After receiving the second dose of the Pfizer Vaccine on Thursday, I was able to go to the Girls’ practice that afternoon, and then the Boys’ practice on Friday afternoon. I was not myself, but did not have any severe symptoms and certainly felt well enough for practice on both days. In fact, I felt better when I was out there running around coaching.

The highlight of Saturday, was sitting down to watch the Springfield Pride Women’s Lacrosse Team, play host to Wheaton College in the Semifinal of the NEWMAC Playoffs. Similar, to their first meeting, it was a closely contested game with many shifts in momentum. I was impressed with Wheaton’s resilience and with some of their coaching strategy – specifically, intermittently employing a man to man defense as a change up to their high pressure backer zone. Springfield took a 6-4 lead into the half, but yielded three consecutive goals to begin the second stanza. At that point of the game, The Pride showed their own resilience and surged to a 9-7 advantage and they never trailed or were tied again, though it was nip and tuck down the stretch, with Springfield coming away with a 14-11 decision. It was a strong overall effort by The Pride, who will take on Babson next Saturday on Stagg Field in Springfield, for the NEWMAC Championship. I know it has been a shortened season, full of Covid restrictions etc., but a Conference Final, is still a big deal!

Sunday morning I headed to Hempstead for our first home game of this season, and third game overall. The weather was cold and soggy, but that did not prevent a decent sized crowd from being in attendance, at Lincoln Park. Visiting Hewlett, was 2-0 coming in, and seemingly a strong opponent. But from the opening faceoff, the day belonged to the Hempstead Tigers! We dominated faceoffs, groundballs and subsequently, time of possession, en route to a resounding 8-3 home victory. The effort level was very high and every player contributed. It was rewarding to see the improvement, both individually and collectively, out there. Our team is really making strides and as I have said before, it is fun to be a part of.

While the Tigers were having their way with Hewlett, the East Meadow Girls were in Bethpage, where they fought to a 5-5 Tie. It was the first of four consecutive weeks, where both teams’ game schedules are in conflict. As much as I enjoyed being at the Boys’ game, I felt awful about having to miss the Girls’ game. The Head Coach filled me in on the details and they all sounded good. The Girls are also improving rapidly and appear ready to reach a higher level of play. I am looking forward to the Girls’ Practice tonight.

Upon returning home, on Sunday I settled in to finish the Crossword Puzzle, then Debi and I watched a few episodes of The Wire (our newest Show). A very good weekend of lacrosse, topped off by some real good Television.