G'day,

Conference play is finally here and Saturday's game was a clear sign on that. NYIT defeated the Dowling Golden Lions at Presidents Stadium 9-8. We held off a furious comeback from Dowling to take a crucial first conference victory and stay undefeated.

Austin Carino scored the first goal of the game off of a feed from Jeremy Hobson but Dowling answered to level the score at 1-1. We scored 4 straight goals including one more from Carino, two from Henderson and the fourth from close defenseman Andrew Maurer, his first since transferring to NYIT. We ended the first quarter 5-1 and kept the foot on the peddle scoring 2 more goals before half time while holding Dowling's explosive offense to just 2 goals. We felt good going into half time up by 5 goals but also knew that Dowling could erupt at any time and after 10 minutes of scoreless action to start the third that's exactly what happened. After Matt Ryan scored to put the Bears up 8-3 Dowling rattled off 5 straight goals to tie the game with 7:45 remaining in the 4th quarter. After just under seven minutes of up and down action with both teams squandering good scoring opportunities Matt Sullivan drove to the cage from behind and snuck the ball over the Dowling goalie's shoulder with just 57 seconds left for the eventual game winner.

MVP of the game was Chris Powers who once again stepped up in the clutch making numerous one on one saves and knocking back many scoring opportunities from the relentless Dowling offense. To Dowling's credit they pushed us to the limit all day and never let us put the game away. Our main focus on defense was to hold their big scorers to low point totals. Canadians Kyle O'Brien and John McClure gave us all we could handle and we were lucky to come out on top.

The game gave us a good indication that we are not at the level of play we want/need to be. We have yet another tough conference battle this upcoming Saturday against Molloy so we need to make some improvements over this week. Our practice today focused on quick tempo and conditioning. It was a very positive,efficient practice so with a good week of practice we should be ready to take on the Molloy Lions.I will report on that game soon after Saturday. Until then take care.....

-Rob

G'day everyone,

My blog was a little late this week as the NYIT Men's lacrosse team spent the last 6 days in Colorado. Road trips with teams are an opportunity to play against lacrosse teams that we ordinarily would not and is also a great opportunity to bond with teammates. We certainly did that despite being interstate on business.

We left the NYIT campus bright and early 5:45am Thursday morning for JFK. After getting the fifty or so people through security we were off to Colorado. After we arrived we drove straight to Colorado College for a practice and to get accustomed to the thin air. I had heard a lot about the air and how hard it is to breathe from lacrosse players who have played in Colorado but I still underestimated it. It certainly provided a challenge to all of the players but that's just something you have to take in stride. It's all part of the game.

Our first game was Saturday against Colorado College. They are division 3 so they are not a regular on our schedule. We also knew very little about them due to limited scouting but as usual the coaches had us prepared for what was to come. We scored 8 seconds into the game with Paul Gibson winning the face off and hitting Austin Carino for the goal. The game stayed close for the rest of the half with both teams feeling each other out. NYIT took a 6-3 lead into halftime. The NYIT coaches had the more effective half time speech, stressing the importance of hustle and groundballs. We came out on fire scoring 5 goals to none in the third period. Our defense held the Colorado offense scorless in the second half until the last fourty seconds in the 4th quarter. It was another dominant performance by the defense allowing only 4 goals. On his birthday, Josh Kacprzak caused 4 turnovers and picked up 4 ground balls to earn the MVP for the game. Although there was a dip in the offensive output there were still good individual performances. Austin Carino scored 4 goals, Ryan Amengual scored 1 goal and 2 assists, Matt Ryan had 1 goal 1 assist, Keith Henderson had 2 and 1 and Matt Messina had 1 goal 3 assists. Again Keith Clancy was a huge part of our win clearing the ball a number of times.  

We had 2 days off between our games so our Coaches, specifically our History buff Coach Kaley, organised activities for the team and our families to enjoy. We visited the Garden of the Gods which is a collection of amazing rock formations. There was a walking track that allowed us to take in some nice views. Although it was a long walk it was worth it. Almost everywhere you go in colorado springs offers a beautiful view of the rocky mountains. One of the mountains was Pike's Peak. Standing 14,110 feet above sea level Pike's Peak is one of the highest points in the Rocky Mountains. We took a cog train all the way up to the peak, where the air was so thin a lot of us felt dizzy. It was well worth the long train ride and light headed feeling for the amazing views.

Our second game was on our last day in Colorado. We played the Air Force Academy in a scrimmage. Many of our players were tired and it reflected in our play. It was not one our cleaner games. We were outshot, out groundballed and out hustled for the most part. Depsite our messy play we only lost by one. Although we never want to play badly it was a good learning experience, and what better time to learn about ourselves than the week before conference play.

We arrived home in New York at 6:30am Wednesday morning after taking the 1:00am red-eye out of Denver. We had that day off to recover from the lack of sleep and today we were back to work preparing for Dowling who we play this Saturday. Conference play is always more intense and the whole team is looking forward to the challenge, especially considering Dowling were the only team to beat us last year.

I'll blog again next week to report on the Dowling game. Until then take care....

-Rob

G'day everyone,

The weather is finally starting to heat up! On a warm March Sunday the NYiT Bears defeated the Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals 19-2.  First mention has to go to the coaching staff who, despite only seeing the opposition play once, had the team prepared and mentally focused on the challenge ahead.

Week by week the defense improves and Sunday was no exception, holding the Cardinals to only 2 goals. Once again the efforts of Patrick Rogin (MVP of the game) , Josh Kacprzack, Andrew Maurer, Willie Grossklaus, and Dan Quinn at LSM helped NYiT to a solid victory. Behind the defense, Chris Powers had his usual solid game in the cage. Although he only faced 23 shots he stayed focused the entire game and made the crucial saves when needed.

The number one offense in the country continued its success scoring 19 goals for the second consecutive week. Keith Henderson had his usual high output scoring 8 points on 5 goals and 3 assists. For the second straight week Matt Messina had 3 goals and 3 assists but Coach Kaley was mostly impressed with his riding and hustle once again. Matt Sullivan chipped in 3 goals and 1 assist despite only playing 2 quarters.

The Long Island Three Party had another solid day at the face-off X. Although not winning as many as previous weeks they still won a combined 15-24 which allowed us to control the tempo of the game. Throughout the week in practice we work on controlling the tempo and getting up and down the field as quickly as possible. Without good face-off personel a "run and gun" style of lacrosse is not possible.

Also deserving of a mention was Keith Clancy. Although it is not an official statistic and therefor does not appear in the box score, clearing the ball is paramount in winning lacrosse games. Keith Clancy did this all day running the ball safely from defense to offense and like face-offs, clearing is extremely important for the run and gun style.

A few more notes. We had a few first goals of the season. Matthew Ryan aka. Ryan Matthews scored his first goal for Tech after transferring in from Nassau. Freshman Jason Opitz scored his first career goal and yours truly finally scored a goal after going 0-10 in our previous two games. We out groundballed Wheeling Jesuit 56-33. This is Coach Kaley's favorite statistic and usually the first one he checks. Every practice Coach emphasizes groundballs and this usually translates over to games.The more groundballs you have the more possessions, the more possessions the more potential to score goals.

The team now travels to Colorado to take on Colorado College on Saturday night and Air Force (scrimmage) on Tuesday. Next week is Spring Break and like many college teams around the country we don't really get to enjoy it by flying to Cancun. Having said that, next week will be a lot of fun and I hope to have many stories to share (and hopefully another victory to report on). Until then take care, enjoy Spring Break.

U.S Lacrosse was at the game to take some photos. To see them go to the following link.

http://www.laxmagazine.com/multimedia/photos/2008-09                            /030909_wheelingjesuitnyit_leeweissman

-Rob

G'day,

Two games down, ten to go. On Sunday the NYiT Bears played the St. Anselms Hawks. Mother Nature was good to both teams and the wintry mix paused for a few hours so that we could play our game. It was still chilly but we were able to stay dry which was nice.

We came out on top by the score of 19-8. Our offense has a lot of depth and everyone who gets on the field is able to create some offense so hopefully this will be a trend we see throughout the season. Some notable offensive performances were Keith Henderson with 6 goals and 2 assists and Matt Messina with 3 goals 3 assists. Pat "Rick" Browne had his first 2 goals of the season.

MVP went to Matt Messina for his offensive output and hustle on the field.

Once again the defense showed promise. Although defensive leader Pat "Battletoad" Rogin was limited in playing time due to illness, the defense was able to hold the Hawks scoreless for the entire third quarter and half of the 4th. Chris Powers was again solid in the goal making 7 saves.

For the second straight week the face-off trio of Pete Raab, Paul Gibson, and Jeff Hunter controlled the X and allowed us to control time of possession in a big way. The three headed monster now known as the "Long Island Three Party" won 27 of 31 face-offs. If they can continue this unbelievable success it will go a long way in our quest to repeat as National Champions.

Last but certainly not least, the win on Sunday secured Coach Jack Kaley's 500th win. Coach was presented with the game ball by team captains Keith Henderson, Matt Messina, Kevin Hennessy, and Pat Rogin. 500 wins is an incredible achievement and Coach Kaley is certainly to be congratulated for all of his efforts.

Next Sunday we host Wheeling Jesuit University so hopefully the foot of snow that fell will melt so we can have a productive week of practice. Whatever happens we will be ready for our third battle of the year. Stay tuned...

-Rob