Men’s College Lacrosse: Fall Ball Schedule Coming Together

As the summer comes to its inevitable close, the back to school bell is ringing for everyone from age five to college seniors. But, on the good side, that means that college lacrosse is about to have its brief fall season, and there’s plenty of places to catch your favorite squads from late September through the end of October before teams go on hiatus before ramping things up for good in the new year.
Here is as complete a listing as we have been able to generate at this point for the fall season, which will be updated/added to as more teams finalize their fall schedules and Sports Information staffers get back to LI Lacrosse Blog.

September 26
West Point, NY
6:00 pm - Team USA Blue vs Team USA White

October 3
Cornell Fall Classic
Ithaca, NY
12:00 pm - Cornell, Penn State, Colgate

October 4
Army Fall Classic
West Point, NY
12:00 pm - Army, Marist, Stony Brook

Lynchburg College Fallball
Lynchburg, VA
12:00 pm - Lynchburg, Queens, Gettysburg

October 9
‘Thumbs Up’ for Breschi Memorial Scholarship Fund
Upper Arlington High School, Columbus, OH
7:00 pm - Ohio State vs. Johns Hopkins

October 10
Navy Fall Ball
Annapolis, MD
Navy, Hobart, Penn State, Georgetown, Syracuse, Harvard

3rd Annual Nick Colleluori Classic
Ridley High School, Ridley, PA
10:00 am - Detroit, Drexel, Lafayette, Hofstra, Penn, Mt. St. Mary’s, Quinnipiac, Rutgers, St. Joseph’s, UMBC, Villanova

San Francisco Fall Lacrosse Classic
Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, CA
3:00 p.m. - North Carolina vs. Brown

October 11
3rd Annual Nick Colleluori Classic
Ridley High School, Ridley, PA
12:00 pm - McDaniel, Ursinus, Widener, Wesley, York, Wheeling Jesuit, Scranton

Catamount Classic - Lacrosse for a Cure
Thayer Academy, Braintree, MA
11:00 am - Vermont vs. Siena UMass vs. Le MoyneAlbany vs. Holy CrossAdelphi vs. Colgate
12:00 pm - Vermont vs. UMass,Adelphi vs. Siena,Albany vs. ColgateRMU vs. Holy Cross
1:00 pm - UMass vs. Colgate,Holy Cross vs. Le Moyne,WNEC vs. Bentley
2:00 pm - Vermont vs. RMU,Bentley vs. SienaAlbany vs. Le Moyne,Adelphi vs. WNEC
3:00 pm - Vermont vs. Bentley,RMU vs. Siena

Farmington Valley Classic
Simsbury High School, Simsbury, CT
Stevens, Eastern Connecticut, Roger Williams, Assumption

October 12
Loyola College, Baltimore MD
3:30 pm - Loyola vs. Team England

October 13
Homewood Field, Baltimore MD
3:30 p.m. - Johns Hopkins vs. Team England

October 17
Delaware Fall Ball
Newark, DE
12:00 pm - Delaware, Princeton, Loyola, Bucknell

Price Modern Lax for Leukemia
Cedar Lane Park, Bel Air, MD
10:00 am - Air Force, Mt. St. Mary’s, St. John’s Towson, UMBC, Washington College

October 18
Connecticut Cup Fall Classic
Yale University, New Haven, CT
12:00 pm - Yale, Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac, Fairfield, Hartford

October 25
Suffolk Community College Fall Ball
Brentwood, NY
12:00 pm - C.W. Post, Adelphi, Farmingdale State, Suffolk CC

October 31
Team USA Scrimmage
Stony Brook, NY
1:00 pm - Team USA Blue vs Team USA White

All Quiet On the Nor'Eastern Front

Holbrook, NY--Lax action was light last week in men's masters play. Thursday night saw only one game being played and the other one forfeited. Friday night's two games were cancelled due to weather conditions.

SCPD defeated Bruno's by a score 7-5 in what was a very boring game. SCPD had the ball for most of the game. While Bruno's goaltender Vick kept his team in the game by making a ton of saves. There was nothing else note-worthy or exciting to report. SCPD improves to 4-3 for the season and closes in on a possible spot in the post season. Bruno's remains win-less at 0-5.

In other scheduled games Checkmate forfeited against each other for Thursday's second match-up. But we are not certain if Checkmate Black or Checkmate Orange will be credited with a victory.

Flanagans vs. Grey Dogs and Land Sharks Blue Vs. Land Sharks Red will be rescheduled at dates and times to be determined.

Nassau's Bravest Douse SCPD 8-6 In Scrimmage Play

Farmingdale, NY--With bragging rights on the line Nassau County's Volunteer Fire Dept. Team cooled the usually explosive SCPD by a score of 8-6 last night at Allen Park in Farmingdale. This full contact contest was plagued with multiple skirmishes,especially in the 2nd half. The much younger NCFD team (average age was 22) were very cocky and acted as if they thought they had just won the NCAA championship.

SCPD jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead several minutes into the game, but NCFD eventually took the lead by halftime with a score of 4-2. They never looked back in the second half.

Those in attendance attributed SCPD's loss to lack of depth on a usually deep roster. Also, SCPD's FOGO was unable to win a single face-off down the stretch; shame on him!

Everyone in the LI Lax community is heavily anticipating another match-up soon between these two civil service organizations.

Lily Flanangans Wins Nor'Easter Open Championship

Holbrook, NY--On behalf of the Nor'Easter staff we would like to congratulate Lily Flanagans on their victory last night in the mens open championship game over Team Nor'Easter by a score of 8-5. Lily Flanagans had a perfect record throughout the entire season. That marks the first time a team has done so in this young league. It was a great first season and the Nor'easter league is looking forward to having the open division expand in 2010.

Suffolk's Finest To Battle Nassau's Bravest

Halesite, NY--LI Lax Blog's home office is reporting that on Wednesday Night August 28th, SCPD will scrimmage NCfD. The game is being held at Allen Park in Farmingdale at 9pm. Bragging rights are on the line!

LI LaxBlog's Prediction: SCPD 12 NCFD 8

TORONTO NATIONALS WIN MLL CHAMPIONSHIP 10-9 AGAINST DENVER

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- Shawn Williams scored twice in the fourth quarter as the Toronto Nationals won their first ever Major League Lacrosse championship 10-9 Sunday against the Denver Outlaws.
Down 8-7 after three quarters, Toronto's John Grant Jr. scored his second goal of the day less than a minute into the fourth to tie it up 8-8.
Seven minutes later, the Outlaws' Josh Sims added his second of the day on a power play to give Denver the lead.
Williams scored with less than five minutes left to give Toronto hope, and then he sealed the championship by scoring in the final 45 seconds.
Jeff Zywicki led Toronto with three goals and Merrick Thomson, the playoff MVP, added two.
Brendan Mundorf scored three for Denver, while Brian Langtry, Mike Ward, Jeff Sonke and Matt Brown each added singles.
Toronto netminders Doc Schneider and Brett Queener combined for 23 saves while at the other end Jesse Schwartzman stopped 14 for the Outlaws.
The Nationals were 7-5 during the regular season, and beat the Long Island Lizards on Saturday to reach the final.

SCPD Blew; Sharks Dump Suffolk's Finest

SCPD looked more like the Keystone Cops during their loss to a mediocre Land Sharks Blue team.

Holbrook, NY--With help from players from their two other sister teams, Land Sharks Blue soundly defeated a struggling SCPD team 8-5 in Nor'Easter lax play at the PAL Athletic Complex last Friday Night. Land Sharks Blue took the lead early during the game and never looked back. SCPD's offense struggled the entire evening against a stiff Ed Coleman led defensive unit. Not taking away from Land Sharks Blue's effort but Team SCPD was without their two top producers on offense thus managing only a handful of possessions that night.

Land Sharks' offense kicked it into high gear thanks in part to Paco's (Dowling '92) two goal performance and the teams' whopping 44 shots on goal during the game. "It was ridiculous, it was a barrage!", SCPD goaltender Keith Huber (St.John's '89) exclaimed referring to the Land Sharks' offensive onslaught. "I was shelled pretty good..in fact I haven't been shelled like this since I played with the Rhinos" he chuckled.

Land Sharks Blue improve to 2-1 on the season, while SCPD falls to 3-3.

Next up for LSB is a match-up against Land Sharks Red Friday 8/28 @ 9pm. SCPD takes on the league's favorite punching bag Bruno's Thursday 8/27 @ 9pm.

Tonight's Nor'Easter Masters Games

Holtsville, NY--Tonight's games feature two games with playoff implications.

Ed Coleman's (St. John's '94) 1st place Land Sharks Red(3-1) take on their sister squad Land Sharks White (0-3); face-off is @ 9pm. A win for Red will give them a firm grip at the top of the standings.
Long Island Lax Blog's Prediction: Land Sharks Red 8, Land Sharks White 3

SCPD will be looking to improve to 4-2 with a win tonight over Land Sharks Blue (1-1). With a win, SCPD will insure themselves a spot in the post season.
Long Island Lax Blog's Prediction: SCPD 10, Land Sharks Blue 3

Long Island Lax Blog requested a comment from SCPD goaltender Keith Huber (St. John's '89) regarding tonight's game but he denied our requests via a phone call this afternoon.

Checkmate Fought The Law And The Law Won; SCPD over Orange 6-3

Holtsville, NY--Led by solid goal -tending from Keith Huber (St. John's '89), SCPD improved to 3-2 on the season with a decisive win over Checkmate Orange last Friday night at the PAL Athletic Complex. Huber who normally splits halves with the other SCPD goalie played the entire contest. Returning to form which garnered him team MVP honors in his senior campaign at East Islip in 1985, Huber continued his dominant play between the pipes, which started two weeks ago with spectacular play at the Lake Placid Summit Lacrosse Tournament.

When questioned about his almost year long hiatus from Nor'Easter lax play he quipped “That was a long road, but one thing I knew was that I was determined to get back. I knew that if I ever got the opportunity to come back I was going to make the best of it. I had to do everything I possibly could to get back on the field and get a chance to play.”

SCPD held Checkmate to 2 goals at the half leading 4-2, and allowed only 1 goal the entire second half.

The Long Island Lax Blog was wondering how he felt about carrying the burden (in net) the entire game; “I feel like I can do that,” Huber said. “I can go out there and get the job done, especially in this league. We’ve got two totally different styles and I think we complement each other very well.”

SCPD's next game is versus Land Sharks Blue on 8/20 @ 10pm.

Checkmate Orange drops to 1-1. Next game is against Checkmate Black 8/27 @10 pm.

UF Welcomes Inaugural Women's Lacrosse Team

Gainesville, FL--The inaugural University of Florida women’s lacrosse team was welcomed to campus on Sunday night as the University Athletic Association welcomed the student-athletes and their families with a reception and the opening of the brand new lacrosse facility.
Athletic director Jeremy Foley spoke to the group and associate athletic director Chip Howard gave the team a tour of their new home. The state-of-the-art facility houses two lacrosse fields (one game field, one practice field), a practice field for the soccer team, locker room and equipment room facilities, a training room, concession stands, restrooms, a press box and seating for 1,500 fans.
The new facility is located at Hull Road and Natural Area Drive, just south of Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium. The Gators have their home opener scheduled for February 20, 2010 against Jacksonville.

Lacrosse Juggernaut Extends Streak Over Flanigans With 8-7 OT Win

Holtsville, NY--Picking up right where they left off, Checkmate Black defeated Lily Flanigans Lacrosse Club in Masters Division play in the Nor'Easter summer lacrosse league last night at the PAL Athletic Complex in Holtsville, New York. The newly minted Lake Placid Summit Lacrosse Tournament Champions continued their dominant play over Flanigans, erasing a 4-2 deficit at the half to rally back in the final minutes of play to send the game into overtime. The game tying goal was by team captain Gregg "Blanket" Giampaolo who scored on an assisted goal by Doug "Doug.E.Fresh" DeRosa with 1:30 left to play. It was Giampaolo's only goal of the contest, and Fresh's only point of the game.

Checkmate Black improves to 1-1 on the season; while Lily Flanigan's drops to 3-2.
Next up for Checkmate Black is Bruno's on Friday night August 14th. Lily sees action against Grey Dogz on Friday August, 28th at 10pm.

Checkmate Dominates, Captures Lake Placid Crown

The ageless Giampaolo prepares for battle

Lake Placid, NY-- With stellar midfield play and a well executed game plan; a much older Checkmate defeated the much younger Team Long Island-Lax Unlimited 7-6 for the Lake Placid Summit Lacrosse Championship. It was a tough fought, hard hitting game with both teams playing to a 4-4 tie at halftime.

Checkmate Goalie Mike Swift (Adelphi '90) and his counterpart Keith Huber (East Islip '85, St. John's '89) both played awesome. Each goalkeeper had strong tournaments. "Swiftie" as his teammates and friends refer to him as, went on to garner tournament MVP honors; while Huber allowed only 9 goals in 8 quarters of play.

Checkmate relied on a defensive strategy that involved locking off Team LI's middies forcing their attack to handle the ball during set offense series. That freed up their close-D to tee-off on LI's attackmen. Team LI's heralded attack unit featured Bruce Bruno (Cornell), Dan Boltja (Cornell), and John Wilkens (Johns Hopkins). The usually productive unit, who were instrumental in helping Team LI reach the finals were held in check by the stingy Checkmate defense which was led by Glenn Mattson (Marist '90). Insult was added to injury when Team LI attackman Dan "Soldier"Boltja went out of the game in the beginning of the 4th quarter with a pulled hamstring. It is also worth noting that Boltja played attack for Checkmate on their Grand Masters team at this same week of play during the Lake Placid Summit Lacrosse Tournament. He led that offense with 9 goals and 8 assists in four games. It seems that Boltja might have been overworked pulling double duty.

Checkmate pulled ahead to a 7-4 lead going into the 4th as their game plan unfolded perfectly. Team LI pulled within 1 goal with four minutes left to play but ultimately ran out of gas. Team LI had challenges the entire second half clearing the ball, controlling the ball on offense, sloppy goal tending, and scooping up ground balls.

The most memorable play of the game and one which symbolized Checkmate's heart and toughness came late in the third quarter. Team LI-Lax Unlimited midfielder Chris "Bergie" Bergeson had the ball at the top of the box in his offensive zone. Covering Bergeson was non other than Gregg "Blanket" Giampaolo. "Blanket" lived up to his nickname when Bergeson in an apparent attempt to isolate, pulled him to midfield to begin his dodge. With the stick in his left hand, "Bergie" attempted a left-to-right split-dodge on Giampaolo. Giampaolo 15 years his senior, stepped up right into Bergeson and jacked him up! The blow sent "Bergie" to the turf on his back. Giampaolo then swiped at his opponent's stick dislodging the ball. He scooped up the loose GB and initiated a fast break which led to what was ultimately Checkmate's wining goal.

Some feel these players represent the last era of lacrosse in which Long Island players and teams dominated the game. They cite the talent pools that have been expanded to different parts of the country outside of the usual hotbeds of LI, Upstate NY, and MD. Just take a look at many of the college lacrosse rosters these days. You'll find players from Florida, California, and Minnesota to name a few. The decline of Long Island's dominance is evident in the fact that no true Long Island Team competed at the younger Open Division here in Placid, it was more of a mix of players; again reflective of current college rosters. All in all this was a great showcase of Long Island lacrosse, something to be proud of, no matter what the outcome was.

Giampaolo Powers Checkmate To First Master's Championship Game

Lake Placid, NY--Gregg Giampaolo's Checkmate has finally reached the pinnacle of Men's Masters Lacrosse...a spot in the Lake Placid Summit Lacrosse Tournament Masters Championship game! They will face fellow Long Island squad Lacrosse Unlimited-Team Long Island. The 4th seeded Checkmate advanced after defeating top seeded Rhode Warriors in convincing fashion 8-4. Giampaolo who wisely picked his spots in the line up, has orchestrated a tremendous run here up in Placid. Checkmate is looking to build on successes garnered during summer league play at the PAL Holtsville Athletic Complex.

Land Sharks Red Reel In Checkmate Orange, Tie for 1st Place

"Blanket" ponders what went wrong in loss to Land Sharks

Holtsville, NY--Led by outstanding goalie play by Rob Serratore (Stony Brook '91) and stellar defense by Ed Coleman (St. John's '94), the now 1st place Land Sharks Red defeated Gregg "Blanket" Giampaolo's Checkmate Orange 8-3.

It was a balmy night under the stars last Friday at the PAL Athletic Conference so much that the humidity took the life out of the now 2nd place Checkmate Orange and the curl out of Giampaolo's hair.

Land Sharks Red were firmly in control the entire contest. Teammates largely attributed the win to net-minder Rob Serratore. Although he is on the roster he was not scheduled to play. He received a phone call early that evening that forced him to cancel plans to play in his weekly softball game and don his lax equipment and head to Holtsville.

Often touted as one of the stingiest goalies in LI Masters lacrosse, Serratore stopped numerous Checkmate scoring attempts.

The game's most memorable moment was one of "Blanket" Giampaolo's tomahawk checks against an opposing offensive player minutes into the game. The check dislodged the ball. Teammate Doug DeRosa aka"Doug E. "Fresh" scooped up the loose ball and raced down the field setting up a fast break goal. It was that play which set the tone for the rest of the contest.

Land Sharks Red are now tied with Lily Flanigan's for 1st place. Both teams sit at 3-1.