This time, Anthony Asaro and Garden City finish the job with Class B championship
Anthony Asaro of Garden City celebrates a goal with his teammates during the Nassau Class B boys lacrosse final against Manhasset on Saturday at Hofstra. Credit: Anna Sergeeva
Garden City won the Woodstick Classic over Manhasset and lost the rematch in the Nassau Class B semis a year ago. This time, the Trojans won the Woodstick Classic and took the rematch Saturday — the Nassau Class B championship game.
So the 13-5 win for this boys lacrosse team at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium came with a dedication.
“Last year, we ended up short, so this is for the seniors last year that didn’t get to take part in something we’re usually at,” senior long stick midfielder Blake Cascadden said.
Anthony Asaro scored four goals. Cascadden and Ben Smith added three apiece. Charlie Koester set up three goals. And Luke Cascadden, Blake’s twin brother, went 17-for-21 at the faceoff X and scored once for the Trojans, who took a county title in 2023 en route to a state title.
“I’m just really proud of our seniors,” coach Steve Finnell said. “The senior leadership was outstanding. Blake Cascadden … [Michael] Berkery, [Dan] Medjid and Luke LeSueur [and Owen Wuchte], my five captains, I think did a super job leading us to this point.”
The next point for the Trojans (17-2) comes at 7 p.m. Wednesday at East Islip Middle School, the Long Island championship game against East Islip (15-3).
“We’ve got a really good team this year,” said Asaro, a sophomore midfielder. “We’ve got a lot of chemistry. I think we can go all the way if we just lock in and dial in.”
The players remembered what had happened in 2024.
“Last year, we won the Woodstick (and) we lost in the semis, so we knew we had to treat them like they were almost better than us and find everything we possibly could to play as good as possible,” Blake Cascadden said.
The Trojans owned a 5-3 edge at halftime. Then they came out and dominated the third.
They scored six goals in a span of 7:18 — Blake Cascadden, James DeBusschere, Smith, Blake Cascadden again, Luke Cascadden and Asaro. It was 11-3.
“I think it was just because we wanted revenge from last year,” Asaro said. “They ended our season, so we knew we wanted to come back and do it to them.”
Daniel O’Connor stopped the run with a goal for Manhasset (13-6) in the fourth.
“It’s a great group of guys,” coach Keith Cromwell said. “And then we have 17 … seniors out there. So to have them end coming up short in the county championship is never fun at Manhasset.”
