Manhasset boys lacrosse wins Nassau Class B title over Garden City in overtime thriller

Tommy Leder didn’t play the first time Manhasset’s boys lacrosse team faced Garden City in the regular season’s Woodstick Classic, sidelined with a torn meniscus in his left knee.

Manhasset lost that game by eight goals. The senior team captain got surgery midseason, determined to get back in time for the playoffs.

And with 5.9 seconds left in overtime, Leder, left of the cage, swung his stick. Goal. And the sticks and helmets flew in the air from there. No. 2 Manhasset had defeated No. 1 Garden City, 9-8, Monday at Hofstra.

Manhasset boys lacrosse has dreamt of this day. And it couldn’t have been more storybook for the Set, with just 5.9 seconds left in overtime.

Manhasset 9. Garden City 8. The goal, the celebration and the triumph below👇 pic.twitter.com/M9Xhp6gxYx

— Michael Sicoli (@Michael__Sicoli) June 2, 2026

“The months that I was hurt, doing [physical therapy], all I was thinking about was this game,” Leder said. “I knew it was going to be against them, I knew it was going to be here. There’s no place I’d rather be and no team I’d rather beat.”

Manhasset (15-4) will travel to Stony Brook to face Suffolk’s Smithtown East in the Long Island championship game at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Leder wears No. 32, a number with special meaning for Manhasset as it honors program legend John Driscoll.

Tommy Kasselakis excelled with two goals and two assists. Conor Sheerin starred with three goals and an assist, a senior captain Armstrong described as “tough” and “selfless.”

The Set held Garden City scoreless in the second quarter, the first time all season the Trojans had been shut out in a quarter aside from the fourth. Armstrong credited his defense’s discipline while switching between man and zone, sticking with the former in overtime.

Defenseman Kip Zacharia starred alongside Michael DePietro and goalie Andrew Limberg (11 saves) as Manhasset held the Trojans, who averaged 14.4 goals, to a season-low eight goals. “We put an overemphasis on locking off [Garden City attackman] Ben Smith and just putting trust in our guys,” Zacharia said.

Down 8-6 with 1:52 left, Garden City (17-2) launched a comeback as Charlie Koester scored two of his three goals in six seconds to erase the deficit. Brayden Robertiello made it possible, winning 20 of 21 faceoffs and assisting Koester’s equalizer.

Yet when it came to the final possession, Manhasset’s black and orange helmets lay on the field in triumph as the Set lifted its first county title since 2023.

“I don’t think any other team has a bond like we do,” Zacharia said. “We just wanted more time together.”