On Sunday the Farmingdale PAL fourth grade boys Green lacrosse team visited the Long Beach team in a memorable shootout. The Green team was coming in with a 4-1 record. Long Beach knew this and came out scoring quickly. And score they did. In the first quarter Beach scored two quick goals. But not to be denied the Farmingdale boy's regrouped. Now blossoming as a threat from just about anywhere on the field is Stephen Cain who picked a groundball and was off to the races. Stephen drove hard towards the goalie and let off a blunderbuss of a shot that scored. But Long Beach came right back and scored. The Long Beach team was big and physical and played well all day.

The second goal came off a quick stick pass from Brandon "Boo" Boyle who caught a cutting John McCrystal moving into the crease. John caught the pinpoint pass and put the ball in the cage. The third goal came off a feed from Bryan Kaufman to a sliding Bryan Tenny. Bryan "Special K" Kaufman is turning into the lead attack man on this offense. Using his quickness and excellent stick skills he lured defenders in while Bryan Tenny snuck in the back door for a quick game of pass and shoot. The results here are devastating though. With the score now 3-3 the Long Beach team rallied for another two scores. At the half it was 5-3 Long Beach.

Starting out in the goal was Nick Valdini. Nick has been critical in several games making key saves to protect the team. In the first half he was able to keep four Beach shots from entering the cage. Our hats are off for Justin Henry who also stepped up in the second half also producing four saves. These goalies, and Andrew Muscarella, have kept the Green team in many tight games during the season. Nick, Justin and Andrew also play other positions during games and make a tremendous contribution.

The Green team often finds itself falling behind and coming back with a vengeance in the second half of many games. With the defense led by Chris McDermott, Andrew Muscarella, Brendan Hopkins, Taylor Thompson, Joseph Napoli, and Michael Fritz, playing with a vengeance and fire in the belly was on display in this game. The attack for most of the game was led by Bryan Tenny, Justin Henry and Bryan Kaufman. The midfield was led by John McCryrstal, Brandon Boyle, Will Terzi, Michael Tristano, Stephan Cain, Nick Valdini, and Dallas Creamer. This group of attackmen and mid-fielders started to step things up in the second half by pressuring the ball on Long Beach possessions causing several turnovers.

Sensing that things were about to change the boys started to call out their offense set plays. Although many passes and plays fell short you got the sense that this game was beginning to shift in Farmingdale's favor. Bryan Tenny scooped up a ball at mid field and drove hard to the goal letting off an off-balance shot on the crease as he was met by a host of defenders. That goal brought the score to 5-4. Long Beach came back again in the third and scored another goal. With the score now 6-4 Zach Zaroba called out a play from behind the cage. He was forcing the defense to play him when he made a nice pass in the crease to John McCrystal. John took a low shot between the goalie's legs and scored. This was his second goal of the game. With the score now 6-5 Long Beach this game was destined to be a nail bitter.

At the beginning of the fourth things really got exciting. Long Beach won a face-off and made a pass to another midfielder who drove and scored. This seventh goal would be the last goal for Long Beach though. Now down by two goals and needing three to win the game the coaches made a face-off change. They brought in Bryan Tenny to take face-offs. Bryan clamped down and swept out the ball winning the face-off. Picking the ball up Bryan ran toward the cage ripping off a blast of a shot. The score was now 7-6.

Bryan Tenny took another face and won it making a quick outlet pass to Nick Valdini playing the wing. Nick passed the ball to Will Terzi who made another pass to John McCrystal. John a team leader and a lacrosse player who is aggressive in his offense ripped off a hard right handed shot. John is a player who clearly understood the gravity of the situation his team was in. John has proven this entire season his toughness and grit on the field.

The score was now tied. But time was winding down. With the game in the balance and only 34 seconds left, Bryan Tenny was at the helm taking another face. The Long Beach face-off player must have had the same lump in his throat that Bryan had. Victory was only a face-off win-drive-shot to the cage away. But who would make this happen? When the referee blew his whistle Bryan beat the Long Beach player to the ball clamping and sweeping immediately. Everyone could hear the official counting down the seconds as Bryan drove with all he could toward the Long Beach goal. Being hit by at least four and maybe five Long Beach players he let off a weak shot at the goal. Perhaps because of its lack of speed, or perhaps the way it meandered, or its funny bounce, the goalkeeper could not make the save. The score was now 8-7 Farmingdale. There first lead of the game.

Bryan took the last face-off with 12 seconds left winning it and running the clock out. The Farmingdale team, parents, and sidelines erupted in this last second victory. The Green team is now 5-1 for the season. Congratulations.