Mineola High School boys lacrosse coach Mark Miller has had to steer his guys through a streaky season. It's been a tale of two seasons. The first saw Mineola get off to an outstanding start by stringing together five consecutive wins. But, that was followed by six straight losses. This year's varsity squad is made-up of 17 boys, with a pretty even split between eight seniors and nine juniors.

The Mustangs started out well with a league win over Clarke 11-8. Two non-league victories over Malvern/East Rockaway and Cardozo

followed (12-3 and 13-6). Mineola's next league game was against Herricks. The Mustangs had a 9-4 lead in the fourth quarter and held on to win 9-8. The next win was a defensive battle against North Shore. Goalie Peter Marson came up big in a 4-2 victory.

Then came the six-game slide with losses to Island Trees 7-4 (non-league), Sewanhaka 7-5, Friends Academy 13-5, Jericho 12-2, a tough 9-8 overtime loss to Glen Cove and Port Washington 14-4. In their most recent game, the Mustangs got back on track with a 16-6 win over Roslyn.

According to coach Miller, this year our defense is led by senior captain Peter Marson, along with down-defensemen Billy Mills, sr., (2 assists), Greg Gabriel, Jr., Andrew Breen, Jr., and long-stick middies Jason Vega, Jr., (1 assist) and Peter Diglio, Jr. Our midfielders are led by senior captain James Holubowich (17 goals, 1 assist), with senior Ivan Anania (5 goals, 6 assists), senior Chris Boeshore (1 goal, 1 assist), Julio Gauto, Jr., (4 goals, 2 assists), along with our defensive midfield made-up of juniors Andrew Jakubek and Joe Ricciardi and senior John Calvao. The attack consists of senior captain Tom Grimaldi (37 goals, 7 assists), Tom Oswald, jr., (8 goals, 2 assists), Steve Miller, Sr., (4 goals, 2 assists) and Rich Carter, jr., who plays both attack and midfield. Carter has 16 goals and 11 assists.

The Mustangs had a record of 6-6 at press time. There are four games left in the season. The laxmen have hopes of finishing better than .500 and perhaps making the playoffs.

The Mineola varsity girls lacrosse team has played a season to remember. With its 14-3 win over Bethpage on April 29, the Mustangs clinched the Conference III title, running their record to 10-0. Senior center Alison Carnabuci continued her stellar season by six goals. Courtney O'Connell added two goals and three assists while Noelle Guelbart made 10 saves.

The day before, Mineola posted a 16-3 win over Hicksville. That day, sophomore Ali Kain scored six goals while Carnabuci and O'Connell added four each. Carnabuci has scored six goals in at least four other games this season.