The Jericho fifth and sixth grade lacrosse team will roll into the Memorial Day weekend break as they completed two consecutive key victories against the towns of Three Village and Massapequa. These two wins were well deserved from hard practice and helped the team improve their Spring season team record to four wins, one loss and one tie. There are two home games left to the season.

The Spring season opened up on Sunday April 3 as Jericho ventured to Hewlett High school to take on Hewlett. The Hewlett Varsity has had a great season and this game was played on their synthetic grass giving the game a feel of being at a college stadium. Jericho was able to keep Hewlett handcuffed with defensive efforts by Franklin Rodriguez, Maxx Marcus, Dylan Murphy, and Chris Corcoran as Hewlett scored only one goal. Jared Bower was in goal for Jericho and missed receiving the shutout by minutes. The scoring was led by Corey Bogdan who had two and Andrew Kamhi added one as well. Alex Cohen and Max Adler added an assist each as Jericho took this match by a final score of five to one.

The following week Jericho suffered their only loss of the season to a team that has become quite a rival to compete with in the Spring season, Franklin Square. Jericho traveled to Sewanhaka High School and played in a Sunday evening battle. An early goal for Jericho came from Jake Solomon on a beautiful solo effort as he wrapped around the net and stuck one in the upper corner to beat the Franklin Square defense and goaltender. A goal by Sean Lohan and a blast from Jordan Brett lifted the team to make the score four to three in the third quarter. However Jericho got beat on the fast breaks and let the game slip away to a final score of six to three.

On Sunday, April 17, Freeport came to Jericho High School and the two teams faced off against each other. Jericho was in charge early in this game as they went on to win the game by a score of six to one. Another strong defensive game for Jericho and Perry Gold and Dylan Kugler each added some offense with a goal. Jack Rosenburg helped with timely clears on the midfield. Two weeks later, on May 8, Jericho traveled again and this time played with a limited squad of players and came up with a tie (2-2) against Glen Cove.

The coaches determined that a new game plan would be needed for the next two matches against two good lacrosse communities, Massapequa and Three Village. They conducted a series of practices to focus on solid team play for winning these games. They moved Franklin Rodriguez with a long stick to the faceoffs as he assisted Sean Lohan to dominate the face off play against Massapequa. The team also leveraged the defensive midfield play of Max Adler, Alex Cohen, and Jordan Brett to get back the possession of the ball when Jericho was in a penalty situation also known as man down situation. The team came together and scooped up the loose ground balls, passed to the open man, and started body checking to take charge and outlast their opponents.

Against Massapequa, Corey Bogdan broke a tie game on a bounce shot after winning a face off in the second half which opened up the scoring for Jericho. A goal by Chris Nuzzolese and Eric Zwilling gave Jericho the insurance they need to hold on and win by a score of five to one. Jared Bower was awarded the game ball for his spectacular performance in the goal. Jared stopped a bullet that was launched from the Massapequa midfield in the third quarter when the game was still tied at one. This was a key save, and Jared made many more like just like it.

Probably the most exciting game so far was the most recent victory at Three Village in Setauket. The team traveled 40 minutes in a drizzle rain to the community in Suffolk County where lacrosse is "the sport" to play. Jericho had never defeated Three Village in previous matches. Sean Lohan won the opening face off and Jericho held possession for the first five minutes of the game scoring one goal in the first quarter. The midfielders including Matt Roberts, David Ackerman, and Harrison Tracht kept intercepting Three Village clearing passes as they ran the ball back to the attack. The defense played perfect position on fast breaks and at the midfield line to turn the ball back to the attack as well. The defense was strong and Three Village only scored three times. Eric Zwilling led the offense with three goals and Sean Lohan had added two as well. Sean Lohan hustled up and down the field clearing and setting up the fast break. Corey Bogdan also took charge on the field keeping the ball in the Jericho attack and firing off shots. Alex Cohen had a goal and an assist. This was an all around great team effort and a big win on an away field. Jordan Brett and Max Adler also played great midfield. Jared Bower was strong in goal.

The final two games for the Jericho fifth and sixth grade team will be played at home on the Jericho High School lacrosse field. The first will be played Sunday, June 5 at 2 p.m. against Plainview and the second game will be played Sunday, June 12 at 12:30 p.m. against New Hyde Park. To learn more about the Jericho lacrosse programs, please log on to www.jericholacrosse.com.