Island Empire: Three LI Teams Reach USL Semis
by Brian Logue | LaxMagazine.com | Live Blog | Scoreboard | Photos
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The Long Island Jesters meet the Nor Cal Talons in one semifinal, while the Long Island Express meets For the Love of the Game in the other. © Scott McCall |
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (Md.) two-year run as the champion of the US Lacrosse Boys’ U15 National Championship has come to an end. Now the question is, will Long Island reign supreme? Long Island-based programs make up three-fourths of the semifinalists for Sunday’s final day of competition in the event presented by Champion.
FCA’s run came to an end with a 10-4 loss to top-seeded Long Island Express in the quarterfinals. The Express will be joined in the semifinals by For the Love of the Game (N.Y.), the Long Island Jesters and the Nor Cal Talons. This is For the Love of the Game’s third straight trip to the semis after they finished as the national runner-up in 2009 and 2010, and Nor Cal’s second straight trip to the semis.
The Long Island Jesters had the toughest road to the finals, playing three games under a hot Florida sun at ESPN Wide World of Sports. The Jesters, seeded 14th after Friday’s lightning-shortened pool play games, beat the Houlagans (Texas) 16-2 in their opening game, upset No. 3 seed Maryland Lacrosse Club 13-12 in the round of 16 and then beat No. 6 seed NESLL Black (Mass.) 8-3 in the quarterfinals.
A five-goal third quarter helped the Jesters pull away in their win over Maryland Lacrosse Club, but MLC pulled to within one twice in the fourth quarter before time ran out. Craig Berge had four goals for the Jesters in the hard-fought win.
“We left a lot of energy out on that field, but the nice part is we have three full midfields, two full attack lines and we have some poles,” said Jesters’ coach James Byrns. “We brought enough bodies down here.”
Evan Gagne had two goals and two assists in the win over NESLL and now the Jesters will meet another battle-tested team, the Nor Cal Talons, in the semifinals. Nor Cal earned the No. 2 seed, but had to fend off a scrappy No. 15 seed Dukes HHH Lacrosse Club team in the round of 16. Nor Cal trailed 5-2 before scoring the final five goals of the game to earn a 7-5 victory. In the quarterfinals, Nor Cal rode its strong defense to a 4-2 victory over Team Colorado. Nor Cal blanked Team Colorado in the first half and got six saves from Christian Champie.
The other semifinal pits the Long Island Express against For the Love of the Game. The Express beat C2C Black (Texas) 13-7 in its first game and then rode of the hot goaltending of Ryan Toomey and Matt Isnardi to knock FCA off in the quarterfinals. The duo combined for 17 saves in the game and held FCA scoreless for a stretch of over 16 minutes.
“It’s always nice to see the kids play to the best of their ability,” said Express co-coach Gene Isnardi. “Our defense has been bailing us out all year. Our offense has finally caught up to the defense in the last three weeks. And with our goalies, if our defense makes a mistake, they pick ‘em up. We’ve done a good job forcing down the angles to allow our keepers to make saves.”
For the Love of the Game lost to FCA in overtime in the championship game in 2009, and then had two dramatic come-from-behind-victories last year to reach the finals again. After earning the No. 5 seed this year, FLG stifled Jacksonville 12-0 in its first game and then pulled away from Force Lacrosse (Ariz.) for a 7-3 win in the quarterfinals. Brian Eletti combined for four goals and Carney Mahon had four total assists in the two victories.
At least one Long Island team will be in the final, and the Jesters’ coach, Byrns, hopes it will be two.
“I saw the FLG guys, I saw the Express guys and we all said we were hoping it was two of us in the finals,” said Byrns. “It’s nice to see.”
Either way, the Jesters experience at the US Lacrosse National Championship has been one to remember.
“This is great,” said Byrns. “I was sitting over on that hill right outside the Josten’s Center and saying, ‘You guys don’t know how lucky you have it – playing lacrosse in Disney.’”
Isnardi also hopes that his Express team is appreciating the opportunity in front of them.
“I sat them down facing me, and I told them to absorb the moment,” said Isnardi. “I have an older son, Nick, at Army, that I used to coach. I’ve been texting him about this tournament. He texted back that he remembered how lacrosse tournaments are such great times. I told them they can’t just run off the field after a game. Don’t lose focus, but enjoy each moment with your teammates. You don’t get many opportunities to play for the US Lacrosse National Championship.”
