On this day 17 years ago, the boys’ lacrosse team won a landmark victory over their perennial rival, Comsewogue, to earn the program’s first trip to the County Championship.

After falling to Islip, 6-8, in the previous year’s semifinal, optimism surrounded the ’94 team as eight starters returned to the squad. The rest of the league was not as hopeful of Stony Brook’s chances, as the coaches picked them to finish fourth behind Comsewogue, Rocky Point, and Harborfields; however, Newsday mentioned Stony Brook as “a potential dark horse” in the race for the Class B crown. An early indicator of the team’s potential was a 3-2 victory over Sachem, the 1993 New York State Champions, in an early season scrimmage. Their season opener was a foreshadowing of the County Championship as the Bears met Half Hollow Hills West, falling, 1-6.

The Bears followed the loss with victories over Rocky Point (8-4) and Deer Park (7-1) before a 6-8 setback to Comsewogue. In the following game the Brook showed their championship mettle by overcoming a 1-6 deficit to defeat Babylon, 9-8, in double-overtime on a goal by Sam Hanchett. The Bears would win six of their next seven games, including a two-game stretch in which they beat Shoreham-Wading River and Wyandanch by a combined score of 35-11, before once again succumbing to the Warriors of Comsewogue. The Bears would recover to win their last three games of the season over Rocky Point (11-3), Babylon (9-4), and Deer Park (10-4) to finish 12-4 and clinch their first Division II Title.

On May 31 the #3 Bears met #2 Comsewogue for the third time with a place in the County Championship on the line. Knotted at 2-2 after the first quarter, the Bears used a balanced attack to surge to a 5-3 halftime lead. The Brook still led 5-4 entering the fourth quarter, but with 6:05 left in the game the Warriors grabbed their first lead of the contest, securing a 6-5 advantage. For much of the final six minutes, both teams were locked in a defensive standstill until Jim Bickley found Spencer Niebuhr for a miracle goal with six seconds left to tie the game at 6-6. Jake Kenney opened up the scoring with only 1:14 gone in the first overtime on a pass from Niebuhr as Stony Brook took a 7-6 advantage they would not relinquish. The Bears scored two goals in each of the two overtime periods to finally defeat the Warriors in a 10-7 thriller to earn a place in their first County Title game.

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