LOOKING BACK AT THE 2023 SEASON
There were four classes for the Section VIII tournament. Farmingdale (A), Garden City (B), Manhasset (C), and Cold Spring Harbor (D) were he top seeds and they all won championships.
Farmingdale won the A championship for the first time since 2011 with an 11-3 win against second seeded and defending champion Port Washington. Garden City won their third straight Class B title, oulasting third seeded Calhoun, 7-6. Manhasset won their third consecutive Class C championship (and fourth overall) with a 15-9 win against second seeded Wantagh. Cold Spring Harbor won their second straight Class D championship by routing second-seeded Friends Academy, 14-1.
At the end of the year, the Nassau County coaches selected the post-season award winners including their All-Conference and All-County players. Then they selected nine US Lacrosse All-Americans and nine US Lacrosse All-Academic selections. Named All-Americans were Liam Connor (Manhasset, Attack), Stevie Finnell (Garden City, Midfield), Cal Girard (Manhasset, Midfield), Michael Ippoliti (Farmingdale, Goal), Jake Lewis (Calhoun, Attack), Brendan O'Keefe (Farmingdale, Attack), Jack Peterson (Manhasset, Midfield), Peter Thomann (Calhoun, Defense/LSM)), and Cole Webber (Garden City, Defense/LSM).
Named All-Academic were Matthew Kephart (Garden City), Alexander Gatto (Roslyn), Alexander Siegel (Roslyn), Benjamin Greco (Bellmore JFK), Jake Lunati (Lynbrook), Brady Mahler (Baldwin), Ryan Menghi (Calhoun), Jack Peterson (Manhasset), and Theodore Torres (Cold Spring Harbor).
Farmingdale Head Coach Mike Hungerford was named USA Lacrosse Coach of the Year from Nassau County and the Bob Scott Award winner was Benjamin Greco from Bellmore JFK.
Nassau County has a long history or recognizing the best players and coaches for each year with their annual awards.
The Nassau County "John Krumenacker Player of the Year Award" is given annually to the most outstanding high school lacrosse player in Nassau County as voted by the NCLCA. This year the award was given to Manhasset face-off midfielder Cal Girard. Girard dominated his competition this year, winning over 83% of his draws and will attend Duke University in the fall.
The "Bill Ritch Award" is given annually to the most outstanding high school attackman in Nassau County as voted by the NCLCA. Bill Ritch was the longtime coach at Sewanhaka High School and is widely considered the first great coach in Nassau County lacrosse history. The 2023 award was given to Jake Lewis who led Calhoun to a second consecutive Nassau Class B championship game appearance and will play at Long Island University.
The "Howdy Myers Award" is given annually to the most outstanding defenseman in Nassau County as voted by the NCLCA. The award is named after the late National Hall of Fame coach Howard “Howdy” Myers, who is considered by many to have been most responsible for the spread of lacrosse throughout Long Island during the 1950’s. The award this season went to Calhoun Long Stick Midfielder/Defenseman Peter Thomann. He will play at North Carolina in the fall.
The "John Driscoll Award" is given annually to the most outstanding midfielder in Nassau County as voted by the NCLCA. The award was originally named after Jim Brown but was renamed in 2004 in memory of the late John Driscoll, who, like Brown, was an outstanding midfielder from Manhasset High School. The 2023 award was shared by Stevie Finnell of Garden City, headed to Duke, and Jack Peterson from Manhasset, who will play at Harvard.
The "Goalie of the Year" for 2023 was Michael Ippoliti from Farmingdale, who will attend Syracuse University. The "Specialist of the Year" was face off specialist Cal Girard from Manhasset. The "Long Stick Midfielder of the Year" was Cole Webber from Garden City, who is headed to the University of Virginia.
The "Tom Flatley Award" is given to a Nassau County student-athlete that competed at a high level in the sports of football and lacrosse throughout his high school career. The 2023 award winner was Stevie Finnell from Garden City, a All-State and All-Long Island selection in football as well as an All-American in lacrosse.
The "Alan Lowe Coach of the Year Award" is given annually to an outstanding coaching staff in Nassau County as voted by the NCLCA. The award was originally named after Fran McCall, the longtime coach at Bethpage High School but was renamed in honor of Alan Lowe, the former coach at Manhasset High School. This year the award went to Mike Hungerford of Farmingdale, who led the Dalers to an 18-4 record in his seventh season as head coach.
The "Jim Amen Jr. Man of the Year" award is awarded annually by the NCLCA to a person that has made significant contributions to the sport of boys lacrosse in Nassau County. This year the honor went to both Mike Hungerford and Jim Kaspar, for their dedicated work in bring the blaxeight website to life.
The New York State Tournaments were back in full swing and the Nassau champions went on to play Suffolk (Section XI) champions in the Long Island Championships held this year at Stony Brook University. In Class A, Farmingdale beat Northport 5-3, led by 14 saves from goalie Mike Ippoliti. It was the Dalers fourth title and first since 2011. In Class B, Garden City beat West Islip, 10-6, for their 19th Long Island crown. Mike Ottomanelli scored three goals in the game for the Trojans. In Class C, Manhasset rallied to defeat Shoreham-Wading River 11-6, for the Indians 16th LIC, with Cal Girard winning 17 of 20 faceoffs. Goalie Carson Kirchner held Mattituck to one goal over three quarters for Cold Spring Harbor in the Seahawks 8-2 win in Class D. It was their 6th title and fifth since 2015.
After a few days of delays due to smoke from Canadian wildfires, the four Nassau representatives continued their winning ways in the NYS semifinals held at SUNY Albany. Farmingdale defeated Scarsdale (Section I), 9-5 and Cold Spring Harbor downed Pleasantville (Section I), 7-3 in the early games. Later, Garden City beat Niskayuna (Section II), 12-6, and Manhasset routed Rye (Section I), 13-6.
In the NYS championships, held this year at Hofstra University, Nassau teams won three crowns: Garden City over Victor (Section V), 9-8; Manhasset over Jamesville-Dewitt (Section III), 14-5; and Cold Spring Harbor over Marcellus (Section III), 12-5. For each squad, it was their second straight New York State championship. Farmingdale lost to Baldwinsville (Section III), 9-5, who became a repeat champion themselves, having defeated Northport in 2022. For Nassau, the championships continued a streak first began in 2009 by Manhasset- in each season since, a Nassau team has won a NYS championship in at least one classification, for 13 seasons, and 15 years (there were no NYS crowns in 2020 and 2021).
At the end of the season at least seventy seniors have made college commitments.
| County Tournament | |||
| Tournament Brackets | |||
| May 19 - Qualifiers Class B / Class C | May 22 = Class B Qtrs & Class A Qrts | ||
| May 23 - Class C Qtrs | May 25 - Class B Semi & Class A Semi | ||
| May 26 - Class D Semi & Class C Semi | May 30 - Class B Finals & Class A Finals | ||
| May 31 - Class D Finals & Class C Finals | Jun 3 - Long Island Championships | ||
| Sat - NYS Championships | |||
| Year End Awards | |||
| All Americans | All County | ||
| All-Conference | Special Annual Awards | ||
