The Levittown Tomahawks kicked off the 2002 PAL Lacrosse season this past weekend on a successful note. The boys all played on Sunday at MacArthur HS while the Lady Tomahawks opened up on Saturday and Sunday with their home games being played at Memorial. Despite a playing in a winter chill the boys and girls all put forth a great effort and had a lot of fun.

The individual team results are as follows:

Boys Third and Fourth-Grade

The third and fourth-grade Tomahawks played a hard fought game against a talented Plainview team. They started out a little slow with Plainview jumping out to a 3-0 lead after the 1st quarter. The team played well once they settled some of their nerves. In the second half it seemed like they were a different team. Thomas Nuckel (2 goals), Jamie McAndrew (1 goal, 2 assists) and Patrick Dreiss (2 assists) had outstanding games offensively and defensively. Other players to stand out as having an outstanding game include Kyle Jordan, Keith Kerwin, Justin Benty, Robert Divers, and Joseph Gombar keeping the ball on the offensive end of the field with great defense and picking up all available ground balls. Peter Mack and Bryan Sieber are just two of the many players who had an outstanding game on defense. Thomas McDevitt and Max Transon split there time in the goal both having a great game. The final score was 8-3 with Plainview on top but this team put forth a great effort. Win or lose the effort made by all of these team players made the first game a success.

Boys Fourth-Grade

The fourth-grade team opened the season with an impressive win over West Islip 8-1. The team dominated from the opening face-off as they took a quick 5-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Leading the scoring were Thomas Duggan with 2 goals and 3 assists and Dean Knox with 3 goals. Also scoring were George Athans, Brian Verbitsky and Fred Mase with 1 goal each. Groundball kings of the day were Fred Mase with 11 and Timmy Michaels with 8. The team's defense played so well that goalie Mathew Cronin only had 3 shots taken on him.

Boys Fifth-Grade

The fifth-graders played a tough Rockville Center team and emerged victorious 6-2. Led by midfielder John Thearle with his goal and 2 assists the boys continued their winning ways of last season. Also scoring goals were Kevin Fechtmann (2), Chris Nasiatka (2), and Ryan Phillips (1). Dishing out assists were John Rothar, Ryan Grant and Thomas O'Connor who was playing in his first game. The whole team did excellent on groundballs but the kings of the day were Chris Celentani and Kevin Catalano. The defense of Ryan Tolan, Kyle Perkins, and Dan Cava did a super job in holding Rockville Center scoreless in the first half. Goalie Joe Homkow had an easy day because of the great defense. Austin Policastro, Rich Ruiz and Mike Porfidio all played super in their debut as Tomahawks.

Boys Fifth- and Sixth-Grade

The fifth-and sixth-graders also were victorious in their 8-2 win over West Islip. The boys jumped off to a quick lead and dominated the rest of the game. Leading scorers were Mike Skarren with 3 goals, Tom Whitfield with a goal and 2 assists Cody Lacey with 2 goals and 1 assist, John Augeri and Tom Whitfield with 1 goal and 1 assist each, and Chris Tornabene with a goal. Also dishing out assists were Cody Occhini and C.J. Reilly. The groundball king was Michael Skarren with 7. Goalie Tom Bruno made 11 saves some of which were spectacular 1 on 1 plays with West Islip attackmen. The defense played exceptionally well making crucial slides that took away potential goals.

The boys will continue their season April 14 as follows:

Third- and fourth-grade Team at Three Village Lacrosse 2 p.m.

Fourth-Grade Team at Freeport 10:30 a.m.

Fifth-Grade Team at North Shore 3:30 p.m.

Sixth-Grade Team at Seaford 3:30 p.m.

Fifth- and Sixth-grade team at Hicksville Home 10:30 a.m.