It's the remaining minutes of the final game in an all but forgettable season for the New York Saints and defenseman Brian Spallina of Hicksville is still delivering bone-crushing hits to his opponents.

With his team tasting the thrill of victory only twice this year, clearly a mail in effort would be acceptable for some players, but Spallina isn't buying into that. That's because on game nights at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, section 219 is always filled with the Spallina posse, a raucous gathering of family and friends urging Brian and the Saints to go that little extra. The concept of family and lacrosse has gone a long way in the Spallina household.

While Spallina's older brothers, Joe and Eric, chose not to play professionally, they aren't prepared to wave farewell to the game just yet. In fact, their tales are remarkably similar to one another, all standout players in college while becoming teachers and head lacrosse coaches here on Long Island. Both Brian and Eric Spallina currently teach lacrosse on Long Island and younger brother, Dan, 21, coaches at South Side High School and is earning a degree towards, you guessed it, teaching. The lacrosse lineage extends all the way to the only daughter in the family, 14-year-old Samantha, who has already begun mastering the art of stick handling.

Such achievements have made dad, Joe Sr., giddy with pride as he speaks passionately about his children's journeys through life. "I never threw a game of checkers to these guys," he said. "It was just the way we all were. I always told them 'if you do nothing else always leave your all on the field so you can come home and say to yourself I tried my best'".

Although the bars of competition were set high within the Spallina clan, Brian has always taken matters a step further "He never took losing well and was always driven to raise his game not one but two notches above everyone else" said brother Eric.

But what defines Brian Spallina more than anything else is his enthusiasm for the game of lacrosse. That, along with the keen ability to lead by example, provides him with the perfect ingredients to becoming one of lacrosse's chief ambassadors today.

At age 24, Brian Spallina has already made his imprint on the game, swallowing every challenge in his path. However, unlike Spallina's experience, the indoor game of lacrosse can be a tough transition for some college players. The play is more confined, making speed and agility paramount for success in the National Lacrosse League (N.L.L.), a league trying to ride the wave of an ever-growing popularity in lacrosse among young people over the last decade. Although the N.L.L. has continued to grow, there are no free spending Goliaths in any of the teams' front offices where budgets can be tight and salaries are modest.

"Lacrosse players don't play for the money, they play because they love the game," said Eric Spallina.

The comment typifies what Brian Spallina is all about, making him a good fit in a league that will try to cash in on the admiration he receives from his young fans. "My whole life this is where I wanted to be, it's a dream come true" said Spallina.

With Spallina there is always time for another autograph or snapshot, offering a refreshing twist to the negative images of today's professional athletes. In the off-season, Spallina coordinates camps where he and his brothers can be seen teaching bounce shots or behind the back passes to children wishing to learn more about lacrosse. Whether adults, boys or the new wave of girls who are now playing the game, Spallina targets them all when it comes to spreading the gospels of lacrosse.

"This is a great game and I feel a responsibility to get that out there," Spallina said. "There are a lot of kids in the stands and it's important for us to make a connection between them and the game of lacrosse."

On this night the Saints win and Brian McPartland, an 8-year-old from Hicksville, is in for a special treat. The fourth grader is there with his father, Kevin, for his third game and is slowly becoming more interested in lacrosse, something Spallina is well aware of. After the game, several kids, including a wide-eyed Brian McPartland follow Spallina into the Saint's locker room.

Spallina, never one to turn down a chance to solicit his beloved sport, seizes the moment "What do you think, Dad?" he asks Mr. McPartland. "Let's get him a stick. I think he's ready."