SOUTH HUNTINGTON, N.Y. — There will be a new No. 1 team in the Nike/USA Lacrosse High School Boys’ National Top 25. St. John’s (D.C.) made that abundantly clear Friday afternoon.

The Cadets (13-0) pushed the pace and got big performances from attackmen Mac Haley and Gavin Kelly, who scored four goals apiece, and goaltender Caleb Fyock to defeat St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) 11-5 in a battle of the top two ranked teams in the country as part of the third-annual GEICO High School Lacrosse Showcase at Cy Donnelly.

“We came into this game ready, knowing and understanding nothing is going to be given to us and we had to fight for it,” Fyock said. “We’re going to give them our best and they’re going to give us their best.”

The undefeated Cadets, ranked No. 2 in the current Nike/USA Lacrosse High School Boys’ National Top 25, raced out to a 5-1 first-half lead and went on a 5-0 run in the fourth quarter to seal a comprehensive win and hand No. 1 St. Anthony’s its first defeat of the season.

The Friars (8-1) had 10 first-half turnovers, making many uncharacteristic mistakes. Playing their first game with a college-rules 60-second shot clock was foreign for St. Anthony’s, but the Friars also suffered some self-inflicted wounds.

“I felt bad for our kids because I know we can play better than that,” St. Anthony’s coach Keith Wieczorek said. “We just didn’t play clean. We turned the ball over four times on clears. We haven’t done that all year. We had kids drop balls that haven’t dropped the ball in practice in the middle of the field.”

Outside of the faceoff X, which was dominated by Holy Cross commit Jordan Naso, the Cadets impressed in all facets. The poles, led by senior Richard Checo, a Lehigh commit who scored the game’s opening goal, also made life difficult on St. Anthony’s vaunted attackmen with senior Mike Leo (Syracuse) and junior Owen Duffy (North Carolina) limited to a season-low one goal apiece.

In the cage, Caleb Fyock lived up to his “Big Tasty” moniker, with the Ohio State-bound junior making 17 saves and providing mouth-watering and flawless clears for his hungry attackmen.

“He’s by far the best goalie in the country, bar none,” Haley said. ‘We play against him every day and if we score on him, we celebrate because it’s that big of a deal. He’s the best goalie, it’s not even close.”

Haley had the hot hand early, scoring three of his the Cadets’ five first-half goals, while Fyock punctuated the first half by robbing junior Patrick Carragher, a Penn State commit, at the crease.

“It’s great [to have Fyock in the cage] in games and a pain in practice,” said Kelly, a Drexel commit. “It’s a pain to go against that defense in practice every day, but they make us a lot better going against them.”

St. Anthony’s best quarter was the third with Michael Finnerty (UMass) scoring on a rebound and a Leo bouncer cut the Friars deficit to 6-3 with 1:39 left in the third quarter.

But Luke Rhoa (Syracuse) went 5-hole 37 seconds left to send St. John’s into the fourth quarter with a 7-3 lead.

How about a 4th quarter hat trick from Drexel commit Gavin Kelly? 4 goals overall as St. John’s pulls away late @Inside_Lacrosse pic.twitter.com/gXoDyRiXL4

— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) April 22, 2022

A 5-0 run in the fourth quarter, which included three of Kelly’s four goals, put the game away and left little doubt who the best team in the country is today.

“It sends a message to the whole country,” Haley said. “If we play well, no one can beat us.”

Meanwhile for the soon-to-be former No. 1-ranked Friars, their first defeat of the season should be an important lesson going forward, with the second of three matchups against Chaminade on deck, as well as a showdown at Darien (Conn.).

“This has to make us better or its a futile effort,” Wieczorek said. “But that team is as advertised. I think they’re a little more senior-driven too and I think in games like this your seniors can definitely lead you to the promised land.”

PHOTO BY PHIL ARMATO

SPALLINA AWAKENS, LEADS MOUNT SINAI PAST GARDEN CITY

Joey Spallina was frustrated and goalless through the first half.  The second half was a different, and more familiar story, for the top-ranked recruit in the class of 2022.

The Syracuse-bound senior had four goals and an assist after halftime to lead undefeated Mount Sinai (N.Y.), ranked No 3 in the country, to an 8-5 win over Garden City (N.Y.) in the GEICO High School Lacrosse Showcase opener Friday afternoon.

Spallina, who faced a healthy dose of Garden City’s Cornell-bound defenseman Brendan Staub throughout, scored his first goal on his 10th shot of the game, going airborne off an inside roll to tie the score at 3 with 6:25 left in the third quarter.

Sophomore Lucas Laforge followed with a rebound goal 34 seconds later to give Mt. Sinai (11-0) its first lead of the game.

Hat trick from the #1 recruit in the country @JoeySpallina22 Mount Sinai pulling away late on ESPNU ‼️ pic.twitter.com/LLji8jl79U

— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) April 22, 2022

Spallina tacked on three more goals in the fourth quarter, including the Mustangs’ final two after Trinity commit Jay Ottomanelli went low to high for his second goal of the game to pull Garden City (6-2) within 6-5, early in the fourth quarter.

Garden City possessed the ball for much of the first half and led 2-0 at the break on goals by Ottomanelli and Jack Archer.

Laforge scored the first of his three goals to put Mount Sinai (11-0) on the scoreboard 27 seconds into the third quarter. A little more than a minute later, Mike Fargione gave the Trojans a 3-1 lead. But Jake Spallina (Syracuse) started a 3-0 run over the next 2:07 as Mount Sinai wrestled momentum away for good.