Revamped Brunos Downs War on the Shore 5-4

Holbrook,NY--The second session of Nor'Easter Men Masters Lacrosse kicked off with a come-from-behind win from a much improved Bruno's squad.  They downed "Broadway" Brett Jeffares' War on the Shore Lacrosse Club in convincing fashion.  Fed up with being the league's punching bags for the past four years, Bruno's made some significant upgrades to their historically lack luster line-up. Erasing a 3-1 halftime deficit, Bruno's clawed back into the game, scoring four unanswered goals in the second half.  War on the Shore managed to come within one goal of tying with 1:07 left on the clock. A two minute unreleasable penalty by Bruno's after the goal, gave Broadway Brett & Co. one last shot to tie things up with an extra man opportunity.  The stifling Brunos' defense did a great job killing the EMO, thus claiming their first ever win.  Long Island Lax Blog's vote for MVP is Bruno's goal tender Vick.  Vick played his butt off.  In fact he has always played well for Brunos, but now he has some supporting cast members.  Good job Vick.  Another notable performance was on the losing team; Richie "Broseph" Jeffares assisted on the late War on the Shore goal. Broseph cleared the ball from his own restraining box, outrunning the entire midfield of Bruno's, drew the defender and found an open Scott "Diamond Earrings" Ferguson for the score.

At the time of this story, in the late game,  Grey Dogs was leading Ed Coleman and Fat Frank's Land Sharks White 4-2 at halftime.

Out East Life Classic To Be Held Sunday October 4th

East Hampton, NY-- The Out East Life Lacrosse Club is the host of the annual Out East Life Classic Tournament held each fall. The tournament raises money for the Wounded Warrior Project. "Broadway" Brett Jeffares' Rhinos rocked the camo look last year. I expect to see many copycats trying to replicate their look.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Checkmate Black make Rhinos look like childs play

Ronkonkoma, NY--Written off the last month, the resurgent Checkmate Black are making a strong playoff push.

Greg Giampaolo had two penalties and one ground ball, Doug Fresh had one goal on a broken play and Checkmate Black beat the struggling Rhinos 21-15 last Thursday night for their third straight victory.

Checkmate Black (6-1) remained a half-game behind Good and Tender Meats in the race for the top playoff spot at CIS. They have to win their last game and need Good and Tender to lose their last game to secure the top spot.

"We put everything together and we're playing some pretty good ball right now", said midfielder Greg Giampaolo, who set a team record by playing in his 181st game with Checkmate. " We are a very, very confident group and we're looking forward to this next game."

The Rhinos (3-4) have lost three of their last four games. At least they finally played better in transition creating opportunities for themselves on both sides of the field. The Rhinos, who couldn't ride or clear the previous three games could be looking for a new coach to replace Kevin "Bagger Vance" Morris after the season.

"Our guys tried but I don't think we have enough ammunition to match up with them," team captain 'Broadway' Brett Jeffares said. " We fought in there defensively. We gave up some easy goals and got some turnovers. We were ineffective finding the back of the net."

Despite scoring first with a quick goal, the Rhinos soon relinquished their lead and trailed the rest of the game. Down 12-7 at halftime they couldn't close the gap down the stretch.

The Rhinos' Nick Marks ('Wogue '99) scored his second hat trick of the season and Brian Davis (Southampton '94) padded his stats by adding four goals and two assists. Adam "The Israeli Assassin" added two more for the Rhinos. Jacobs miss-fired on two more would be goals. " I made two mistakes that cost us pretty good,” the Assassin said. “I can’t put the defense in that spot."

Since his benching two week ago, Giampaolo has played like the guy who won five Jerry's kids awards and led Checkmate Black to four consecutive St. Mary's School for the Blind Lacrosse Championships. He has five ground balls and ten penalties in the last three games. His shot percentage is zero.

"He's playing confident, he's being aggressive with the ball and he's managing the game well," teammate and fellow midfielder Doug Fresh said.

Giampoalo came out firing in the first half, missing all five shots on the opening possession, including a wide open shot a point blank range.

In the second half, Doug "Doug E. Fresh" DeRosa stepped in front of a Steve Maloney pass intended for "Broadway" Brett Jeffares and raced ten yards for a goal to make it 17-12.

It was the first goal this season for Doug Fresh, who just agreed in terms to playing with Checkmate for the next six years. " It was definitely overdue", Doug said. " I dropped a couple of passes. It was time to finally get one. I'm sick of Giampaolo taking all the credit."

Glenn Mattson (Marist '92) defensive standout for Checkmate constantly harassed the Rhino attackmen throughout the evening, holding the Rhinos to less than ten goals per half.

Notes: Checkmate improved to 10-2 in December dating back to 2006..Rhinos' Scott Ferguson scored is 51st goal, setting a single-season team record(two on the night).....Rhinos have lost four or more games in four seasons of play (2 indoor, 2 outdoor)....D Jim Laura(wedding plans), M Scott Fitzgerald(sniffles) and M Rob Martin(bruised ego) sat out for the Rhinos.

Jesters crushed again courtesy of Rhinos

Rich Nessim, pictured here, frowns after losing to Rhinos and bruising his beer belly

Ronkonkoma, NY--The Rhinos finally looked like world-beaters. Brett Jeffares scored two goals against his favorite punching bag and Rob Martin had three goals and two assists including one to Scott Fitzgerald, to give the Rhinos a 28-20 victory against the LI Jesters on Thursday night.

It was the Rhinos' 11th straight win over their arch rivals in a series dating back to the birth of lacrosse play at CIS in 2006.

The Rhinos (3-3) snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in five games. Once considered favorites to win the CIS Fall '08 Championship, they're still going to need a miracle to reach the playoffs. They trail Schlitz Faced by 2 games in the standings.

"It's a win and we take it no further than that," captain "Broadway" Brett Jeffares said.

"We don't want to make it more than it really is. It's one win; we got three games to go with two tough games. But it was a good confidence boost."


The Rhinos rebounding with such a fine showing didn’t surprise offensive star Scott Ferguson (Oswego '99) . The former All-American had six goals and six assists on the night. "We got a real good group of guys here that have a lot of pride and play for one another and I think that is evident when you are 2-3 and play with the energy and excitement and the care for one another that we did.”

The Rhinos were down 12-7 at the half. However in a momentum shifting series of plays to start the half, Jester's midfielder Rich Nessim was stripped twice by Scott Fitzgerald. Nessim also lost his stick on one of the checks, leading to 3 quick points for the Rhinos. Nessim was knocked down and didn't get up after getting stripped for the second time and was later taken to the locker room on a cart with an injured ankle and a bruised beer belly.

Tom " The God Father" Brazell tried to replace Nessim's intensity at the start of the second half. After dishing out an assist he was shut down by Rob Stossel until late in the game where managed another assist on a garbage time goal.

The Jester's (1-5) reached another losing record for the sixth straight year. They are 3-89 since being routed by Team HLL and former Checkmate coach Kevin Morris in the Cantiague Lacrosse Championship in Hicksville on August 15, 2003.


Martin's third goal of the night midway through the second half was the 7th of his brilliant two-year career.


A major milestone was reached when Rhinos' midfielder Scottie Fitz scored his goal early in the first half. It was the first of his illustrious career and was received with great fanfare by his teammates. “We’re excited to finally get back on track,” Scottie said. “It’s taken a while. We’ve had to go through a lot of ups and downs.”

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.

Rhinos Trampled by Lacrosse Unlimited

The Rhinos fall to 0-3 on the season in indoor lacrosse action at CIS following Tuesday night's pounding by a well-oiled Lacrosse Unlimited squad. Even with the addition of Steve " Super Speedy" Levy, the Rhinos were unable to overcome a 20+ point deficit. The Rhinos lacked fire power offensively as evident by their defensmen scoring the majority of the teams goals.
Shout outs to the entire long pole defensive unit and goalie Keith Huber for their superb play with little to no help. Not to discount other folks' efforts but shout outs to Bones and PJ for keeping it real at midfield, as well as " Broadway" Brett Jaffares for finding the back of the net and snapping his scoring drought (not that anybody noticed he had a drought but he said something last week about it).
With the next game for the Rhinos over a week away, some teammates were mentioning putting a practice together. Brett mentioned possibly Sayville on Friday night. Lets us know your thoughts. Post them on The Blog. In fact, tell everyone about the Blog.