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Teams scrimmage at Northport
BOYS' LACROSSE
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April 09, 2009 | 04:24 PM
The eighth annual Louis Acompora scrimmages were held on Saturday, April 4 as boys' lacrosse teams from the tri-state area converged on Northport High School to play a series of scrimmages to honor the memory of a fine young goalie and to spread the word about the importance of emergency cardiac care at athletic events. Ward Melville, Shoreham-Wading River and Mt. Sinai were among the local squads participating.
Northport Tiger head coach George Searing said, "It's an important day for our community and lacrosse. We're glad Ward Melville and Sachem East remain involved because they came to our assistance immediately when we were setting the program up. Ward Melville's athletic trainer Kevin O'Leary was particularly helpful on the medical end, and it's great that Joe Cuozzo and Rick Mercurio remain involved in the program through their Mt. Sinai team."
About his 2009 Tiger squad, Searing said, "Our young guys are learning. We'll rely on our defense for a while as we have more experience at that end. We graduated three-quarters of our offense last year. Sophomore goalie Tom Cordts and defenseman Pat Leone have established themselves as leaders on defense and Jesse Mancuso is leading our midfield."
Mt. Sinai
Mt. Sinai Mustangs head coach Joe Cuozzo has always placed high importance on the Acompora scrimmages as a way to prepare his team and to celebrate the Acompora family for the helpful way they responded to tragedy.
Cuozzo said, "It was an interesting day for us. We had a shaky start against a Ridgefield, Conn. team that is picked to win their division. They were big and fast, and they finished their one-on-one chances, which we do not do yet. We got better as the day went along and played okay against Northport, and even a little better against Corning East. Against Corning East our guys started to do some of the things we've been teaching. And sometimes they got off on their own again. We were happy for the chance to learn and improve. We'll need quality possessions this year until a defense settles in. A couple of kids moved up today, a couple slipped back. Jon Hoeg has been playing great for us, but he needs more help."
Shoreham-Wading River
Shoreham-Wading River head coach Tom Rotanz reports his Wildcat team is still heading in a positive preseason direction before his Wednesday opener against Cuozzo's Mustangs. "We're starting to understand what has to be done. We still make mistakes, but we learn from them. That's why we've played so many tough scrimmages against teams like West Islip, Ward Melville, Darien, Fairfield Prep and at Northport. We want to play good talent and get exposed. Still, it seems like there is never enough time to teach everything. Joey Lustgarten, Mike Perdie, Nik Mullen, Kyle Sopko and Bret Miller have been taking the lead for us on offense."
Ward Melville
For the Ward Melville Patriots it was a chance to face stiff competition and tweak their starting lineup. Head coach Mike Hoppey said, "I was happy with how the day went and we got to play a lot of guys against good competition. This is always just a great event with great teams." Ward Melville faced Brewster, Corning East and Ridgefield. "Our senior goalie Zach Quinn continues to excel. He's taken a big step forward. And we've moved our All-County attackman Cody Ferraro to midfield because we needed a physical presence there with Jimmy Ryan out hurt. It seems to be the thing to do this year. Dan Di Maria at Hills West and Steven Murphy at Floyd are running midfield this year to help their teams. They were All-County attackmen last year, too. Cody has a good sense of where to be get off his shot."
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