The Jericho third- and fourth-grade lacrosse team demonstrated a strong and united team performance on Sunday, April 14 to capture its first win of the 2002 spring lacrosse season. The team beat New Hyde Park by a score of 4-to-1, to even the team's record to one win and one loss after completing the first two games of an eight-game season.

The notable contributions in this week's performance included a strong and aggressive defensive play and commanding field leadership from the fourth-grade players returning from last year's team. Brendan Cacciola, Jesse Chazen, Austin Landow, Reed Longo and Perry Barnett dominated the ball possession and made sure that the Jericho squad never lost the game momentum.

Franklin Rodriguez, the team's rookie goaltender showed great promise as he scooped up seven saves and only let up one goal, and that goal was scored in the last two minutes of the game when Jericho was down one player due to a penalty situation. Rodriguez had a strong defense team in front of him all game long and Cacciola, Marshall Hockhauser and Robert Guber made sure that he was well protected by stopping all of the New Hyde Park fast breaks.

The team was also fortunate to have strong play from many of the other first-time players. The versatile performances of Alex Cohen, Jake Friedberg and Jordan Kanzer playing both midfield and defensive positions, allowed coaches Jim Corcoran and Peter Murphy to maintain a balanced midfield and defense. The tenacious attack team of Dylan Murphy, Eric Zwilling and Jordan Elguera fought hard to come up with loose ground balls and prevent New Hyde Park clears to keep the play in the Jericho offensive end of the field. Matt Bernstein and Christopher Nuzzolese added the charged up midfield performance the team needed to keep the Jericho aggressive pace consistent up and down the field.

The team's scoring leaders for this first victory included three goals by Reed Longo, two assists by Jesse Chazen and a goal by Austin Landow.

The next game is Sunday, April14 against Franklin Square at noon at the Jericho High School. Please come out and support the team.