Renegades Place 3rd In Holiday Tournament

The 5th grade GC Renegade team participated in the Nassau Community College / Oyster Bay Lacrosse League 2 day Christmas Tournament this past weekend. It was open to all 5th and 6th grade teams or a combination of the two grades. The GC Renegades started the tournament out with a win against the LI Express select 5th grade team. After getting use to the way the ball bounced and the quick pace at which the ball is put into play the Renegades took control and recorded their first win of the tournament. The next game of the day was against a 5th and 6th grade Hicksville team. It was a slow start for the GC Renegades since the 6th grade boys on the Hicksville team were a little bigger than we were use to. Once the Renegades started to use their speed and quickness things started to work in their favor and the end result was another win. The third game of the day was a tough loss to an all 6th grader team from Huntington. Although the Renegades only lost by 4 goals it was still tough to accept. The Renegades made a run and were in position to win the game but couldn't get it done against an older group but learned some valuable lessons from the loss. At the end of the first day the Renegades were 2-1. The 2nd day started out with a game against the 6th grade LI Express team. Again the older bigger kids from the select team were too much for the Renegades. They played a tough defensive battle and impressed all in attendance. The next game was against Mineola. Another team comprised of both 5th and 6th graders. But this time the GC Renegades were ready for the challenge and used what they learned throughout the tournament and controlled the pace of the game. They moved the ball well up and down the field and hustled back on defense which slowed the Mineola offense. The end result was another victory. The Renegades lost their last game of the tournament to the eventual champions. After all was over the Renegades finished the tournament in 3rd.

Six games in 2 days is a lot of Lacrosse, but everyone was up to the challenge and gave it their all and played well as a team. Scott and Bryan Irwin, Colin DeAngelo, James Sullivan, Kyle Brattan, Matthew Esposito, Thomas Mascola, Liam Byrnes, Chris Repetti, Joseph Parrinelli, Matt Borges all scored goals throughout the tournament. The defense was anchored by Connor Brown and Greg Gardner who played outstanding throughout the tournament. Special thanks to Kieran and Conor Byrnes, Brendan McLaughlin and Connor Reidell who helped out when we were short handed. The GC Renegades look forward to playing Mineola, Hicksville, and Huntington again in the spring.