This season Half Hallow Hills stands atop the Suffolk County lacrosse world and two players stand alone atop the county's statistics. The Thunderbirds finished the year with just one blemish on their record, losing the final game of the season to Northport, but despite not finishing with a perfect record they still are on top of the standings in Division 1 play.
The Thunderbirds 15-1 record should come as no shock to anyone that has been paying attention this season. Their dynamic duo of Anthony Raio and Zach Marco have been electric. Raio finished the season leading the county in goals and points. With 64 goals and 104 points he ran away with both titles, and was the player to chase for most of the season. Raio is considered one of the best players in the entire county and has already committed to a collegiate powerhouse in North Carolina University for next season.
The race for 2nd place got very interesting as the year came to a close. Zach Marco was bouncing between second and third place for much of the past few weeks and his late flurry helped push him to grab onto the #2 spot in the county in both. Marco finished with 58 goals, second only to Raio, and his 82 points also put him just behind Raio. Marco was battling with Brandon Berozi from Commack, who finished with 82 points of his own, and Glenn's Matt Triolo, who finished with 81 points.
Marco put up a massive 8 points in his second to last game against Huntington and finished with 5 goals in that game as well. Raio meanwhile, scored 5 or more goals in 9 of the teams 16 games and topped out with 7 goals in a game against Commack on April 24th.
The duo forces teams to choose their poison and the 1-2 punch is one of the best we have ever watched on the island. It was a banner year for Half Hallow Hills and Raio and Marco will always be etched in the history books.