"It has been one unusual event after another that has prevented our team from playing well," said Syosset hockey assistant coach Big Daddy Sloan. It has been a very trying first half of the season."

The most recent event to befall the Syosset High School roller hockey team, were the suspensions of two players. In addition, there have been conflicts where players have not been able to attend games either because of playing on the high school ice hockey team or other commitments. There has not been one game in the last five where all the players were there and playing on the same night.

Syosset High School finished the first half of their season with a 6 and 4 record.

Syosset 9 and Wantagh 1

This was a game where Syosset dominated from the outset. Jonathan Mosenson had his best game scoring of the season, with 4 goals and an assist. Steven Gaon continued his strong scoring output, by scoring 3 goals. Andrew Stern had a goal and both Scott Kaplan and Ben Segal recorded their first points. Scott had an assist and Ben had a goal and an assist. Brian Rubin had a great game in goal by turning back 18 of the 19 shots that he faced.

Wheatley 5 and Syosset 4

This was the game that Syosset had to play without their goalie. Not having any back up goalie, Andrew Forman, who is normally a defenseman, stepped up to put on the pads. Andrew played an exceptional game in stopping 20 of the 25 shots that he faced. Syosset only had 5 players and were without one of their leading scorers, Steven Gaon. Wheatley quickly took a 3 - 0 lead in the first half as Andrew Forman was getting used to his new position. Playing against a very good Wheatley team, it was an uphill battle that Syosset just could not overcome. Jonathan Mosenson scored 4 unassisted goals in the 2nd half but it just wasn't enough, as Wheatley held on, for a 5 to 4 victory. Wheatley's goals were scored by 5 different players and they themselves were playing without one of the leagues best players, Josh Stein, who was having knee surgery that day.

Syosset 6 and Wheatley 3

This game was a rematch from the prior weeks' game in which Syosset prevailed. Brian Rubin was back in goal. Syosset also had its full roster of players and it was evident that with Rubin in goal, they were more equipped to handle the Wheatley squad than the week before. Syosset's scoring was led by Steven Gaon, who had 2 goals and 2 assists. Other goals were scored by John Fuss, Danny Kubryck, Max Altschuler and Brian Davis. This was a very fast paced and physical game with Wheatley's goalie facing 28 shots and Syosset's Brian Rubin facing 22 shots. "This was a great confidence booster and a pivotal game for our team," said assistant coach Big Daddy Sloan. "To win this game was especially rewarding and the kids should be extremely proud of the way that they accomplished. It also shows that one person does not win a hockey game. This week, we had a full compliment of players and our goalie and we prevailed."

Syosset 5 and East Meadow 3

This turned out to be a much closer game that most people thought, due to the great goal tending that East Meadow received from Rob Michaelson. Rob faced 28 shots and made many fantastic saves. Syosset, here again, was short handed with several of the players not being able to attend the game for various reasons. One of the key players not there was Jonathan Fuss who is one of the mainstays of the Syosset defense. Syosset's scoring was again led by Jonathan Mosenson who had 1 goal and 3 assists. Andrew Stern added 2 goals and Steven Gaon had a goal as did Lewis Judge. Max Altschuler had an assist.

Mepham 9 and Syosset 5

This game, Syosset was facing a Mepham team which was 8 and 0 and has been manhandling all of their opponents. Coach Mosenson said, "Mepham is as good a roller hockey team that he has seen in his 3 years of coaching at the high school league." Not only do they have 12 good players who all know how to play hockey exceptionally well, but they have a great coach in Mark Ferro. Coach Mosenson said that he is truly looking forward to the game on Sunday, but also recognizes that if his kids do not bring their A game and give it anything that they have, it could be a long afternoon.

As it turned out, Syosset was totally outplayed by Mepham in a 9-5 loss. The game wasn't even as close as the score indicated. Mepham's coach, Mark Ferro said that, "His team was really" up "for the game", as they were looking to avenge last year's defeat to Syosset in the Nassau County Championships. Mark also said that his team was, "looking for revenge and the opportunity of playing against Jonathan Mosenson, who single handily propelled Syosset to last year's victory. Mepham scored on each of their first 5 shots, as it was evident that the Syosset team did not come ready to play. Those first 5 goals were scored in the first 7 minutes of play.

"To try to come back against a team like Mepham, from a 5 to 0 deficit is nearly impossible," said Syosset's assistant coach, Scott Sloan. In addition to not coming to play, it also seemed that all of Syosset's shots were directed right into the chest of Mepham's goalie, who made 28 saves. Mepham had a commanding lead of 6 to 1 at the end of the first half. Syosset tried to make it a game and brought the score to 7 to 5, before Mepham scored 2 late goals to put the game away. Mepham improved their record to 9 to 0, while Syosset suffered its 3rd defeat of the season. Syosset's scoring was led by Jonathan Mosenson, who had 2 goals and 2 assists and Steven Gaon who had 3 goals.

Andrew Stern, one of Syosset's juniors mentioned that, "for whatever reason, the team just hasn't been jelling as it should. In an interview with Coach Mosenson, he explained that he has been trying to do different things than last year to try and improve the team in the long run and unfortunately has decided that his attempts are failing and will go back to last years' alignments and play schemes for the second half of the season.

Syosset sent two players, Jonathan Mosenson and Steven Gaon, to represent Nassau County in the Island Wide High School Roller Hockey League All-Star Game against Suffolk County was held Dec. 8.