Going into 2012, Long Island experienced a lot of turbulence. Their previous owner, Scott Rosenzweig had passed away, Max Quinzani decided not to participate in the MLL and their number one draft pick, Rob Pannell, requested and was granted a fifth year at Cornell after injuring his foot at the start of the NCAA season. There were also trades that threw their fan base off. It’s safe to say, the Lizards were unsure of how their season was going to go.
In the first game of the season, they dropped a 19-11 decision to the Denver Outlaws, which made fans skeptical. After that loss though, something clicked. They went on a five game win streak, beating Charlotte, Ohio, Boston, Ohio again and got revenge on the Outlaws. Unfortunately, their win streak was cut when they lost back to back games against the Rochester Rattlers.
Fans got a huge surprise at the beginning of the Lizards win streak when news broke that former Syracuse football and lacrosse standout, Jim Brown, would be part owner of the team with Medallion Financial Corp.
Long Island split their last six games, going 3-3, ending the regular season with three straight losses. Even with the 2012 campaign ending on a sour note, the Lizards managed to make championship weekend.
Denver and Long Island were set to do battle in the first round. The Lizards were dominating through the start of the third quarter, 12-3. Out of nowhere, the Outlaws decided to show up and scored 10 unanswered goals and took away the Lizards dreams of lifting up the Steinfeld Cup.
Coach Spallina and the Lizards ended 2012 8-7. Max Seibald led the team in points (39) and goals (24G, 4 2pts, 11A). Rookie Matt Gibson piloted the assists category with 15 along with 18 goals and ended his first year third in points for the Lizards. Brian Langtry was a beast on the crease, cleaning up the rebounds, loose balls and either assisting or putting the ball in the back of the net. This made him the second on the team in points (35), goals (23) and assists (12). Stephen Peyser took home the two point goals award with seven, while another rookie, Tommy Palasek, was third on the team with 21 goals. Drew Adams stood on his head once again this season, allowing 178 goals, 8 2pt goals and making 193 saves.
The Lizards had a stellar season after all the controversy they went through to start and it showed as they took home three awards. Drew Adams won Goalie of the Year, Matt Gibson received the Rookie of the Year award and Head Coach Joe Spallina acquired Coach of the Year. All three were well deserved by the recipients.
Jim Brown’s Lizards become alarmingly dangerous before 2013 even starts. They recently acquired Collin Briggs and a 2013 draft pick from the Outlaws in a trade with Zack Greer, who did not play for the Lizards last season either. Not to remind you that they’ve also protected Rob Pannell and midfielder Sam Bradman (played LXM). LSM’s Costabile and Henderson were kept by Long Island, and with them having a good amount of experience last year at the position, it gives CJ and Tim a better idea about what to expect for 2013.
They return Adams in net, Gurenlian at the faceoff X, the entire attack from last season, along with the starting midfield unit. Adding Pannell, Bradman and Briggs into their young family makes it a tough situation for the other MLL teams.
Some things the Lizards will have to work on are staying out of the penalty box, turnovers and defense. We saw Long Island at the top and bottom of their game in the Denver playoff game. They have the offense to score and possess the ball, but they also took questionable shots and made bad passes. There were times when the defense fell off the horse, communication broke down, bad passes and mental mistakes were made. One on one defense and recollecting themselves (getting into the whole, picking up a man, shifting from the double team) were where they had problems.
This brings me to the draft. Long Island has only two players in the NLL, Seibald and Costabile. Both are playing for the Philadelphia Wings and have a good chance to go very far in the post-season. If Bradman plays MLL this summer, he could replace Seibald for the start of the season. It’s a different story for Costabile as defense is probably the top priority for the Lizards this off-season. They can use Henderson at the LSM position but may need a back up until CJ gets back. Parker McKee was unprotected, which is another cause to draft a pole down low.
Spallina and the Lizards have the 5, 29, 37, 47, 53, and 61 overall picks in the 2013 MLL Draft. Picking up a long pole or two wouldn’t be a bad idea for them.
Entering 2013, the Lizards bring back a lot of personnel from last year’s championship weekend team and add talent to that hard working squad. With January and the MLL Draft quickly approaching, Long Island will need a clear objective and backup plan heading into it. I don’t see any reason as to why Long Island shouldn’t make it back to championship weekend.
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