Home

Alumni

History

2001 Photos

2000 News

2001 News

2002 News

Action Photos

2003 News    

2004 News

2005 News

2006 News

2003 Game Summaries

2002 Game Summaries

2000 Games Summaries

2001 Games Summaries

Support Huntington Blue Devil Lacrosse  E-MAIL    fund-raiser@huntingtonlax.com

UFSD Lacrosse write-up 

The 20th Annual Alumni game will be held on Saturday May 10th. The day  will be a all day

 Notre Dame's Matt Howell continues to be cursed by injuries.

2/26/03

Matt Howell Named Great Western Lacrosse League Player of the Week

Notre Dame Attackman Matt Howell (Huntington, N.Y.) was named Great Western Lacrosse League Player of the Week after his one-goal, five-assist performance in the 10-9 Irish win over Penn State in the season opener on February 23. Howell's five assists were a career high after recording only one assist in his previous two years. Howell's performance also marked the first five-assist game by an Irish player since David Ulrich accomplished the feat against Butler on April 18, 2001.

Doug Logigian name 2003 captain  of Harvard

2002 School Year Boys/Girls News

Chase Caruso named to 205 All Star Team

Attackman Brandon Logigian is alternate on the 2002 LI Empire Team 

HUNTINGTON
Whatever Happened To Huntington’s Dan Martin?

Once upon a time, Dan Martin sent thrills and chills through the Blue Devil lacrosse faithful who wondered, “Does he have what it takes to star in the college game?” In a word: yes. So whatever happened to Dan Martin?

He graduated from Huntington High School in June 1993 and headed to Georgetown University where he played four years of varsity lacrosse. Martin captained the Hoyas in 1996 and 1997 and was the team’s most valuable player both years. More impressively, he earned All-American honors in 1995, 1996 and 1997, playing the North-South All-Star game his senior year.

Martin has positive memories of Huntington, especially his physical education and English teachers. “Kim Damore and Chris Cusumano were amazing,” Martin said. “Kevin Shanley [a classmate] and I would spend every second period study hall we had in coach Damore’s office. She was the reason I got into Georgetown. She was just a great person, and a great teacher.”

The student-athlete also liked Cusumano, the consummate English teacher. “Cus was the faculty advisor for the Key Club and my English teacher junior and senior year. He had a great knack for making his class fun, while teaching and reading things a lot of 16 and 17 year olds don’t want to hear. But I think the trend that ran through both [teachers] was that I would call them a friend then and still would today.”

Martin majored in government at Georgetown, with a minor in theology. “After graduation I decided to play a season of lacrosse for a club team in Melbourne, Australia during the spring of 1998,” he said during a recent interview.

“During that fall I worked for the Biotechnology Industry Organization. In Melbourne I played for the Camberwill Lacrosse Club. After moving back to the States, I lived in Washington, D.C. and started working for an executive search firm as a headhunter,” Martin said. “I did that for about a year until I got a job with Andersen Consulting (not the accounting firm) which is now known as Accenture.”

The pull of family brought him back into the metropolitan area. “I lived in D.C. until March 2001 when Accenture allowed me to transfer to their New York City office,” Martin said. “I loved D.C. but always had the itch to get back to New York. My family is very close. My uncle and cousins live next door and my mom’s brother, David, and his family live three houses up. So I was missing a lot being away. After about a year in New York I switched jobs and now sell software to financial services companies for Advent Software.”

So Martin went from starting on the Blue Devils lacrosse team to being one of the top lacrosse players in the country to the world of corporate America. Is his athletic career over? No way. In fact, he now plays professionally, for the Long Island Lizards of Major League Lacrosse (MLL), a surprisingly successful venture.

“Thankfully, I have been able to continue to play lacrosse, be it professionally or for fun, since graduating college,” he mused. “Lacrosse and athletics have opened so many doors for me. When I was a freshman at Georgetown we went to England. I played in Australia. I made it out to Colorado for the Vail Shootout. A team even took me to Las Vegas for a week.”

Of all the places he has traveled to for lacrosse, does he have a favorite? “All those trips were great but the best place had to be Prague,” Martin said. “A friend and teammate from Georgetown who is from the Czech Republic set up a team to go over and play their national team to spread lacrosse. We were there for 10 days and it was fantastic. Prague is the only city to survive both world wars, so it is just so gorgeous.”

The Huntington grad has had a long love affair with lacrosse that continues to this day. “Along with playing for travel, I also have had the opportunity to play in the NLL, or box lacrosse, and now in the MLL, a new professional outdoor league,” he said. “Playing pro sports, I think, is every little kid’s dream and to have a chance, even on the ‘small screen.’ Going to Philly and having 19,000 people tell you ‘you suck’ is fantastic.”

I really hope that MLL makes it because I would love for some little 10 year old to one day be able to make a living playing lacrosse,” Martin added.

Brandon Logigian 2002 Empire Alternate

Brandon Logigian and Chase Caruso 

Tim McAleavey breaks single game goal record netting 10 against Bellport. Tim ties single game points record at 11 by adding one assist to his 10 goals.

Doug Logigian Harvard Named 2002 Face-Off Yearbook  Pre Season HM Midfield

2001 School Year Boys/Girls Lacrosse News

Newsday High School Scores

Newsday Teams/Huntington  

2001 Blue Devils Look For A League Title

Amanda Pettit Newsday Scholar Athlete

Scott McGilvray Huntington Alumnus and Current Skidmore Defensive Coach has been invited to try out for the US 2001 World Team

The following seniors have also decided on their colleges: Derek Basini SUNY Binghamton, Jared DeMarco U Conn, Brian Finnegan James Madison U, Tom O’Leary (Soccer) New Hampshire College, John Robertson SUNY Oneonta, Marc Shroads Penn State,

Huntington will be looking more towards experienced players like 60-goal scorer Ralph Carino this season. Photo by Jason Kirel

By Jason Kirell
Now that the snow has (hopefully) stopped falling on the grounds of Huntington High School, the true signs of spring can bloom. The pretty colors of springtime flowers, the sweet smell of outdoor cooking and the hard whack of two lacrosse sticks clanging each other in combat.

Ahhh, spring.

For the Blue Devils though, there’s no time to stop and smell the flowers, before spring had even sprung the team was on the field, led by coach Paul McDermott, focused on acquiring that Suffolk Class B title that eluded them last year.

“I think we have as good a shot as anybody this year,” McDermott said. “We’ve got a good number of players returning and they’re working hard. I expect a championship this year.” Huntington, which lost in the Class B finals to four-time champ Comsewogue last season, looks to bounce back with an old-fashioned combination of great defense and good goaltending.

Starting between the pipes this season for the Blue Devils will be the senior-tandem of Blake Maybeck and Leyland Davis. Both will split time at the position this season, McDermott said, as both have performed well enough to start during the pre-season.

“I’m confident with either of them in there,” McDermott said. “I’ll have no problem putting them in, they’re both working extrememly hard and are coming up big for us when we need them.”

Backing up the two goalies will be a tight defensive unit comprised of John Orr, Dave Bergman, John Robertson, Sharif Hasan, Mark Shroads and Matt Cukro.

“This is probably the strongest unit on the team,” McDermott said of his unit. “If they can keep their penalties down [the team had 10 minutes worth of penalties in their first game against Port Washington] then we’re going to be fine. Port Washington couldn’t really do anything against us if they weren’t a man up.”

Midfield defenders are also key, according to the coach. This part of the squad is manned by Chase Caruso, Mark Boccard, Jim Creighton and Tom O’Leary.

“Doug [Kocis] is our best faceoff man, John is the best at running up the field and Chase is just a 10th grader whose got the whole package,” McDermott stated. “That kid can do some unbelievable things out there, he’s got speed, positioning and really good stickhandling.”

The midfield is comprised of three players who McDermott will be relying on to win faceoffs and bring the ball upfield. Faceoff specialist Kocis joins Aaron Marsh and John Fulton, in the position many deem the most important in the sport. The Blue Devils attack will be led, literally, by their star player and co-captain Ralph Carino. Carino, who made All County and All Division last season, led the team with 60 goals and is called ‘one of the most dangerous players in the County’ according to coach McDermott.

Adding to the attack will be Jared DeMarco, Derek Basini and a pair of 10th graders, Brendon Logigan and John Kingson. McDermott said if there was a weak spot on the team, this would be it, considering the lack of experience playing together the five have. Carino was the only starter on attack from last year to return to this season’s squad.

EAB/Cablevision News 12 Award and Scholarship

Alumni News

18th Annual Game Day is Mother's Day Saturday ................May 12, 2001  

The annual alumni weekend mailing  sending out Alumni game/Varsity season articles and T-shirts to all of the Alumni Donors who could not play but give $$ to HFEE  to help support the alumni game is in process. You should receive your tee shirts, alumni game/Varsity articles  shortly.   Jerry thanks for all your work.

Game Day is Mother’s Day Saturday ...........May 12, 2001  

18th Annual

2001 Spring Boys News

3/17 - Montville, N.J., Ramapo, NJ. Suffern, NY, East Meadow, Syosset, Huntington, Locust Valley Glen Cove, South Side & Floral Park.

2000 News

Farmingdale Lax Jamboree

THE DEATH OF Louis Acompora, the 14-year-old Northport goalie who collapsed after blocking a shot with his chest against West Islip two weeks ago, sent shivers through the lacrosse world and into the living room of every family whose son dares to take his place in front of a cage.

It was another reminder that lurking beneath the joy of sports are the risks of sports. The stories trickle in every year. A football player dies during preseason two-a-days. A basketball player dies doing wind sprints. A baseball player dies after being hit in the head by a ball while running the bases. So some people think Acompora's death was an accident that was part of the normal risk of the game. But others believe goalies are more vulnerable than they should be. They fear these players are insufficiently protected. They whisper that this was a tragedy waiting to happen. When Bob Rule heard about Acompora, the Manhasset goalie coach said, "I felt sick." When Bill Tierney heard, the Princeton coach insisted that his goalie switch to a thicker chest protector. The goalie happens to be his son, Trevor. 

The news jerked Army coach Jack Emmer back to the summer of 1983 when a 14-year-old goalie was hit in the chest protector by the shot of a 12-year-old at camp. "It killed him," Emmer said. How vulnerable is a goalie? Well, a high school pitcher stands 20 yards from the plate and typically delivers a baseball at 70 to 75 mph. His catcher wears a helmet, facemask, throat guard, thick chest protector, plastic cup over his genitals and shin guards that rise from the shoetops to the thighs.

 Now consider the lacrosse goaltender. His job is to stop shots from any distance: three yards, five yards, seven yards, 15 yards; shots that travel 80 to 90 mph and sometimes exceed 100 mph. "If you pitched from those distances, it would be almost impossible to catch the ball," said Division baseball coach Doug Robins. "It certainly sounds more dangerous [for a goalie than a catcher]." So what does the goalie use as protection? Not much more than anyone else on the field. He uses the same helmet and facemask as the other players except for a throat guard that hangs from the mask. He wears the same gloves and - if he chooses to - the same arm pads. He wears a skimpy chest protector under his jersey. "Like a baby's bib," said New York Saints goalie Sal LoCascio. And his legs are bare. No shin, knee or thigh pads. His only protection from the waist down is a plastic cup. Professional indoor lacrosse goalies wear more protection than high school players despite the fact that the youngsters have not reached physical maturity and are more vulnerable to serious injury and death. SPORTS MEDICINE specialists and cardiologists say younger people are especially vulnerable to chest injuries because the sternum has not matured. It remains somewhat flexible, allowing a stronger pulse of force to pass through the chest wall to the heart. The timing of such a blow also is important. If the ball hits at just the right instant-coming exactly when the heart's electrical system fires-it can upset the heart's normal beating rhythm, resulting in death. When LoCascio plays for the Saints, he is wrapped in protective gear. He wears shoulder pads with plastic pads that cover his biceps and triceps. His chest protector has four inches of foam padding and a plastic insert. His helmet includes a reinforced facemask and a protective guard that wraps around the neck. His shin guards are twice the size of a catcher's and he wears padded hockey pants inside those shin guards. He also wears an oversized cup and a tailbone protector. Perhaps no one is better qualified to talk about goaltending than Rule. He was an All-America goalie on Cornell's NCAA lacrosse championship team in 1971 and a goalkeeper on the Big Red's NCAA championship ice hockey team the same year. 

These days, he is regarded as one of the country's premier goalie coaches. Rule also is an innovator, holding 10 patents for sticks and protective pads he has designed for the sport. So when Rule says he is worried about the equipment worn by goalies, his perspective should not be brushed aside "As a hockey goalie," he said, "I felt protected enough to go up against a Sherman tank. As a lacrosse goalie, there were times I felt almost naked." Rule believes this issue has fallen through the cracks. "The kids today shoot harder and with more accuracy," he said. "The technology has made sticks light as a feather. You should see the force they generate." But little has been done to improve the goalie's protective gear. "Unfortunately," he said, "it takes a serious accident to get our attention." That's what happened in 1981 when Emmer was coaching at Washington & Lee. "Our goalie got hit in the throat and rushed to the hospital," Emmer said. "They put a pipe down his throat to keep him alive. Fortunately, he recovered." Emmer happened to be a member of the NCAA rules committee that spring. The following year, throat guards were required. "We pushed hard for it," he said. 

Rule has strong feelings about what goalies should be required to wear. "Helmets with stronger facemasks," he said. "I'd require arm pads, shoulder pads, a thicker chest protector-perhaps with a gel or carbon pocket in the middle to distribute the force of the shot. Maybe a flak-jacket type of material. I advocate thigh and shin pads that could be worn inside football-type pants. "But you must make it mandatory," Rule said. "If it's optional, many kids won't wear the stuff because they feel it hinders their performance. It becomes a tradeoff - safety versus freedom of movement." Tierney doesn't want to hear about that kind of tradeoff. "Hey, it's scary out there with balls flying at over 100 miles per hour," he said. "If you said to a kid, 'We'll put this catcher's chest protector on you,' most of them would say, 'How am I gonna throw?' The answer should be: 'You have to wear it, period. You'll get used to it.'" Tierney remembers when he played Little League baseball as a youngster in Levittown. "We all bitched when they forced us to wear batting helmets," he said. "But we got used to them. I don't think you want to leave safety decisions to young players." Still, Tierney isn't ready to panic. "I believe the equipment we use would be OK if it was improved. Look, we put a man on the moon. Why can't we come up with a better chest protector? If we can use technology to improve sticks, why not use it to better protect the goalie?" 

After 34 years as a college and high school coach, Baldwin's Jim Kaspar has mixed feelings. "A lacrosse goalie is both a stopper and a field player," Kaspar said. "He has to run or throw the ball upfield to clear it. He dodges people. If the gear he wears limits his mobility and ability to throw, you'd be changing the position." On the other hand, Kaspar is keenly aware of the physical pounding and danger that awaits a goalie. "My goalie's facemask was almost flat against his face by the end of last season," he said. "I'll bet he got hit in the face 300 times between practices and games. He was a bruised kid. He had a sore everything." However, Kaspar agrees with Tierney. "I think we have the right equipment but I don't think it has kept pace with the stick technology," Kaspar said. "I mean, you have to see the power behind the shots these days. It's nothing like it was 10 years ago." Kaspar was silent for a few seconds, perhaps thinking of his son, Peter, who plays attack at Ward Melville. "I hate the thought of any kid dying," he said. "It breaks my heart." There are those who have tried to link the death of Acompora with that of Eric Sopracasa, the University of Massachusetts defenseman who died last spring after being hit in the chest by a ball. But although the cause of death might have been similar, their roles on the field were completely different. Sopracasa's job was to defend against opposing attackmen, not stop shots. Certainly, a defenseman, attackman or midfielder can get hit in the chest by the ball. But it's not the norm. Acompora was a goalie. The opposing team was shooting at him. His job was to stop shots any way he could. Getting hit in the chest, facemask or helmet was part of the job. He was in harm's way every time he went onto the field. 

"It's kind of like bungee jumping," Rule said. "You're OK as long as the rope doesn't break." Which means, of course, that you want to have a good rope.

Carino Makes Most Of Goal-den Chance

Ralph Carino was not a marquee name in Suffolk lacrosse circles coming into this season.

But Huntington's first-year varsity player has done a pretty good job making himself known to the rest of the county lately.

The junior attack, who scored a school-record nine goals on Tuesday, managed only six against West Babylon as top-seeded Huntington earned an 11-6 victory in a Division II game yesterday.

"I was called up [from junior varsity] at the end of last year," Carino said. "I was at Hofstra [when Huntington lost to Ward Melville in the Suffolk Class A final], but I didn't get to play." Carino made the varsity cut this year, and got his chance to start recently when senior attack Chris Einhorn experienced back problems.

The kid who holds Huntington's junior varsity scoring record with 60-plus goals last year, has scored 17 goals in three games and has made the most of his opportunity. West Babylon also made the most of its opportunities and took an early 2-0 lead. But Huntington (3-1, 3-0) scored seven of the next eight goals, including five by Carino, and led 7-3 at the half.

After senior midfielder Curtis Williams scored 2:08 into the third quarter, Carino took a Matt Howell feed and converted Huntington's third man-up opportunity to put the Blue Devils ahead 9-3. West Babylon (3-2, 3-1) scored three straight goals, the latter with 1:21 left in the game that cut the deficit to 9-6. But Williams (two goals, two assists) and Howell (one goal, six assists) added goals in the final 1:06 to close the scoring. Goalie Peter Murray kept West Babylon close with 20 saves.

"Defensively, we were disorganized," said West Babylon coach David Cunninghm, who was missing All-County senior defenseman Ray Vutrano, who was out with strep throat, and is day to day. "We made a game of it late and showed some heart." As has Carino, who has won the respect of his veteran teammates.

"He's stepped in a done a real great job," Howell said. "He's a good cutter and good finisher in the crease." Carino isn't the only Huntington player who has stepped up because of injuries.

Senior defenseman Matt Ackerley helped fill in when fellow senior Paul Thomson was out with an injured shoulder. Thompson and Ackerley split time against West Babylon. Senior Travis Rave subbed for senior attack Ryan Laffey, who also missed time with a shoulder injury. Laffey returned against the Eagles and was 9-for-11 on faceoffs.

But the story, so far, has been Carino. "I'm just hoping I can keep it up," he said. "It's been a lot of fun up here." The rest of Division II probably doesn't agree.

West Babylon...................2 1 2 1 -6 Huntington........................2 5 2 2 -11 Goals-WB: McGrorty 2, Emma, Hack, Henry, Berthold; H: Carino 6, Williams 2, Kocis, Liedke, Howell. Saves-WB: Murray 20; H: Maybeck 7.