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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Checkmate Orange upends Rhinos

Checkmate Orange pictured here as a lion, beats the Rhinos last thursday night at CIS. The Rhino in this picture is played by Scotty Fitz.

Incredulous! Rhinos fall to 2-1 on the season as Checkmate Orange (aka C.O.) improve to 2-1. Does anyone out there know what happened to the Rhinos here?

Rhino Comeback Leads to Victory, 2-0 for the season

Holtsville, NY-- In their first Friday night action of the season, and a week and a half after pounding Bruno's(whose defense had more holes in it than a Tawaina Brawley cross-examination), the Rhinos' who were down 8-1 at the half against the Landsharks, charged back to win 11-10.

Rhino middie known as "Dez" basically carried the team on his back and scored so many of the Rhino goals that we had a hard time keeping count. Besides Dez, Brian Degenfelder standing in for Buckley, did an outstanding in the cage. It appeared that he became more confident and stronger as the game progressed. Also, hats off to the Close-D unit. They were light in numbers but hung in tough and held the Landsharks to a hat trick in the second half.

The Rhinos have seized sole possession of first place and are very much looking like favorites to runaway with the championship.

The Rhinos next summer league action is 7/29 @9:30 against the Sharks once again. But, the Rhinos will be making their first ever Greenport Tournament appearance this upcoming Sunday July 27th.

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.

No Laughing Matter, Rhinos Score Forfeit Win Over Jesters

Rhinos jump to 1-5 on the Season

Ronkonoma, NY--Despite several years of successfully fielding teams throughout Long Island, across North America, and in an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean called Hawaii, the Jesters were unable to scrounge enough laxers to field a complete squad. Thus forfeiting the game and receiving another mark in the "L" column.

However, these Jesters are no Shakespearian Fools or just another bunch of Jango Edwards. After acquiring two of the top offensive players from the Rhinos and with virtually no bench, the Jesters made clowns of the Rhinos by chalking up a 24-22 win in scrimmage play.

The Jesters, led by the God-Father of Long Island Lacrosse, Tom Brazell, out-hustled and out-manned the Rhinos. At times making them look like they were the team that was short handed. Destroying the Rhinos on groundballs and in transition, the Jesters went up 4-0 in the first 3 minutes of play and never looked back. They never relinquished their lead the entire game. All of this without their tatooed leader Rich Nessum.
Jester goalie Dennis Rogers also came up big last night. Especially during a late game Rhino surge, stuffing point blank shots using his stick, feet and shoulders.

More good news ahead for the Rhinos. They don't have to play any good teams until the playoffs. That is if they can make it.


Keep checking the Blog for updates.

Orange Crush!!

Checkmate Orange advances its record to 1-4 on the season and a lifetime record of 1-528 with last thursday's win over the Rhinos. It was a close fought match-up where the lead changed sides over eight times. And that was only counting the first half.
The Checkmates goalie, who was more Hells Angel than New England Prep school, managed to hold off a Rhino offensive charge late in the game. The Rhinos were down 19-15 with just over two minutes left and poured in 3 goals to close the gap to the final score of 19-18. Unfortunatley, for the Rhinos penalties poached them again, as a final penalty with under 30 ticks left on the clock did them in.
It was the Rhinos' best showing thus far.

The Rhinos see their next lax action in two weeks. Team and game time TBA.

Rhinos rooked by Checkmate!!

Rhinos lose 19-18 in a barnburner, drop to 0-5 on the season. Story to come...

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.