Aidan Christie #11 of Massapequa sends home the game-winner in...

Aidan Christie #11 of Massapequa sends home the game-winner in...

Aidan Christie #11 of Massapequa sends home the game-winner in overtime to give his team a 7-6 victory over host Port Washington in a Nassau Conference A boys lacrosse game on Wednesday, April 27, 2022. Credit: James Escher

After a three-week absence, Aidan Christie quickly made his return for the Massapequa boys lacrosse team known by netting the team’s first goal on Wednesday.

Little did he and his teammates know that he would eventually score the biggest goal of the game.

With the score tied and 3:18 remaining in overtime, Christie quickly juked out his defender and subsequently fired in his second goal of the day, lifting Massapequa to an exhilarating 7-6 Nassau A road victory over Port Washington.

 

“Everything went so fast,” said Christie, who played his first game since April 5 after sustaining a chest injury. “It means a lot. I just wanted to help my team win and I was able to get it done today.”

Although the play wasn’t originally designed for Christie, Massapequa first-year coach Michael Draper commended him for stepping up in a crucial moment.

“When we set it up we were running little picks off the wings and looking for one of our other guys, Brayden Fitzpatrick, to take it across the top,” Draper said. “He’s got a great first step as well. And the Port defense did a great job of playing the picks. Aiden got it back, saw what he had, put on a little dodge and swung underneath and put it home. It was great.”

Massapequa (2-0) trailed 6-5 entering the fourth quarter after John McCarthy spun and connected for a Port Washington goal as the buzzer sounded to end the third.

A goal from Will Birney knotted the score at 6 for Massapequa with 7:56 to go in regulation. Massapequa nearly won the game in the final moments of the fourth, but had a shot saved with seven seconds to go. Port Washington goalie Bradley Hamroff then fired the ball just in front of the opposing goal, with neither team able to corral it, leading to overtime.

“The ball got moved around to me, I knew I was faster than my defender and I just put it right in,” Birney said of the tying goal.

With the score tied at 2 to begin the second, Port Washington (1-1) reclaimed the lead after Henry Haberman netted a goal with 11:21 remaining in the half.

 

Massapequa responded with a goal from Michael Durnin about two minutes later, but Luke Meyer’s goal at the 3:09 mark gave Port Washington a 4-3 advantage going into the locker room.

As Massapequa operates under a completely new system, Draper expressed plenty of optimism regarding the team’s progress thus far.

“We’re just trying to build a culture,” Draper said. “It’s been a process, putting in the different offenses, defenses and changing the language. It’s just about giving these guys belief.”