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.

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.

Lily Flanigans Masters Outguns Suffolk County's Finest 8-7 in Thriller

Holtsville, NY-- In what many are calling one of the most exciting games in PAL Nor'Easter Lacrosse history, Lily Flanigans' defense holds on to seal an 8-7 victory in the final 1:30 of the game.

It was a display of lacrosse at its finest (no pun attended); clean with great sportsmanship displayed by all players. Two penalties were called the entire game.

The contest featured two teams tied in first place at 2-1 in the standings, with the winner vying for the top spot in the race to the playoffs in this competitive 2nd summer league session.

SCPD drew first blood with an unassisted bounce shot from the top of the restraining box to take the lead within the first 90 seconds of play. Flanigan's scored a minute later on a sweet behind the cage feed from Steve "Braveheart" Maloney (Marist '90) to Scott Ferguson (2g, 2a)of Oswego fame. Ferguson went airborne grabbing the pass in mid air and sailing through the crease to score. SCPD responded minutes later with a transition goal, beating Lily's tired midfielders down field.

Lily's however did respond on the next possession with a goal from Bryan Davis (2g,3a). Scott Ferguson found Davis cutting across the middle of the field through a rare, small seam in a good SCPD defense. The play was perfectly executed from Ferguson's drawing of the defense to Davis' turning and leaping blast.

Lily's scored on their next possession with Scott Ferguson picking the top right corner from a step within the restraining line on an assist from Bryan Davis. But just when you thought Lily's was gaining momentum, SCPD scored when team Captain "Bono" took it down the alley along the right side of the field. He blew right past his defender and found the back of the net with a twelve yard bounce shot.
Lily's came right back and scored on another Ferguson to Davis play. With Davis moving well off ball the entire night, he took the pass and fired low through traffic finding the back of the cage.
SCPD scored another goal with under minute left in the half when their 6'4'' 250 attackmen score unassisted with a bull dodge to the cage. Both teams were tied 4-4 at the half. At this point it was anybody's game for the taking. It would come down to which team, and more importantly which players wanted it more....please queue the "Eye of the Tiger" on your iPods folks...because...
during the second half there was one player who put the weight of his team on his shoulders, the weight of the entire season, 1st place on the line-"Broadway" Brett Jeffares!

Jeffares scored on two unassisted goals when his team needed him the most. With Lily's down 5-4 halfway through the second stanza, "Broadway" took the ball goal line extended to the left of the cage and with the stick in his right hand, powered through the defense, beating two defenders and slammed the ball home tying the game. On the very next offensive possession "Broadway" took the ball from the right wing, and with a right to left split dodge he found the upper right corner of the cage. The sidelines roared! The capacity crowd of 21 spectators began the wave and started chanting, " BROADWAY, BROADWAY!" That goal put Lily's in the lead 6-5.

Flaningan's went on to score two more unanswered goals pushing the lead to 8-5. SCPD might have been down but not out. They managed to pull together in the last 4 minutes scoring on two goals in transition to cut the deficit to 1. Here's where the other half of Lily's stepped up...the defense. With SCPD dominating possession in the last two minutes of the game, they virtually maintained control of the ball during that entire span of time and the fate of the game in their hands. Goalkeeper Brian Buckley(Holy Cross) closed the door on any hope of sending the game to overtime. He made stops with his head, body, and stick keeping the oncoming assault at bay. With SCPD out hustling the Flaingan's team on ground balls and winning the races to the end line they were able to maintain possession several times including an all important last possession with 15 ticks left on the clock. That's when Ed Flood came up huge. Rotating to the top of the box to cover SCPD's top middie . He provided excellent position defense and a takeaway poke check putting the ball on the turf. The subsequent scrum on the turf had the ball roll out of bounds on the far corner of the field as time expired.

Flanigans catapults to 3-1 securing a spot in 1st place. SCPD drops to 2-2 and moves into 2nd place. Despite the loss everyone around the league has a feeling that SCPD will be there at the end when it counts.

Team captain "Broadway" Brett Jeffares chalked the victory up to good chemistry that has developed over the past several weeks with his squad.

The Long Island Lax Blog's Blogworthy Performance award goes to Lily Flanigan's midfielder Chris Koehler who scored his first goal of the season. That was Lily's seventh goal of the contest and was assisted by Bryan Davis. Congratulations to you Chris!

This Evening's Men's Masters Lacrosse Schedule

Can Huber deliver like Broadway Joe?

Holtsville, NY--The race to the playoffs is already heating up during this third week of lax play of the Nor'Easter Summer Lacrosse League at the P.A.L. Athletic Complex.
Two teams are tied for 1st place, three tied for 2nd, and three for 3rd. It comes as no surprise that Checkmate Orange is one of those 1st place teams and Brunos is sucking wind down in the cellar.
The two games tonight features the newcomer SCPD Team vs. a very seasoned and wiley Land Sharks Red Team. Two SJU Alumni will be squaring off against each other. Ed Coleman, a Brentwood native, for Land Sharks and Keith Huber (East Islip '85, St. John's '89) in net for SCPD.
Tonight's game marks Huber's first return to Nor'Easter Lacrosse action since last June when he signed on to play with Ray Sipperly's Remnants squad. The emotional and physical toll he took losing and playing with Remnants put him into hibernation from lacrosse for the past 11 months. He is resurfacing now not only to secure SCPD a Nor'Easter Summer League title but also to tune -up for the Lake Placid Summit Lacrosse Tournament which commences within two weeks from yesterday. At Placid he'll be leading the defending co-champion Team Long Island- Lax Unlimited as the number one seed in a field of twenty on their quest for back to back championships. Huber has predicted victory in tonight's game versus Land Sharks Red. "We'll win", he exclaimed, "as long as I'm between those pipes".
Face-off is tonight at 7pm.

Long Island Lax Blog's Prediction: SCPD 9 - Land Sharks Red 5




The second game features a 1-1 Lily Flanigan's Team against a newly formed Land Sharks Team name Land Sharks White. Face-off is scheduled for 10pm.

Long Island Lax Blog's Prediction: Lily Flanigan's 10- Land Sharks White 4

Liliy Flanigans over LandSharks Blue; record landmark first ever victory

Holtsville, NY--Coming off a crushing loss to Gregg Giampaolo's Checkmate Orange last week, with only 12 guys, Lily Flanigan's Masters ended up victorious after a 7-6 "Braveheart" battle won by "warrior "Steve Maloney. Flanigan's goalie Brian Buckley kept his team in the game with what team captain "Broadway" Brett Jeffares called ,"a 'ridiculous' 2nd half!" Lily Flanigan's Masters improves to 1-1 on the season.

Lily Flanigan's Open team improves to 3-0, locking up 1st place with their win Thursday night over Team Nor'Easter. Team captain "Broadway" Brett Jeffares commented on the victory by saying, " Antonio (Massone) stood on his head giving us an 8-1 victory", referring to the stellar play of his goalie. " Tremendous play by everybody", he added.

Checkmate Orange dumps Lily Flanigans (Again!) 10-3

Holtsville, NY--Thanks to a Gregg Giampaolo hat-trick, Checkmate Orange continued its dominance over a struggling Lily Flanigan's squad. Lily drops to 0-1 on the season, but has struggled over the last five weeks going 1-5 during that stretch and losing their last five games (including the 1st summer session). Checkmate Orange (1-0)hasn't dropped a game since the 2nd week of May when the now defunct Rhinos handed them a 6-4 loss during that same 1st summer session.

Next up for Lily Flanigans is rematch with GreyDogz on 7/16. While Checkmate Orange faces off against Brunos on 7/17.

Tonights Games.....

Pro Lacrosse
LI Lizards vs. Boston Cannons 7pm at Shuart Stadium in Uniondale, NY
Prediction : Lizards 12 Cannons 8

Club Lacrosse
Land Sharks White vs. Grey Dogz 9pm at PAL Complex in Hotlsville, NY
Prediction: Sharks 9 Dogz 4

Lily Flanigans vs. Checkamte Orange 10pm at PAL Complex in Holtsville, NY
Prediction: Flanigans 11 Checkmate 10

Checkmates take PAL title in 1st summer session

Holtsville, NY--Checkmate Black destroy Lily Flanigans 11-4; Orange upends Land Sharks Red 5-3 on a balmy Tuesday evening of lax play.
Checkmate will not be playing itself for the PAL Championship Wednesday, July 1st. They will be playing with themselves at the bar instead.
Land Sharks Red will meet Lily Flanigans in the consolation game or "booby prize" Wednesday July 1st @9pm.

The Blog-worthy Performance Award goes to Greg Giampaolo (pictured above holding the football), who was honoring the late Michael Jackson with his Jerry Curls look, led his team to victory in both games last night. His teammates were referring to the afro-ed middie and team captain as the "human clear" for his dominant "in-between-the lines" play. Giampaolo was not only active on clears, but rides, groundballs and face-offs.

Attackman Bryan Davis had a very respectable two goals for Lily Flanigans. His second was on an assist from former Oswego great Scott Ferguson. Brett "Broadway" Jeffares scored on a sweet unassisted goal for Flanigans, when he took it strong to the cage through the heart of the staunch Checkmate defense.

Nor'Easter Playoffs Begin Tonight

No. 1 seeded Checkmate Orange vs. No. 4 seeded Land Sharks Red @ 8:30pm

No. 2 seeded Checkmate Black vs. No.3 seeded Lily Flanigans @ 9:30pm.

Championships to be held Wednesday July 1st.

Congratulations and best of luck to all qualifiers!

New Name, Same Results; Checkmate Black Dismantles Lily Flanigans' 13-3

Holtsville, NY--On Wednesday night, Checkmate Black continued their dominance over Lily Flanigan's' Lacrosse Club. The Orange extended their undefeated streak against Lily Flanigan to five games dating back to February 2008.

"Indoor or outdoor, it doesn't really make much of a difference", exclaimed Checkmate Black team captain Greg Giampaolo. "we match up excellent against these guys, especially in the transition game. They(Lily Flanigans') might think we're a bunch of tools and has-beens, but we always get the last laugh", he added.

The Remnants were laughing too. The loss drops Lily to 4-3 on the season and puts Remnants in a position to squeak in the playoffs. That and the fact that the Remnants blame them for derogatory and often controversial comments posted about them on the LI Lax Blog.

Notables.....
George Wichlens (St. John's '93) continues to shake the rust off netting a goal in the contest for Lily.
Adam "The Israeli Assassin" Jacobs scored yet another goal. Extending his scoring streak of at least one goal per game to six games.