Sports

Mineola Lacrosse Players Help Long Island Win Silver at 2013 Empire State Cup

Players from Mineola, Chaminade participate as Long Island falls to New York City 4-2 in final.

The following article was submitted to the Mineola Patch.

Mineola High School graduate Brian Gaffney (10) and current student James Gerstner, who together earlier this year led the Mineola Mustangs to the second round of the playoffs for the Nassau County High School Class C championship, were recently selected to Team Long Island at the statewide high school lacrosse games.

Team Long Island, coached by Matt Panetta (St. Mary’s) Marc Reeves (Chaminade) and Greg Matthews (Manhasset) was made up of players from such lacrosse powerhouses as Chaminade (senior Andrew Christman), St. Anthony’s, Garden City and many others. They faced teams representing New York City, Hudson Valley, Western NY, Central NY and Adirondack region.

After posting a 3-2 record, team Long Island earned the second seed in the playoffs and a bye in the first round. They defeated Central NY 10-6 in the second round game with Brian leading the attack, scoring three goals and an assist as team Long Island earned a berth in the gold medal game.

The gold medal game was a defensive battle and New York City emerged victorious 4-2. The game was marked by phenomenal goaltending, stringent defense and tremendous hustle on both sides.

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Brian finished the tournament with 5 goals, 3 assists and earned Inside Lacrosse’s All- Tournament team honors. James had 4 goals and played strong defense, including four takeaways.

The tournament displayed the skills of many of the sports current high school and future college lacrosse stars. Brian will be playing lacrosse next year at St. John’s University while James will help Mineola High School attempt a return to the playoffs.

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