Joe Spallina and the Long Island Lizards have had a great season that included a playoff spot, a Coach of the Year Award and a Rookie of the Year Award. The Lizards started the 2012 season off on a hot streak, going 5-2 through the first seven games, but then started to slump and finished the year 8-6. Long Island’s season was saved when the Charlotte Hounds upset the Rochester Rattlers in the season finale giving the final playoff spot to the Lizards who lost their last two games.
Joe Spallina was voted as the Brine Coach of the Year by fellow coaches and general managers in his first season as head coach of the Lizards. “It’s a tremendous honor. This is the highest level of the sport that we all love, so I’m tremendously humbled. Our team dealt with a different kind of hand and dealt with adversity and guys deciding not to play or being injured, but that’s a tribute to the character of guys we have who share the same vision that I had of restructuring and getting to the top level,” Spallina said of the award.
Rookie attackman Matt Gibson finished third on the team in points and lead all rookies with 33 points en route to winning the Brine Rookie of the Year award. “It’s a big honor because there are a lot of good players that are rookies and my goal will be to not think too much about it before the playoffs and to focus on the team, but I know I will enjoy this after the playoffs, says Gibson…The coaching staff has been really supportive of this year’s rookies and the transition [from the collegiate level] has been great thanks to the guys I’ve been working with.â€
One huge part of the Lizards’ success was face-off specialist Greg Gurenlian. Nicknamed “The Beastâ€, Gurenlian dominated at the face-off X this year which was a huge help for the Lizards offense. Gurenlian won 230 of 382 attempts for a final winning percentage of .602 or just over 60%. In addition to taking face-offs, the Beast also added 7 points for Long Island with 4 goals and 3 assists.
Veteran midfielder Max Seibald led all Long Island scorers with 39 points and fellow veteran midfielder Brian Langtry finished second with 35 points. Rookies Matt Gibson and Tommy Palasek finished third and fifth on the team with 33 and 26 points respectively. Long Island had a very balanced offense this season, with both attack and midfield groups scoring points equally. Grant Catalino and Ryan Young both really aided the attack with 23 and 18 points respectively.
In goal for the Lizards, Drew Adams was a force to be reckoned with. Adams led the Lizards defense very well and looked great when in goal. Adams posted an average of just 11.91 goals per game and a .520 save percentage. Adams was a huge reason for the Lizards success and hopes to continue his great play into the playoffs next week when the Lizards play the Denver Outlaws.
Championship Weekend starts next Saturday, August 18 at Harvard Stadium. The Lizards will play the Outlaws in the first semifinal game and the Chesapeake Bayhawks will take on the Boston Cannons in the other game to determine the championship game. The Cannons are the defending champs, and playing in Harvard Stadium is almost just another home game for them. Long Island will have to get their offense settled early and set the mark against the high-scoring Outlaws. Drew Adams will have to be loud and lead his defense if they want to have a chance to slow down the Outlaws offense. The winners of the semi-final games will play on Sunday the 26th to determine the 2012 MLL Champion.
