When two of the best college lacrosse teams in the nation take the field, you can always count on a number of standout Nassau County athletes displaying their talent.
Such was the case on April 12 at Mitchel Field in Uniondale. No. 1 ranked Cornell defeated No. 4 Syracuse, 17-12, in a high-scoring, intense game. Cornell lifted its record to 10-1, while Syracuse dropped to 8-3.
Garden City High School’s Jack Cascadden won 16-of-31 faceoffs for Cornell and scooped up 10 ground balls to pace the Big Red offense. Cascadden’s high school teammate, Brendan Staub, a long-stick midfielder, also scored a goal for Cornell.
Former MacArthur high school teammates Hugh Kelleher and Michael Leo found themselves on opposite sides of the field. Kelleher graduated from MacArthur in 2020 and was a three-time All-County selection. Leo played for MacArthur in 8th and 9th grade before transferring to St. Anthony’s, where he earned All-American honors.
Kelleher, now a senior midfielder at Cornell, had a goal and an assist against Syracuse. His goal snapped an eight-minute scoring drought for Big Red.
Leo, a junior midfielder for Syracuse, had two goals and two assists at Mitchell Field. One of Leo’s goals cut the Syracuse deficit to three, allowing his team to enter halftime down just 9-6.
But Cornell’s gritty play was the difference in the second half. Cornell has scored at least a dozen goals in every game this season and ranks No. 1 nationally in goals (15.9) and assists (10.4). Manhasset’s Matthew Perfetto, Bethpage’s Brian Luzzi, South Side’s Michael Melkonian and Syosset’s Jayson Singer all play for top-ranked Cornell.
