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

Rhinos Rout Rival Remnants 9-6 in Historic Final Game

Holtsville, NY--This time there was no bloodshed. No trash talking. No complaining about"The Blog". It was just a head-to-head match-up of one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports...Rhinos v. Remnants.

The Rhinos (4-2), whom were without their fearless leader "Broadway" Brett Jeffares, mounted a second half comeback to overtake their opponents Wednesday night at the P.A.L. Holtsville Athletic Complex. The Rhinos in their final game as the Rhinos will playing under the Lily Flanigans moniker going forward.

The Rhinos drew first blood when Adam "The Israeli Assassin" Jacobs scored on an unassisted rifle-like shot from two steps outside the restraining box that caught the listless Remnant goalie sleeping.

Tom McCandless (Cortland '94) dominated his opponent at the face-off X, winning a whopping 70% of his draws.

The Rhinos, who initially looked sluggish during 6-on-6 sets, gained momentum with aggressive play in the transition game. They out-hustled their opponents on ground balls, got back in the hole on defense, and scored several times off of clears.

Rhino Goalkeeper and former Holy Cross standout, Brian Buckley allowed only two goals in the final 28 minutes of play as the Rhinos defense tightened up during the second half.

The Rhinos are now tied for 2nd place with an upcoming game against Greg Giampaolo's 1st place Checkmate Orange.

Remnants drop to 1-4 on the season. Their next game is versus Land Sharks White who sit at 2-2 for the season.

Good and Tender Meats mince Rhinos 25-14

Ronkonkoma, NY-- In Tuesday night play at Center Island Sports, Good and Tender Meats (5-0)remained undefeated and handed the skidding Rhinos (2-3) their third loss in as many games.

The Meats led for the majority of the contest. They had a modest lead early in the first half at which one point the Rhinos managed to tie the contest at 6-6. However, Meats pulled ahead 12-7 to end the half.

Second half action saw the Meats turn their level of play up a notch scoring an additional 13 goals. The Meats destroyed the Rhinos in the transition game, like Jay Cutler's Broncos picking apart the New York Jets' secondary. Rhinos players often looked confused and clueless as they watched ground balls roll right past them, substituted instead of playing defense (in transition), stood still on offense, and played matador defense.

In set defensive sets the Rhino Close-d led by Kenny "The Marine" Costa, played great despite having their hands full. The unit surrendered one goal if that. Again, most if not all of the Meats goals came in transition and unsettled situations.

Despite the Rhinos' offensive struggles their where a few bright spots that are worth mentioning Scott Ferguson, Brett Jeffares, Chris Amplo and last but not least Rob Martin. Martin has increased his goal scoring by 400% from the previous indoor season. He has has four goals in five games. Rob's recent success is attributed to a sharp decline in Marlboro Reds and his partaking of Bikram yoga.

In other action on Tuesday night Remnants defeated Bruno's 18-14. The Remnants improve to 2-3 on the season while Bruno's Detroit Lion-esquely remain win-less at 0-5. This win for the Remnant's sets the stage for next weeks highly anticipated match-up versus the Rhinos. The Remnants are looking to avenge a 8-7 overtime loss suffered June 17, 2008 to the Rhinos in Nor'easter lacrosse play and controversial comments posted on LI Lax Blog about their play.

Rhino's get Sh_t -Faced!; fall to 2-2 on the season

Ronkonkoma, NY--In a see-saw battle that included a dozen lead changes, Schlitz Faced managed to sustain a late game rally to win the game 24-18. Schlitz Faced pulled away in the last six minutes of play and out-hustled the Rhinos in transition and on ground balls.

The Rhinos resorted to sloppy play that we haven't seen since the Winter '08 season at CIS. Hat's off to The Schlitz's defense. Their effort contributed to many Rhino turnovers, which included man-up possessions for the Rhinos.

Schlitz Faced made it look easy at times moving the rock up field and finding the open man.

The Rhinos wasted spectacular efforts by goalie Buckley and Mr. Amplo on defense. Amplo also scored a hatrick on the evening.

The Rhinos can salvage their season in part to a soft schedule the rest of the way. The remaining three games are against the respective doormats of the league: Jester's, Checkmate Black, and Remnants.

Next up for Schlitz Faced is Grey Dogs, followed by Checkmate Orange and Jester's.

Super-Charged Rhinos Victorious Over Remnants, 8-7 in OT

Holtsville, NY--Led by attackman Bryan Davis, The Rhinos scored 5 unanswered goals in the last few minutes of play including one in overtime, to bury the Remnants, thus avenging week one's forfeit loss. Davis had two goals including the game winner in OT. The Rhinos D and their goalie only allowed one goal during the entire second half. Their middies ran the Remnants off of the field. The Rhino's face-off specialist destroyed the Remnants FOGO Cliff Sinert, by winning over 90% of them. The Remnants wasted solid play by goal-keeper Keith Huber. Huber who is looking to return to his 1985 East Islip MVP form, had numerous stuffs at point-blank range and did a tremendous job of clearing and also quarterbacking the defensive unit. However, one man could do only so much. The defensive and midfield units were riddled with stupid penalties and sloppy plays. In fact, the only time the Remnants were able to score in the second half was on a freak play. Rhino D-Man Jim Laura helicoptered an opponent's stick and the ball miraculously landed in the stick of a wide open teammate who put it away. Bystanders observing the Remnant's' collapse called it "a self-imposed embarrassment and mockery of the sport".

The top four teams make the playoffs in this league. It looks like the Rhinos are beginning to gel and might squeak in. On the other hand, the Remnants are ready to be put out to pasture (or merge with Bruno's).

This upcoming week

Rhinos vs. Checkmate Orange 6/17/08 @ 8:30pm (Scottie Fitz will be back from drinking frozen daiquiris at the Jimmy Buffet concert)

Remnants vs. LandSharks 06/19/08 @8:30pm.