Matty Kammer's 16 saves lead Cold Spring Harbor in Class D state quarterfinal
Goalie Matt Kammer of Cold Spring Harbor makes one of many saves in the NYS Class D lacrosse Southeast Region quarterfinal against Bronxville on Saturday June 7, 2025 in Yorktown Heights. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
YORKTOWN - As the final buzzer sang out at Yorktown High School’s Charlie Murphy Field, it was only fitting that the ball rested in the stick of Cold Spring Harbor goalie Matty Kammer.
He made his 16th save of the game as time expired, leading him to throw his stick in the air in celebration followed by his gloves before being swarmed by his teammates after an epic performance in the cage as Cold Spring Harbor defeated Section I’s Bronxville, 7-3, in the Class D state quarterfinal and Southeast Regional Final Saturday.
Cold Spring Harbor (14-6) will face Section IV's Chenango Forks at Middletown High School at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday for the state semifinal in search of the program’s 16th championship appearance as state champions of the last three seasons.
“It’s great, we worked hard all year,” Kammer said. “We really deserve it.”
Coming off an underwhelming Long Island championship game performance against Center Moriches, the sophomore made six saves in the opening quarter to help Cold Spring Harbor hold off a ferocious Bronxville attack.
“It’s fire to the flame,” Kammer said. “The whole team, including the defense, fuels each other.”
His second save denied a cutting Bronxville attackman just inches off the crease. Combined with constant communication, coach Dennis Bonn wore a wide smile when talking about his goalie.
“Matty Kammer was off the charts today,” Bonn said. “And that’s the Matty that we know.”
Captain Hunter Yulico seemed to cover more and more ground with each passing minute on defense, leading a unit that held Bronxville (13-6) scoreless for 37 straight minutes of play after conceding with 4:08 left in the first quarter.
“We know we just have to stay hungry,” Yulico said. “Nothing is given here … I told the guys before the game that it’s going to be on us. We know we have Matty in the cage, we just have to take away what they want.”
Yulico won a difficult ground ball on defense before utilizing his skills as a hockey player by rolling a pass to Rex O’Connor. O’Connor hit Dylan Reilly, who quickly fed it to Alex Bauer, who then set up Kevin Burns for a quick score to give Cold Spring Harbor a 7-1 lead with 9:30 left in the game.
“That might’ve been the goal that just broke [Bronxville’s] back,” Bonn said. “As soon as we scored I said to Hunter, ‘That’s your goal.’”
Andrew Hadjandreas, Jeep Pace and other rotating defensemen matched Yulico’s intensity, combined by a good defensive gameplan of rotating poles and occasional zone coverage. The midfield of Sam Bruno, Brady McKean and O’Connor — who added a caused turnover with a massive check to deny a clear in the second quarter — made sure the defensive effort was matched. The Seahawks added wins at the faceoff X via Alex Vitale, who won 10 of 14 faceoffs and continued a dominant spring season.
Bauer had a goal and two assists, opening a three-score second quarter with a feed to Roy Testa. The sophomore slipped a shot into the bottom right corner like a bowler knocking down the 10-pin.
Bruno muscled through contact minutes later to find Reilly for a score before Bauer added a goal down the right wing with 29.1 seconds left in the first half. Cold Spring Harbor led 5-1 at halftime and never looked out of control from there. Assistant coach and offensive coordinator Christian Lynch earned his 200th coaching win with the result.
“We’re a small school, but we can play with anyone,” Yulico said. “We got a bunch of hungry guys here, we come out here with energy and we just want it.”
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
