Ward Melville Squad Wins Nor'Easter Lax JV Tournament

After three grueling games in the oppressive heat on Saturday, the Ward Melville squad competing in the JV division of the Nor’Easter Lax Tournament found itself deadlocked with “Be the Best” – a team made up of predominantly Chaminade players – in the championship game.

Instead of a traditional overtime period, both teams put their goalies in net and sent one other player out to the faceoff X – a “Brave Heart.” Ward Melville’s John Grauwiler was able to secure the ball off the faceoff, sprint down field and score the final goal to win the game, 7-6, and the tournament.

“A lot of these kids have been in the Three Village lacrosse program since the fourth grade,” coach Barry Cohen said. “They’re all friends. I’ve been coaching them for a long time. This is a great group of boys, an unselfish group of kids.”

Grauwiler’s goal capped the third victory on the day for the Ward Melville squad. They defeated Sachem North by a score of 4-2 and West Islip by a score of 4-3 to reach the finals. Carrying only 15 players, including two goalies, made the heat wave even more of an issue. The heat was so intense that even a referee had fallen victim to a heat-related illness earlier in the day.

“We were outnumbered 2-to-1,” Cohen said. “Every team had twice as many guys as us.”

But the success in this tournament wasn’t unexpected. This was the third summer tournament for a squad that now has a 10-1-1 record, according to Cohen.

“Our entire defense is a tenacious, highly skilled group,” he said. “I can’t really pick anyone out. There really were no stars, they just played great together. That’s why they win games – they play great as a team.”

Cohen also said that the members of this team will be playing together on the Ward Melville school team next spring and championed the use of summer games to build team unity.

“Chemistry, learning how to play with each other, understanding each other’s moves, it really helps,” he said. “And the old fashioned stuff, it builds bonds between athletes; you play for an all-star team everyone is out for themselves. These kids get it. They’re playing for their town.”

Cohen and crew have another tournament coming up this weekend in Greenport and hope to continue building chemistry – and winning.

“We have a saying: ‘One town, one team,'” he said. “A lot of the programs have kids from all over the place – ‘all-star’ teams – and we try and keep our town boys together.”