Boys lacrosse: Riverhead wins for Coach Lawrence, as Fitzpatrick scores game-winner with seconds left on clock

With program founder Tony Lawrence and his daughter Brandy in attendance, a season dedicated to the Lawrence family culminated with a performance for the ages Wednesday at Riverhead High School.

Lawrence’s ex-wife and daughter were murdered in February by an ex-boyfriend, who then turned the gun on himself. His older daughter Danielle was a junior at Riverhead. All of Riverhead’s helmets bear a domestic violence memorial with Danielle’s initials in purple and white.

With the Riverhead’s record at 4-4 and both Smithtown East (8-0) and Smithtown West (7-1) still on the schedule, this was simply a game the Waves had to have if they wanted a true shot at making it to playoffs again this year.

The intensity level of the game was evident throughout. With both schools trading twitter barbs before the game, the atmosphere was electric. Bodies hit the floor (Mark Andrejack had the highlight hit), sticks went flying, and injuries suddenly started to play a factor. A defensive battle would ensue and Riverhead’s goalie Jacob Coleman was at the forefront.

The sophomore started and finished the game, recording a straight-up ridiculous number of saves. His 25-save effort was a career-high. There wasn’t much that could get past Coleman all game long until late in the fourth quarter.

“It was all or nothing,” Coleman said. “I’ve never had so many shots against me in one game but I was ready for more.”

Let’s not point fingers, but if we may, let’s blame it on the scoreboard. The new scoreboard was malfunctioning, which caused the game to completely stop. All the momentum that brought Riverhead to a 6-2 lead was gone.

All the plays made up until that point, the ground balls, the passing, the hustle, the high energy effort, no longer mattered because from four minutes and change left in the game to just under three minutes, Whitman (5-4 League II, 8-4 overall) scored four straight goals to tie the game at 6-6.

“We knew they would make a run,” Riverhead head coach Vic Guadagnino said. “Every good team does.”

Whitman was celebrating as if they had won the game. Little did they know, Austin Fitzpatrick was about to send them home crying. In the beginning of the game, Fitzpatrick was double-teamed and hit pretty hard. He landed on his hand and had to come out of the game right away.

“I fell on my hand in the beginning and towards the end it started to heal,” Fitzpatrick said. “It must’ve been like a stinger or something.”

You must have not felt your hand on your last shot?

“Not a chance,” Fitzpatrick said. “That was all adrenaline.”

The junior got the ball with 20 seconds left in the game, came around the corner, juked one guy, slipped past another and rifled it passed the Wildcat goalie for the 7-6 win. (See video.)

Sometimes game-winners are pure luck but this one was different. That ball was not going to be stopped. That ball was for Danielle Lawrence.

“We’re so glad that Tony was able to come out,” Guadagnino said, who could have been mistaken for a basketball player with the height he reached on his jump of excitement following the goal. “We thought today would be a special game for him to come and do the coin toss before the game. It was awesome to have him here. He spoke to the kids. We did it for him.”

The Blue Waves (5-4 League II, 7-5 overall) need to win one more game to secure a playoff spot. After facing both Smithtown teams they’ll finish the season against (0-9) Copiague.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by George Faella