Islip boys lacrosse team's Jake DeGennaro scores tiebreaking goal in Class C quarterfinal win
Islip players celebrate after defeating Harborfields in a Suffolk boys lacrosse Class C quarterfinal on Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Greenlawn. Credit: Kelvin Loarca
A three-goal Islip lead in the final quarter had dissolved into a tie with host Harborfields. A ticket to the Suffolk Class C boys lacrosse semifinals was there for either side to claim.
Soon Jake DeGennaro had the ball in his stick, did some running with it and then put in a claim for Islip.
“I just saw three guys running at me and I know I can’t give up the ball,” he said. “ . . . [Then] I saw an opportunity, split the double.”
The LIU-bound senior midfielder fired the tiebreaker into the back of the net with 3:49 left for his fourth goal as fifth-seeded Islip beat fourth-seeded Harborfields, 12-10, in Wednesday’s opening-round game.
“In the beginning, they were young kids,” Islip coach Keith Scheidel said. “I told them today, ‘You’re no longer young kids. You played a full season of lacrosse.’ We’ve gotten better every game, and they played like that today.”
So the Buccaneers (8-8), who received three goals apiece from Jack Halpin and Vinny Spallina, earned their berth in the final four.
Next up? A game on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at No. 1 seed Mount Sinai. The Mustangs defeated Islip, 14-4, on April 1, but they will be facing a confident team that also has championship aspirations.
“I think we’ve got a great chance [at a title] with the way we came out today,” said senior attackman Jack Rao, a Hofstra commit who had one goal and four assists. “ . . . We all had a major impact on the game. It was by far the most fun lacrosse game I ever played in.”
After DeGennaro made it 11-10, Declan Hicks delivered one of his six saves to keep it tied before Spallina took out insurance, scoring with 49.6 seconds left. But there were plenty of twists and turns before those final four minutes.
The Tornadoes scored three straight to go up 7-5 at halftime. Chris Prainito scored all four of his goals in the first two quarters.
The Buccaneers responded with three in the third and made it a 5-0 run and a 10-7 lead with two in the first 38 seconds of the fourth.
Harborfields (13-4) countered with its 3-0 run. Alex Hannick had two assists before scoring his second goal with 5:19 remaining to tie it at 10-10.
“You’ve got to keep firing and fighting,” Rao said, “and that’s what we did.”
