The Jericho third and fourth-grade lacrosse team played their first game of the Spring 2004 season on Sunday, April 4 at Sewanhaka High School against a combined Franklin Square and Elmont team. This first game could not have been more exciting as the opposing Franklin Square squad rallied a great second half comeback to get the hearts pumping of all the spectators and coaches.

The honorary Jericho captains for the first game were Corey Bogdan (midfield) and Chris Corcoran (defense) and they both demonstrated their leadership as they played their positions very well in this opening game. The start of the game indicated the type of play one would expect for the first game of the season - both teams showing first game jitters and struggling to get shots on goal in the first two minutes of the first period. Franklin Square scored first at the 5:59 mark of the first quarter, but their offense would not see another ball cross the goal line again until the second half. Jericho answered back at the 4:34 mark of the first period as Corey Bogdan scored his first of four goals for the day, this one unassisted. Perry Gold was the next Jericho player to score as he scrapped for the loose ball in front of the Franklin Square goal and zipped one by the goaltender just as time ran out in the first period.

The second quarter was all Jericho as they scored three more goals before the half time. Stephen Fletcher scored on a powerful shot from in front of the goal as he steered in a fine pass from Corey Bogdan at the 6:46 mark of the second quarter. Only 22 seconds later, Ryan Corcoran scooped up a ground ball and passed it off to Sean Lohan who fired into the net to give Jericho a four-to-one lead. Corey Bogdan was able to break through the crowd of players before halftime and score once more to give Jericho a five to one lead before halftime. Matt Roberts, the Jericho goaltender had a great game and the second quarter was his best of the day, as he recorded five of his twelve saves of the day in the second quarter. Matt also was able to attain Jericho possession for clears as he raced to beat the Franklin Square attack to the end line after Franklin Square fired shots wide of the goal.

The Franklin Square team came back strong in the second half to score twice in the third quarter and three times in the fourth quarter as they stunned the Jericho team to tie the score at six goals a piece with only 2:44 left to play in the game. The Jericho coaches called a time out and tried to put some strategy together to pull out the win. They sent out Sean Lohan to clamp down and win the face off against Franklin Square, and then Sean sent a pass forward to Corey Bogdan and Corey fired the ball past the goaltender to give Jericho a seven to six lead with 1:30 to play. Although Sean Lohan was able to win the next face-off, Jericho was called for illegal procedure and the ball was given to Franklin Square. Jack Barnett made a terrific defensive play to keep a breaking Franklin Square player from getting too close for a shot. Chris Corcoran stepped in to help Jack and there was a hard fought loose ball battle between the two teams to gain the possession of the play. As Franklin Square tried to pickup the loose ball in the Jericho end of the field, Jericho continued to check the sticks and drop the ball back down to the ground. As the clock ticked off the final seconds Jericho succeeded from letting Franklin Square get off any more shots and held on for victory. It was a very exciting finish.

Timothy Grima played a great game on defense. Timmy was able to get to many ground balls and keep the play away from the Jericho goal. Eric Kang also contributed on the defense to help Matt Roberts secure his first win of the season. Jake Solomon, Noah Starr, and Perry Gold were the starting attack and contributed to the Jericho offensive streaks in the first half. Jordan Brett, Cliff Heller, Jake Falk, and Stephen Fletcher kept the midfields balanced and hustled up and down the field and they also helped out on defense for part of the game as well.

The team played well, but there are some key areas that the coaches will be focusing on to improve before the next game, which will be played on Sunday, April 18 against Massapequa. The game will be played on the lacrosse field at the Jericho High School at 12:30 p.m. Please come out and support the team.