimone, from scoring his usual high number of goals, only letting the ball out of his stick and into the net two times. The boys will play against Massapequa at 10 am on Saturday, June 3rd, at Stony Brook University.  They will be defending their Long Island Championship title – a win will result in qualifying for the State Championship, giving the patriots a chance to redeem themselves from their devastating loss in the 2016 season.