Before lacrosse season started in March, Riverhead Blue Waves senior midfielder Ryan Bitzer told RiveheadLOCAL, “I want to be part of the first class at Riverhead to hang a banner up for lacrosse.”
Though a banner has yet to be raised, the Blue Waves have taken the initial steps needed to get a chance.
For the first time in their 10-year history, Riverhead, playing to an overall record of 10-6, has qualified for the playoffs as the 13th and final seed in Division I — one year after missing the final spot by just percentage points.
The top three seeds — Ward Melville, Smithtown West, and Northport — are rewarded with a first-round bye so the Blue Waves travel to No. 4 Smithtown East Thursday for the first round of the playoffs. Game time, subject to change, is currently listed at 4 p.m.
“The reason we made the playoffs this year rather than last year is because we had more quality wins,” said Blue Waves head coach Vic Guadagnino.
Because of their success last year, the Blue Waves were ranked 14th in the preseason (their highest ranking ever), meaning they would face a tougher schedule. Riverhead played six of the 13 playoff teams totaling a record of 1-5.
“The win against (No. 11) Half Hollow Hills West definitely helped our seeding,” said Guadagnino. “We also knocked off Hauppauge which helped; they were ranked higher than us in the preseason.”
But what essentially sealed the playoff berth was the dominance over lower-ranked teams: Riverhead only lost one game against a team out of the playoffs, amassing a record of 7-1.
So now that the regular season is behind them, the Waves now prepare for their first round opponent.
“We’ve been really upbeat at practice,” said Guadagnino. “We have to keep the intensity going.”
Even though the Blue Waves didn’t play Smithtown West during the season, Guadagnino has plenty film to study.
“It’s a lot easier to get film on the top teams in our division because they are on TV,” said Guadagnino. “We’ve seen Smithtown East on MSG Varsity twice this season.”
Guadagnino says that out of the top five teams in the division, Smithtown East presents the best matchup for the Waves.
“Our personnel and style of play match up better against Smithtown East than say West Islip or Ward Melville,” he said.
“If we can play a game like we did against Hills West or like we did over the summer in a tournament game against Holy Trinity, we will compete without a doubt,” said Guadagnino. “We need to combine the emotion and intensity we had during the Floyd overtime win with the skill we displayed against Hills West to provide the best opportunity to win.
“For those games, we showed a level of lacrosse that was beyond exceptional.”
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