This Sunday, on Mother's Day, the Farmingdale PAL fourth grade boy's green lacrosse team played Port Washington at home. The boy's were excited about bringing home a win for their moms. The game was tightly competed in a see-saw battle with each team having one loss. Once again this was a team that beat the boys rather handily last year. But the boys wanted to make this outcome different from last year.

Starting out in the goal, and now playing as a seasoned veteran, was Nick Valdini. Nick has been practicing quite a bit in the cage these past few weeks and it's showing up at game time. On several occasions Nick made some quick stick saves and made very good clears up the field to our middy group led by John McCrystal, Brandon "Boo" Boyle, Dallas Creamer, Justin Henry, Chris McGlynn, Chris McDermott, and Stephen Cain. Once again the boys started out a little rocky trading goal for goal with Port.

The first goal came from a feed off, an unsettled fast break, led by John McCrystal. John drove hard up the field drawing several defenders as he got close to the cage. At the critical point he made the split second decision to pass the ball to a cutting Bryan Tenny. Bryan took a quick shot leaving the ball in the cage. The second goal came off another unsettled fast break from Brandon "Boo" Boyle. And once again the Farmingdale middy, Brandon Boyle, drew three defenders. After a split while dodging the defenders, Brandon saw a cutting Bryan Tenny near the crease. With the quick stick pass Bryan caught it and made another shot at the back of the cage. However, Port Washington was a formidable opponent and soon came back scoring twice.

With the score 2-2 the Farmingdale defense led by Chris McDermott, Andrew Muscarella, Michael Fritz, Brendan Hopkins, Sal Milo, and Joseph Napoli began to play team defense. Port was trying to swing the ball and start offensive sets but were denied by the in-close defense and plethora of poke checks. On several occasions the boys defended well against several barrages of shots from the Port offensive unit. As the defense transitioned the ball up the field to the middies on one particular play, Brandon Boyle once again saw a fast-break opportunity. Possessing exceptionally quick feet and extraordinary speed, Brandon Boyle was steaming up the field. As he drove hard towards the right side of the cage he once again saw a big green attack man cut to the crease. Bryan took the hard feed from Brandon Boyle and took the shot. The score was now 3-2. But once again Port came back to tie the score at three apiece.

The fourth goal of the game came from Stephen Cain. Stephen happens to be one of the exceptional multi-sport athletes who seem to make up much of the team's midfield group. Brandon Boyle was coming up the field when he saw Stephen Cain filling a lane on the opposite side of the field at about the midfield line. Stephen took the pass from Brandon Boyle and began one of the quickest drives seen towards the cage. Stephen covered ground so quickly that the defensemen of Port Washington could be seen spinning 'round in their tracks trying to adjust to this speedster. But this was Stephen's day and he was not going to be denied. As he approached the right side of the goal to about ten yards out you could see him lift his stick and load up a shot to the lower right corner. The result was obvious, goal. Again Port came right back and scored off a fast-break on the face-off. But just before half time John McCrystal, another very talented lacrosse player, scored. John took the low corner rip and made the score five-four at half.

The boys came out fired up in the third quarter and began to really take control of the game. Nick Valdini, now playing attack from behind the cage, called out a play. He drove and made a pass to Brandon Boyle over the crease. With his stick extended to catch the over the crease pass, Brandon Boyle ripped off a shot into the cage. Soon afterwards, Nick called out another play and hit John McCrystal in similar fashion. The closest Port would come was to score another goal. With the score now 7-5 it wasn't long before the boys extended their lead. Derek Glascott scooped up the ball on a turnover on the defensive side of the ball. With his quick feet he could be seen weaving up the field. As the defense approached him he made a pass to Bryan Tenny who scored.

The attack was lead during the game by Brendan Hopkins, Sal Milo, Chris McGlynn, Derek Glascott Joseph Napoli, Chris McDermott and Michael Fritz. This group of attackmen caused constant match up trouble for Port all day. The final goal came from Stephen Cain. You could see it in Stephen's eyes before the game. He came to play. Once again, and off a loose ground ball, Stephen scooped up at midfield and you could barely see him streaking down the right side. The defenders were once again spinning and trying to adjust to his lightning quickness. It was too late as Stephen saw daylight and put the ball in the back of the cage. During the final three minutes of the game, Justin Henry and Dallas Creamer played shut down defense on Port. In the cage for the second half was Andrew Muscarella. In his usually never flinch yeoman's fashion, Andrew made six saves and some perfect clears up the field. When the game was over the boys stormed the two goalkeepers of the game, Andrew Muscarella and Nick Valdini, in celebration on this special Mother's Day victory. The final score was 9-5. The team is now 4 and 1.