Syosset Youth Lacrosse Report

The Syosset Spartans, Syosset Youth Lacrosse's (Sylax) first-ever travel lacrosse team, won their first tournament in Simsbury, Conn., this past weekend. The Spartans are a team made up of sixth and seventh graders who tried out for this highly competitive level of lacrosse.

The Spartans won the opening game of the tournament with a 3-1 win over defending champion Wilton, Conn.  They went on to defeat Avon, Conn., and Simsbury, Conn., before reaching the championship game. The defending champions from Wilton were waiting for the Spartans, but proved to be no match for this inspired group from Syosset, as the Spartans won convincingly 5-2. The attack was led by Vincent Speranza, Brendan Lyons, Jack Parlo, Cameron Biegal and Perry Lehrhoff, who all tallied numerous assists and goals throughout the tournament.  

The midfield was led by Jeremy Kaplan, Lucas Cotler, Cole Samaroo, Tyler Tarnowski, Michael Cresciamanni, Nick Hatzipatrakos, Perry Feinstein and Jordan Rauch. The defense was outstanding throughout the whole tournament, giving up a total of five goals in four games.  

The defense was led by EJ Aronson and Evan Lowitt at long-pole middie, while Richie Prestegaard, Nick Balos, David Reiter, Stephen Burke and Nick Woska were the close defenseman.

In goal for the Spartans were Jonathan Klobus and Greg Meyers. Missing on the field was the steady play of Alex Concannon, who was out with a broken finger but made the trip to support his teammates. Attackman Mac O'Keefe was also not able to play at the tournament, but the Spartans are excited to get him back for the summer.

The Spartans will compete in five more tournaments this June and July on Long Island as well as in Massachusetts. To learn more about the Spartans or Syosset Youth Lacrosse, please visit Sylax.org.

Boys First and Second Grade Red

This past Mother's Day, the Syosset boys first and second grade Red lacrosse team hosted Port Washington for their third game of the season. Players Nicolas Accardo, AJ Alexander, Logan Farrell, Josh Novick, Alexander Davis, Victor Di Re, Michael Forte, Sam Jaffee, Johnny Maccarone, Nicholas Andersen, Rajat Shah, Maanuv Allu and Kent Sato stepped on the field and played strong the entire game. The game ended in an 8-8 tie with good play from both teams. The boys all demonstrated great team work and enthusiasm for the game, supporting their 2-0-1 record.  This Sunday they take on Jericho in their bid to continue the hot streak.

Boys 3rd Grade

The boys third grade team won its third game of the year in a hard-hitting game against Northport this past weekend. The final score was 7-4 in favor of the Braves, but the game was highly contested throughout. The Braves were led by Jack Rooney's five goals and one assist, while Jack Monfort and Andrew Giovinco each added one goal. The defense was challenged by the athleticism of Northport and responded really well. The defense was led by Joseph Cawley, James Galvin, Matt Majoy, Ryan Lebson, Daniel Shapiro and Jacob Katz. The midfielders of Christian Lyons, Jack Rooney, Jack Monfort, Troy Douglas and Eric Haas all played hard and helped to control the middle of the field. The attack was led by Ben Schloss, Drew Cohen, Michael Anastasio, Jason Yacavone, Matt Losquadro, Ethan Berch and Charlie Zandieh. Dylan Hein and Andrew Bonapace both played well in the goal, denying Northport numerous times to keep the Braves in the lead.

Fourth Grade Boys Red 

The fourth grade boys red team gave their moms an early Mother's Day gift this past Sunday by posting an 8-1 win over Farmingdale. The boys were led by game MVP and team leader J.P. Lanning, whose outstanding performance included five goals, one assist, two face-off wins and six ground balls. Christopher Daugherty chipped in with one goal, two assists, two face-off wins and a team-high seven ground balls. The balance of the scoring came from the always-steady attack duo of Dylan Gefter (two goals) and Joseph Schindel (one goal). Some great passing led to one assist each for Griffen Berke, J.T. Roselle and Tyler Parlo, who again played stellar in goal in the second half with seven saves. The defense once again dominated in all phases with strong performances from Max Verch, Matthew Luneberg, Austin Maccarone, J.T. Roselle and Trevor Friedrich. Tommy Markou not only shut out the opponent in goal in the first half, but also played solidly on attack as well. The middies were led by speedsters Brandon Tabakin and Eli Feder as well as Dominic Speranza, who played his usual tough overall game. Jake Needleman recorded an impressive five ground balls with Curtis Torti (three ground balls) and Brian Dillon (two ground balls) rounding things out. Thanks again to stat man Eric Needleman and photographer Joe Lanning. Special thanks to all the parents, especially the moms, for turning out to support the team.

Fourth Grade Boys Black

The fourth grade boys Black lacrosse team improved their record to 3-1 with a resounding 8-4 win over Northport on Sunday. Playing in cold and windy conditions, the boys played tough and pulled out the win. Tommy Rooney, playing in his first game back after missing three games with a broken ankle, got the Braves started with an early goal on a great pass by Liam Kalbacher. Kalbacher got the next goal, one of his two on the day, and Rooney added another before Stephen Conte had an outstanding full-field run for a goal. Northport played tough and cut the Syosset lead to 5-4 before Rooney scored twice in succession on great passes from Danny Ochs and Chris Belmonte. Rooney scored his fifth goal of the game on another great pass from Kalbacher to close out the scoring for Syosset. Teddy Hanakis played goalie the whole game and was outstanding, making 10 saves. The defense was led by Conte, Shawn Connell, Jake Mullin, Sean Anderson, Thomas Bruefach and John Babino. Playing midfield and controlling the ball were Paulie Cavesano, Sal Crescimanni, Andrew Harris, John Rochford and Dylan Sapienza. The attack, led by Thomas Goldrick, Dean Marx and Justin Cohen, did a great job of controlling the action for the Braves.

Fifth Grade Boys

Last Sunday the fifth grade squad took on the Bethpage Eagles. The boys had lots of support from both the moms and grandmothers who showed up to root them on despite the wind and cold temperatures. In the first quarter Jared Goldberg started the scoring off with an assist from Jack Lukacovic. Despite tough defense and good clears by Justine Carollo and William Sanchez, the Eagles took a 2-1 lead into the second period. Matthew Farrell scored for the Braves in the second on another assist from Lukacovic. However, the Eagles were able to put four balls between the pipes despite goalie Jack Moore's best efforts. At halftime with the score 6-2 in favor of Bethpage the coaches stressed ground balls and tougher defense. A goalie change in the third energized the Braves, with Justin Carollo's three saves on point-blank shots. Jared Goldberg scored again on an assist from Zack Tannenbaum and Matthew Benus had an unassisted goal as well. At the end of the third period, the score was 8-4. Matthew Sobel had two unassisted goals in the fourth to cut the Eagles' margin to two. However despite clears from Andrew Kravitz, Michael Sherman and Matthew Frank the Braves could not withstand a strong Bethpage attack late in the fourth which allowed three goals for a 11-6 final.

Third and Fourth Grade Girls

The Syosset  third and fourth  grade girls lacrosse team continued their winning streak this past Sunday at the Syosset-Woodbury Community Park turf field. In the game's first half against Half Hollow Hills the Syosset team struggled to keep their undefeated record intact. The girls then kicked into gear during the second half, scoring goal after goal and winning the game 6-5. Goalies Eunice Kang and Barri Levitt did an outstanding job defending Syosset's goal. The second game of the day against Malverne was yet another success for the Syosset Braves with a final score of 7-3.  The girls were on fire, scoring five goals in the first half of the game. Lauren Tranchina and Paulina Levitan played a great game in goal, keeping the Malverne team at bay. This weekend Uma Alagappan had her first career goal along with goals scored by Sofia Afkham, Rebecca Korn,  Jessica Levy, Nicole Rizzo and Taylyn Stadler. During both games Sara Krotz and Melissa Esswein had top-notch performances, showing their impressive skill and speed. Amanda Alejo, Kelsey Miller, Rachel Kitagawa, Betsy Stephenson and the entire Syosset team displayed exceptional teamwork throughout both games. The results made for an amazing day of lacrosse.

Fourth Grade Girls

The fourth grade girls lacrosse team continued its winning streak with a 7-6 victory over Bellmore last Saturday. It was a hard-fought battle on a windy evening. Despite playing at one point without any substitute players, the girls persevered and displayed amazing determination. Amanda Alejo had seven saves on the day and Taylyn Stadler had a double hat trick--six goals! Stadler also stole a pass with 20 seconds left in the game as Bellmore tried to even the score. Sydney Fells scored the other goal for the Syosset squad and had three shots for the day. Betsy Stephenson logged her first assist of the season. Rachel Fajiram, Nicole Rizzo, Camryn Smithwick and Rebecca Korn all had some nice shots on goal. The girls continue to improve with each game and are having a lot of fun out on the lacrosse field.