By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/7/11
Once again, three of the top Long Island club programs participated in the Quaker Fall LaxFest Sunday at Radnor High School.
The Long Island Express, the LI Sting and For the Love of the Game were three of the 16 teams that played in the round robin tourney before more than 100 college coaches from about 90 programs.
Most of the players were juniors and sophomores. Each team played three games in the round robin setup.
The Long Island Express finished 2-1 overall, falling to the Duke’s Lacrosse Club of suburban Philadelphia. The Express also defeated Mesa Fresh 2014 and Leading Edge. The Sting also went 2-1.
Dominick Calisto, a junior defenseman for the Express from scholastic power St. Anthony’s, enjoyed the exposure and competition of the event.
“I thought I did pretty well,” he said. “Coming in, I wanted to show all the colleges coaches I had what it takes to get to the next level.
“For not playing together for a while I thought we played pretty well. We played hard. It’s great to get better competition; it only makes you better.”
Other Long Island players commented:
Express midfielder Mike Curry, junior from St. Anthony’s:
“It was good to have all that competition,” “It helps you work on just being more aggressive on groundballs and dodging better.”
Express midfielder/face-off specialist Kris Clarke, a junior from Chaminade committed to Hofstra:
“I just wanted to get some good competition and get some rust off, gets some reps in and have fun with the team. The competition was great. You had a team from Virginia, the best kids from Pennsylvania, the Crabs from Maryland; so you’re playing the best competition here. As a team I think we did really well. We played as a team and shared the ball and distributed it.”
For the Love of the Game junior defenseman Chandler Kirby, of Jericho High:
“I love playing lacrosse; it’s my passion. I love coming here because you get so much exposure from the college coaches. Any game you can be seen by anyone. It’s great that you can be seen plying the game you love.
“Some younger kids are playing with older competition. It’s helping everyone to get seen. The recruiting process is starting earlier than ever so it’s great being out here being seen by everyone.”
For the Love of the Game junior attack R.J. Biel, of St. Dominick:
“I knew there was going to be a lot of good competition and a lot of good teams from all over. I didn’t expect all these coaches for a fall program, but it’s definitely great exposure and you can get some looks. You’re just looking for that one big game. We have to work on running a more solid offense, getting a 1-3-2 in and our man-ups are looking good. We have some younger guys working in, but overall I think we bonded together.”
Sting sophomore defenseman Luc Valenza of Foxboro (MA).
“This is some of the best competition I have ever faced. When we started today, I didn’t know how it would go, but after the first 10 minutes we stated talking and we got along so well. From the start, we hit it off.”
Sting sophomore defenseman Bugs Carper, of Governors Academy (N.H.), committed to North Carolina.
“Just because I committed, I still need to get better in every single part of my game. I have a long way to go.”
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