Sports

Three Sachem Players Make Empire State Lax Team

Andreassi, Cabble, Harris get nod, Jay Mauro to coach the squad.

A sense of pride and passion swirled through the second floor of Hofstra University's Margiota Hall Friday night.

The final selections of this year's Empire State Games Long Island lacrosse team met together for the first time. Three players from Sachem High School North – Michael Andreassi, Jake Cabble and Alex Harris – made the squad, which is led by North head coach Jay Mauro, his assistant Paul Benway, who coaches JV at North, and administrative assistant John Lang.

Thirty players were selected out of 712 that tried out. Twenty will make the final roster of players who will travel to Buffalo July 21-25, 10 will remain alternates.

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"We're excited about this group of guys who will represent Long Island and the legacy," said Mauro, referring to a Long Island club that has won seven of the last nine Empire Gold Medals, including four straight.

"It is great representing Long Island," added Andreassi. "It's a hotbed. Representing [this area] means you're the best of the best."

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Hofstra men's lacrosse coach Seth Tierney addressed the team about the importance of playing for Long Island.

"Be a Long Island guy, and make sure when you punch the clock, the other team knows who they just played against," he said. "After everything I've seen here at Hofstra, with Notre Dame, with Cornell, it's the 'we' guys that win. You're going to win it with the 20 guys that play together."

Mauro, a Sachem alumnus, will be looking to make history if his squad wins Gold. He'll be the first person to win as a player (1998), assistant coach (2008) and head coach.

"If you play hard and give the most effort you can, you'll come out on top in everything you do, including this summer," he told the team, sitting anxiously in the Hofstra lacrosse locker room. "I've played on this team, I've coached on this team, there is nothing like it." 

Sachem Patch will be providing coverage of the Empire State Games and the Long Island lacrosse team throughout the summer.


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