On the morning of April 17, beneath a dazzling blue sky, a 60-seat coach bus quietly departed a deserted Garden City High School parking lot destined 120 miles southwest to South Street, Philadelphia, site of the University of Pennsylvania.

On board were players and families of the Garden City Checkmate Sharks fifth grade lacrosse team looking to test the waters later that day in matching skills with the Towson Red Ravens, a fifth and sixth grade team from Baltimore. To quote 1930's comedian W.C. Fields: "I once spent a year in Philadelphia, I think it was on a Sunday," much could describe the Shark's four-hour bus ride.

Arriving at historic Franklin Field, on the eve of its 110th anniversary of the Penn Relays, the Sharks contingent watched their head coach Peter Coleman's alma mater, the Penn Quakers lax team defeat Ivy League rival Brown University, serving as the day's preliminary warm-up act. Sports historians should note that Franklin Field, constructed in 1913, was home to the Philadelphia Eagles from 1958-1970 and the site of their last NFL championship, December 26, 1960, where 67,000 fans witnessed Hall of Fame legends Norm Van Brocklin and Chuck Bednarik lead the Eagles to a 17-13 victory over Vince Lombardi's upstart Green Bay Packers.

With their sneakers laced the Sharks took to the turf and jumped to a lightning quick 2-0 lead. Devin Dwyer scored the first of his four goals just 30 seconds into the first quarter and Kyle Johnson followed a minute later with a nifty bounce shot that caromed into the top left corner of the cage. From there the drama subsided, as the Sharks would score the game's first eight goals before easing up the throttle in coasting to a 9-3 victory.

Six of the Sharks' nine goals were assisted as Brian Coleman (1 goal, 2 assists), Sean Mahon (1 goal), Tom Gordon (1 goal), Steve Jahelka (1 goal), Matt Confort (2 assists), Mike LoFrese (1 assist) and Charlie Garcia (1 assist) shared scoring accolades. With the help of Gordon Purdie's instruction, Garden City won 11 of 14 faceoffs and dominated possession and the battle of the ground balls. The goal tending tandem of John "The Wall" Bock and Big Al "Steak and Eggs" Castronovo held Towson scoreless into the fourth quarter in turning back 17 of 20 Red Raven shots. Shark D-Dogs Tommy Adams and Austin Kufs gave the goalies great support and the clears and rides were very successful, led by the efforts of Shane Thornton, Tom O'Brien, Matt Clarkson and Tim Noble.

Coach Coleman and assistants Bob Jahelka and Paul Hollis are very proud of the teamwork and the way the boys moved with and without the ball. At dusk, as the bus rambled home along the Jersey Turnpike, all would reflect on a great day of Sharks lacrosse and the resulting chemistry and camaraderie.