Long Island Lacrosse

BY JOSEPH STASZEWSKI

Sean Rogers had nine assists in a Holy Trinity's 13-7 win over New Hyde Park on Saturday. Read it one more time if you don’t believe me. Sean Rogers had nine assists.

The two-time Empire State team member also has three goals, making him a contributor on 12 of 13 scores for Holy Trinity (2-1). That’s just ridiculous. The kid is a stud and along with Terrence Barclay, five goals in the game, will be a make up a very tough tandem to stop for any team.

Jeff Cohen and Syosset (2-1) put together the type of performance you expect in an 11-6 win over Rocky Point Saturday. The senior scored four goals and added three assists and saw Eddie Loftus and Jared Leverne score three times each. The Syosset defense kept Tom Palasek, two goals, three assists, from totally dominating the game on offense. After a rocky start against Garden City, Syosset looks to be rounding into form.

Floyd (1-1) scratched out a 12-11 win over Kings Park on Saturday. Freshman Luke Miller scored the winner off a feed from Steve Murphy with 1:40 left in the game. Miller scored six-times and had three assists. Kings Park is 0-3 but has a one goal loss to Smithtown West and lost by three to Half Hollow Hills West, nothing to be ashamed of.

One performance that stood out to me was William Murphy’s 14 saves for Sachem North (1-1). He made one with 15 seconds left to preserve a 7-6 win over Bayport-Blue Point on Friday.

I hope everyone enjoyed the preview section and a great weekend of lacrosse.

"> Cold Spring Harbor 's Jacob Ghitelman checks Huntington's Patrick Einhorn during a fundraiser boys lacrosse game for juvenile diabetes. (Newsday/Bob Mitchell / March 30, 2008)

Greg Hanley made just one save for Cold Spring Harbor, but it was the most important one. Hanley was seeing his first game action this season after missing every scrimmage because of thigh contusions entering Cold Spring Harbor's 9-5 victory over host Huntington yesterday.
"He's only been cleared about a week," Seahawk coach Dennis Bonn said.
The junior replaced starting goalie Christian Dzwilewski after Dzwilewski's unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty put Huntington up a man, trailing 6-5. Hanley made a stick save and helped outlet the ball to end the penalty.
"That was a big confidence booster," Cold Spring Harbor's Jacob Ghitelman said. "That lifted us."
Huntington is going to have to find other sources of offense outside Steve Mock. The senior is certainly skilled, but Cold Spring Harbor took him away and that really disrupted the Blue Devil's attack and limited its ability to get to the net.
"Anyone can tell you that Mock is our best player," Huntington coach Paul McDermott said. "That's what you have to try to do to him."
Huntington's defense and goalie Mark Salerno played well, but the Blue Devil's were unable to scoop up key ground balls, allowing Cold Spring Harbor to control the game’s tempo.
"We are not coming up with ground ball's right on our own crease and that's what’s killing me," McDermott said.

Lions Roar in Second Half

West Islip got a bit of a scare trailing by a goal at half time in an eventual 15-10 win over Massapequa in its season opener on Friday. Michael Vigilante and the Massapequa attack weren't having much trouble getting to the cage early. You could tell it was the Lions' first game and the Chiefs third. But leave it to Nicky Galasso to turn the game’s momentum in flash. Galasso looked on pace for about an eight goals after scoring three in the first quarter. His goal and assist to end the third totally shifted any energy to West Islip, which outscored Massapequa 9-3 after half time.
"Galasso is just a hell of a lacrosse player," Massapequa coach Steve Mollot said. "He is just tough to stop."

If you want to read more about Galasso and his relationship with fellow attack Ed Plompen check out Newsday's Spring Sports Preview Section in today's paper or the story online.

BY CHRIS MASCARO

West Babylon's Shannon Smith is closing in on the New York state career scoring record. She has 419 goals, which is 24 shy of the record.

But yesterday against Garden City (the 2x defending Class B state champion), Smith was held to just one goal, her lowest total since April 13 of last year, when she also scored just one goal in a 5-4 loss to Northport and its All-American defender Lacey Vigmostad, who will be Smith's teammate next year at Northwestern.

Smith is certainly a great player, but, aside from sophomore Alyssa Murray, Smith doesn't have a strong supporting cast. That's been West Babylon's biggest problem over the past few seasons, and so far doesn't look like it has been solved.

Granted, Garden City is a great team (probably the best on Long Island), so West Babylon's season won't necessarily be indicative of this one contest. And they also have plenty of time to work the younger girls into a bigger role.

But the bottom line is this: Smith will put up her numbers this year, and should break the goals record any game now, but West Babylon will struggle without some other girls stepping up.

Stay tuned.

BY RODERICK BOONE

In case you haven't heard, Duke and Dartmouth meet at Mitchel Field tomorrow. As Steven Marcus explained, it's a long clear from Hofstra's Shuart Stadium and represents a homecoming of sorts for Duke coach John Danowski, the former Hofstra coach, and his son Matt.

The game itself is being put on by the people at Lacrosse Unlimited as a way to promote awareness for autism. Below is a release they sent out.

LACROSSE UNLIMITED PRESENTS LACROSSE FOR AUTISM

Hauppauge - - March 29, 2008 - - Lacrosse Unlimited Inc. (LU), the world’s largest retailer of lacrosse equipment and apparel, has announced two scheduled NCAA match ups in Nassau and Suffolk Counties as part of Lacrosse For Autism, an Autism Awareness initiative supported by the retailer. LU has partnered with four of the nation’s top collegiate lacrosse programs to bring Long Islanders two high caliber men’s and one women’s lacrosse games, Duke -VS- Dartmouth, and Hofstra –VS-Stony Brook, all in an effort to raise funds and awareness for Lacrosse For Autism and the Cody Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

The Duke –VS- Dartmouth game taking place at the Mitchell Athletic Complex in Uniondale is the first time these top NCAA Division I teams will play each other on Long Island. The Stony Brook – VS- Hofstra double-header games (women’s and men’s) will take place on Tuesday, April 22 at the Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on the Stony Brook University campus. The women’s game will start at 4:00 P.M. and the men’s at 7:00 P.M. Lacrosse For Autism events are open to all lacrosse enthusiasts, general admission tickets for each event are $10 and available for purchase at any of Lacrosse Unlimited’s 16 stores in the Northeast. They are also available for purchase online at http://www.lax4autism.com or www.lacrosseunlimited.com.

Lacrosse for Autism was created by Brendan and Jennifer Fleming of St. James, NY, to bring autism awareness to long island’s ever-growing lacrosse community. The goal of each festival-style Lacrosse For Autism event is to have vendors on-hand to share autism resources and information with families and friends touched by a child with autism and build a unified sense of camaraderie and understanding. Top lacrosse performance brands Brine and Warrior will be at each event running their interactive zones for players of all ages to experience.

“Our son, was diagnosed at eighteen months with PDD NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified) on the Autism spectrum,” stated Brendan Fleming. “His development relies continuously on the encouragement and love of his teachers and therapists. Thanks to the generous support of Lacrosse Unlimited we are now able to host Lacrosse For Autism events to celebrate and show our appreciation to all of the teachers and therapists across Long Island who are dedicated to helping children with autism and their families.”

“There is strength in numbers and the lacrosse community on long island is a strong network of thousands of dynamic individuals and is only growing. LU is honored to support the Fleming family and long island’s autism community,” said Joseph DeSimone, President of Lacrosse Unlimited. “We are so grateful to the participating Universities for allowing us to partner with their lacrosse programs and raise money for a great cause and assist Lacrosse For Autism in making a difference.”

BY JOSEPH STASZEWSKI

The game that really jump at me from Wednesday was Half Hollow Hills West's 19-16 win over Kings Park. Hills West was unable to contain King Park's three top offensive threats, but had enough offense to pull out the win. Stephen Eicher had seven goals and one assist, Dan Abbene had five scores and one assist and Matt Boylan added five assists and a goal for Kings Park. John Conneely's five goals and one assist makes me believe his is fully recovered from his apendexemy for Hills West. The Colt's coaches were most impressed with Joe Sipala, who scored three goals, added two assists and won 14 of 19 face-offs for them. David DiMaria has three goals and three assists. His brother Dan DiMaria assisted on two off his goals.

Syosset rebounded from a less then stellar performance in its loss to Garden City with an 11-10 win over South Side yesterday. Jeff Cohen was held in check by Garden City, but yesterday had three goals and one assist and scored the game-winner with 2:46 left in the fourth quarter.

Part of the story here is also South Side. There 0-2 record doesn't do it justice. South Side has two one-goal losses. The first came to nationally ranked Manhasset and Syosset is the defending Nassau Class A champ. Not to shabby. Nick O'Reilly and Kyle Smith have scored three goals each in the two games. Keep and eye on those guys and South Side as the season continues.

Lastly, good job by Cold Spring Harbor getting a quality win over Hicksville and Huntington, getting a double-overtime goal from Steve Mock in a win over West Babylon.

Keep checking the blog over the weekend. I will be at West Islip for its game against Massapequa on Friday and at Huntington vs. Cold Spring Harbor on Saturday. Both games should be fun and will help me get an early look at some of these teams.

Around the Crease will be Joseph Staszewski's quick look at and thoughts on the daily happens of the 2008 Long Island boy's lacrosse season.

BY MARC JIMENEZ

Tracy Weiner recorded her 200th victory as Farmingdale dismantled Port Washington, 21-8, on Wednesday.

“It’s special [to reach 200 wins],” Weiner said, “because so few woman [coaches] have reached it. I get to join my close friends Carol Rose at Northport and Erin Blaney at Ward Melville [with 200 wins].”

Candace Rossi had seven goals, Alyssa Cardillo scored three and Janine Hillier added a goal and five assists as Farmingdale blitzed Port Washington in the first half to take a commanding 14-3 lead.

“We came out on fire,” said Weiner, who is coaching in her 17th season. “This was the first game of the season and we wanted to make a statement. We just wanted to come out strong and show last wasn’t a fluke.”

Farmingdale, which is the New York State Class A runner-up, should be the team to beat in Class A.

BY DARREN SANDS

Oh, there's nothing like a little rankings action to get people talking.

Fifteen lacrosse players from Long Island made the new SI/TAKKLE.com Top 100:

12. Dan DiMaria, D, Hills West
17. Dan Savage, M, Garden City
20. Jeff Cohen, A, Syosset
23. Steve Rastivo, G, Ward Melville
30. Tom Palasek, A, Rocky Point
34. Mike Chanenchuck, M, St. Anthony's
46. Francis McDonough, M, Garden City
49. Keenan Ochwat, LSM, Farmingdale
51. Connor English, A, Manhasset
55. Sean Rogers, M, Holy Trinity
61. Jeff Froccaro, M, Port Washington
65. Justin Annunziatio, D, Rocky Point
75. Brian Smalley, M, Smithtown West
77. Paul Pate, D, Manhasset
79. Ian Braddish, M, West Islip

Check out the girls here.

What do you guys think? Did they miss anyone? I can think of a couple names, but I want to see what you folks think first.

BY CHRIS MASCARO

The Eastport-South Manor girls lacrosse team finished 8-6 last season in Suffolk's Division II and was the sixth-seeded team in the Class B playoffs last season. This year, ESM is off to a hot start behind sophomore standout Tara Gerstacker, who has 11 goals in the team's first two games, both wins.

Gerstacker (a captain) was an All-County player as a freshman, and is part of a great 1-2 punch with junior Natalie Lieberman, who has 10 goals and five assists thus far.

Granted, ESM's first two wins were against Longwood, a sub-par Division I team, and Mount Sinai, who made the Class C final last year, but went just 6-8 in Division II last season.

Still, it's a nice start for this young program, which has only three seniors on its roster. So look out for the Baby Sharks in the coming weeks.

BY DARREN SANDS

Hey y'all.

Gearing up for our lacrosse season previews, I asked every coach in Nassau's Class A about the five players that impressed them the most.

Nearly every one of them mentioned Mike DeNapoli of Lynbrook.

DeNapoli apparently took over and helped lift Lynbrook over a very good Farmingdale squad with four goals, three assists -- not to mention that he won 9 of his 14 faceoffs.

I was in the press box covering Hofstra's win over Towson and even heard his name come up then! Yes, for a whole week, I couldn't stop hearing about how good Mike DeNapoli is and I haven't so much as laid eyes on him.

That's probably going to change real soon. Congrats to Lynbrook.

Meanwhile, Farmingdale coach Bob Hartranft is still three wins away from victory No. 600. We'll be keeping a close watch on that story for sure.

I spent Tuesday afternoon at Chaminade, as they held off Massapequa for an 11-5 non-league win. Check out the game story in the Wednesday edition of Newsday. I was as impressed with Chaminade's Matt Gibson as I've been with anyone in the young season. He's quick, unselfish and is loads of fun to watch. It becomes clear rather soon, however, that it's not so much fun for the kid(s) that have to stick him. Massapequa coach Steve Mollot said as much.

"It's tough to defend a kid that's that good, unless you have a defenseman that's that good," he said. "We think we have some pretty good defenseman, but he is clearly a Division I kid, and our [defensemen] are question marks."

Next up? I'm going to see Massapequa play again, this time in a non-league game against West Islip on Friday. Another tough one for the Chiefs. Are they up to the challenge? How is West Islip going to look this year? I'll have a first look and I'm looking forward to it.

BY RODERICK BOONE

So there was more than once tonight when many observers thought Hofstra had Army down for the count. But the Black Knights showed some resiliency, storming back with four fourth-quarter goals to stun the Pride 8-7 at Shuart Stadium behind a goal from Herricks' own Jason Peyer with two seconds left.

Tough one to swallow. Hofstra (3-3) played so well in the first half and was up 7-4 early in the fourth. Did complacency set in? Hofstra coach Seth Tierney said he needed to watch the game film before he could make that determination.

One thing is for sure, though. The Pride didn't match the Black Knights' intensity in the fourth quarter and they will be thinking about how they let this one get away.

"When you play Academy, you've got to bring a little extra," Tierney said. "Because they certainly did."

BY JOSEPH STASZEWSKI

In one of two surprise wins yesterday Rocky Point handled Smithtown East 12-5. Tom Palasek scored four goals and assisted on four, showed why he is going to John Hopkins and why his is one of Long Island's best all-around players. Dan Kramer added three goals and Tom Kelly won 14 of 16 face-offs. For Rocky Point the game was a bit of an early statement. Beating one of the more highly regarded Class A schools in Suffolk show that Rocky Point could be one of county's top teams as the year unfolds. Sure it is still only a very early non-league game, but it is a win that makes you take notice.

BY RODERICK BOONE

I had the chance to speak with Virginia coach Dom Starsia this morning. We talked about a few different things and toward the end of our conversation, I asked him if he thought his team would be this good at this point in the season.

"No," the Valley Stream Central native said. "We've won two overtime games; Hopkins has lost three of them. So the difference between the top couple of teams is paper thin. We are very happy to be 9-0 right now and we're fine being ranked No. 1. But we also know we've got a long way to go and what people take away from lacrosse seasons are the things that happen in the month of May, not so much in Feb and March. We've just to continue to improve so we really get going in the second half of the season."

If Virginia is this good and the weather hasn't totally warmed up yet, the Cavaliers could be tough to beat when the postseason rolls around come May.

What do you guys think about Virginia's chances to win it all? What do you think about college lacrosse season in general so far?

BY RODERICK BOONE

I'm sure you guys are champing at the bit for some lax stuff, so we'll get this baby started.

I'm sitting in the press box at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium watching No. 13 Army take on the 15th-ranked Pride. Hofstra is currently up 5-2 at the half courtesy of second-quarter goals by Mike Unterstein, Anthony Muscarella, and Dan Stein. Hofstra goalie Danny Orlando is playing exceptionally well after giving up two goals in the first quarter.

This is a big game for Hofstra. A win tonight would make it two in a row and three out of four for the Pride. It would be the second win over a ranked team with the lone loss coming against Princeton.

Stephen Haynes is a Bronx resident and Brooklyn College student who grew up following New York sports. A New Yorker through and through, except he was born in Jamaica. Haynes, a former Newsday intern, has served as sports and managing news editor for the BC Kingsman, freelanced for local Bronx papers and written for several sports Web sites.

Marcus Henry began working for Newsday’s city edition in April 2003. He’s been a part of the Newsday high school/local college sports desk since then, covering both Long Island and New York City high schools. He has also covered the WNBA’s New York Liberty the past two seasons. Prior to coming to Newsday he spent four years working for PA SportsTicker, a real time sports newswire service. Marcus has also freelanced for the New York Amsterdam News, College and Pro Football Weekly, and the National Sports Weekly. In addition to his work on the local desk, Marcus is also a huge boxing fan. He has covered several fights for Newsday, including the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather fight and the recent Miguel Cotto-Shane Mosley battle.

Darren Sands was born in Manhasset, but moved to Boston at age 10. And yes, he is a Red Sox/Patriots/Celtics fan. Sands, 23, has been with Newsday since March 2007. He attended Hofstra where he worked for the student newspaper, the Hofstra Chronicle. Sands moved back to Boston where he wrote for the Boston Globe's City Weekly section, and served a brief stint as a weekend news assistant on the city desk. When Sands isn't writing, reading, or hopelessly trying to lower his handicap, he catches up with friends and family, and plays tennis with the good folks at the tennis courts on 151st and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard. He resides in Harlem and, thanks to his girlfriend, is an adopted member of the Hokie Nation.

Joseph Staszewski is a 24-year-old graduate of St. Francis Prep High School. He graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from St. John's University. While at St. John's, Staszewski held the position of sports editor and managing editor during his four years working at The Torch, the school's award-winning student newspaper. The Middle Village resident has also freelanced for the Queens Ledger, TimesLedger and Long Island Herald newspapers. Starting his second year at Newsday, Staszewski is a die-hard Mets and Jets fan, and a former high school basketball player and assistant coach.

Marc Jimenez was born and raised in the Bronx, graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and decided to try his hand at sportswriting in the fall of 2005. He covered high school and college sports for the Riverdale Press for six months and was a contributor to MLB.com for 18 months before joining Newsday in September 2007. Marc’s favorite sports moment was when the Yankees clinched the 1996 World Series.

Adam Ronis covers mostly high school and college sports, and some professional sports. He has worked at Newsday for six years covering Long Island and city high schools. He also worked at the Boca Raton News. Ronis, 29, is a fantasy sports guru and holds numerous championships in baseball, football, and basketball. He is a fan of the Mets, Dallas Cowboys, and Rangers. Ronis is a softball nut, playing on several teams. He is from Flushing and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Media Studies and a minor in Journalism from Queens College.

Chris Mascaro, 23, joined Newsday as a sportswriter in November 2007. He graduated from Cornell University in 2006, where he worked for The Cornell Daily Sun. He served as sports editor of The Sun as a junior. He also covered Cornell's football team, as well as its nationally-ranked men's hockey and men's lacrosse teams. He wrote a bi-weekly column titled "He May Be Tall," which hit on national topics in addition to Cornell-related material. After graduation, he worked as a sportswriter for The Southampton Press, covering numerous varsity teams on the East End, the Moriches, and William Floyd.

Alex Labidou joined Newsday as a sportswriter in October 2007. Labidou, 24, is a graduate of Pace University with a B.A. in English. After graduating, he joined the National Basketball Association where he was an editorial assistant handling web editing and covering various NBA events. He is a New York City native. Labidou has also been a production intern at ABC News Magazines (Primetime and 20&20) and a contributor to VIBE, HoopsHype and the upcoming SET magazine. He is an avid Knicks, Yankees and Jets fan.

Roderick Boone is a native Long Islander. He graduated from Uniondale High School in 1993 and received his degree in mass communications from Auburn University Montgomery. He began his career as a correspondent at the Montgomery Advertiser before spending time at the Elmira Star-Gazette, Poughkeepsie Journal, and The Journal News. He's covered a wide variety of sports in his career, ranging from high schools to the pros. But his true love lies with basketball.

Gregg Sarra, 46, has worked at Newsday for the past 21 years. He has won numerous sportswriting awards and been cited by various officials and coaches associations for his reporting. He was voted the New York High School Sportswriter of the Year in 2002, 2003 and 2005. He is a member of the Dowling College athletic Hall of Fame, the Men's Senior Baseball Hall of Fame and the Long Island Flag Football Hall of Fame for his many successes on a national level on the diamond and the gridiron.

Kimberley A. Martin spent the past year working as a local sports reporter at The Record (Hackensack, N.J.), covering everything from high school fencing to The New York City marathon to New York Jets practice. She received her B.A. from Wesleyan University in 2003 and her master's from Syracuse University in 2006. Prior to grad school, she worked at an investment management firm in Midtown Manhattan. Kimberley is also a native New Yorker and a huge Yankees fan.

Laura Albanese started at Newsday as a news intern in June 2007 and joined the high school sports desk in November of that year. She graduated from Brooklyn College in June of 2007, where she served as the Brooklyn College Kingsman’s editor-in-chief and earned her B.A. in journalism. She’s also written for the Daily News and freelanced for a number of Long Island community weeklies. Though her background is in news, she's covered a number of high school teams and a smattering of college sports. A Brooklyn native, she grew up a baseball junkie in a soccer family and remains a loyal fan of both sports. She is a firm believer that professional pitchers shouldn't hide behind the DH and that fútbol is every bit as exciting as football, no matter what anyone else says.