Boys Finish LAX Season the Runner-Up Again

Harvey’s boys lacrosse team came ever so close to winning their first ever Housatonic Valley Athletic League (HVAL) Championship Thursday, May 18, but the Cavs saw their season end in a crushing 12-11 defeat in overtime at the hands of the Williams School Blues.

It was the second straight year Harvey lost in the championship game to Williams. With Harvey undefeated against HVAL opponents entering the match, the top-seeded Cavs had every right to believe they had a real shot at winning their first HVAL title.

From the start, the game was a back-and-forth battle with the Cavs holding a slight lead at 5-4 going into halftime. Harvey extended the lead to 7-4, but Williams kept up the pressure to keep the game close heading into the fourth quarter. 

Harvey had an 11-9 lead late but a couple of quick goals knotted the game at 11. When a last-second push by the Cavs came up short, the game headed into overtime.

After some early back and forth, Williams was able to get into a settled offense and scored the sudden death winner with 1:30 left in the four-minute overtime period. 

"We knew Williams would be prepared and hungry after two in-season losses to us," said Harvey coach Mike Scarsella. "We knew they would throw a zone against us to try to neutralize our ability to dominate in a man-to-man match up. They did it effectively and kept us on the perimeter." 

Leading the scoring for Harvey was junior captain Jared Effinger with five goals and three assists. He capped off another incredible season with 100 points in a single season. Sophomore Jackson Saccomanno netted three goals and assisted on two more. Senior captain Dante Meloni, who added two goals and an assist to freshman Evan Vasile's goal, played a very good game overall. 

The Cavs had an outstanding season, winning the HVAL regular season with a perfect 6-0 record and 11-2 overall going into the tournament.  "We'll be prepared for next season and will be bringing back the majority of the team,” Coach Scarsella said. “Finding a replacement for senior captain Meloni, who was an integral part of our offense and defense, will be a focus between now and March 1, 2024," the coach said.