North Country Rivalry

I know it's been awhile since I've posted on here. Lately school's been a real doozy working on my thesis paper on Entourage for my woman's studies class. Did I mention how much I love college? How about March Madness? Butler and Michigan State? Now that the Orange are out I have to go with West Virginia, who's second best player, forward Kevin Jones, is from Section 1 just like yours truly. My senior year his team, Mount Vernon, came to Arlington to play us when he was a junior. I think the phrase "Man amongst boys" adequately sums it up. Also watched a lot of "Billy the Exterminator" which is an awesome show about a guy from Louisiana who's whole family runs an extermination business and says "dude" a ton. Hilarity ensues.

Not much to talk about this past week. Just plenty of practices preparing for the second half of the schedule. Tomorrow we have Clarkson. I know that on paper it looks like their not gonna be a good squad, they're currently 0-7, but they have played some tough competition. Also we haven't beaten this team since 2006. We need to come out firing like I know we can.

The game is at 4 p.m. at Clarkson so I know that will be a tough game to make for most of you...BUT...lucky for all of you we have a remedy. Clarkson, like good ole PSUC, uses live stats for all their home games. So go here at 4 p.m. and you can watching the running box score of the game. You'll practically be in the North Country with us, minus the weather and Canadian accents.

Quick side note- I just check ESPN and the UCONN woman's basketball team won their regional final game against FSU....wait for it....wait for it....90-50. That's boss.

I know people have been making requests for songs...but tonight I feel like playing something for myself because..well...I can.
-DeFran

March Madness

So after one week of traveling through seven states and playing four games the dirty birds have finally returned to the nest. The 15-12 win against Utica yesterday was huge for us. The Pioneers are a talented senior-heavy team so getting a victory against an experienced squad like that is always good. We jumped out to an early 4-0 lead until the game came to a streaking halt due to some terrible officiating. Utica than started to make a run tying the game at 6-6 with just about 15 seconds left in the first half. The second half was back and forth with Utica controlling it at first, at one point going ahead by three. Nobody on the team quit, however, and we ended up making a run of our own. Junior Pete Morgan put the nail in the coffin in the fourth quarter when he scored a goal with his back to the net. Also big ups to freshman midfielder Angus Rodriguez for scoring a huge goal for us in the fourth quarter. Great tailgate after the game held by the Folgherait's which featured lots of the local cuisine.

Coach gave us a couple days off to work on academics HA....but seriously. Our next game isn't for another week and a half when we face off against North Country rival Clarkson on the 31st so we have a bit of a layoff.

It's snowing here which is just a fantastic welcome home for us. Nothing like going from chilling by Tansey's pool in 70 degree weather to coming to the frozen tundra.

I leave you with a jam requested by Mr. Norchi....
-DeFran



-DeFran

Loose in Cuse

Today was a day off so not much to speak of up here in Orange country. After getting here in the wee hours of the morning we had the whole day to relax and watch some college basketball. Unfortunately my beloved Siena Saints lost in the first round meaning I'll have to support 'Cuse for the rest of the tourney.

I'd like to thank the Carni's for feeding us a phenomenal dinner of sausage and peppers and pasta among other things. This was the THIRD family this spring break to have us over their house and all three were superb. However, by law I'm required to tell you that my mothers cooking was the best.

Tomorrows a big game for us so I hope to see you all there. For those of you that can make it out be sure to be loud.


Here's another classic..
-DeFran

Cardinals > Ospreys

Today's 22-11 win, in a nutshell, was the exact opposite of Mondays performance against St. Mary's. We came out on fire scoring five unanswered goals to get things started. No box score out yet so I'll give you guys a quick run down. Norchi, Weidlein and Morgan had their typical monster days on attack (8,7 and 6 points each,respectively, I believe). Price dominated at the faceoff X, Logan played the first half like a brick wall letting up only 2 goals and the middies got it done between the lines. Oh and the close defense wasn't too bad either.

Also quick side note, sophomore middie Brandon "B-Nasty" Smith had the most absurd goal I've seen in a long time. After beating his man he dived around the goalie and couple more defense men to put it in. Straight up Gary Gait in the Dome circa 1990. Unfortunately at this point the score was already pretty out of hand and I don't think the ref's wanted to demoralize the other team to bad so they called B-Nasty in the crease. Either way the goal was out of control and deserves a shout out.

Not much else to say. It is however 4 a.m. and we just got to the hotel so I think I'm gonna pass out. I just would like to give a big obscene gesture to the capital district before I go. Not only did you have horrible weather while we were their on spring break postponing out games, you ruined my bracket. Georgetown....come on really?? I picked you guys to win it all and you decide to lose to A FOURTEEN SEED?! You were playing Ohio NOT Ohio State you know? Now that my bracket is essentially toilet paper I guess I'll cheer for 'Cuse considering all my roommates are orange crazed. First though my full support is behind Siena, considering they have a Poughkeepsie native in star g/f Edwin Ubiles. Ubiles also happens to be related to former Plattsburgh star baller Anthony Williams, weird.

Also big thanks to the Tansey's for being crazy enough to open their home and let us eat their fantastic food. It's gonna be hard eating microwavable dinners every night when I go back to school.

Great song...even better video:
-DeFran

Baldys do work

What a successful day! First we all get our heads shaved for childrens cancer. Than we come out flying and win 25-8! Don't have the box score so I can't give exact numbers I do know this though:

1.Weidlein reached 200 points, the first player to reach such a milestone in PSUC history.
2.Price broke his own record set at Farmingdale, scooping up 19 groundballs in one game.
3.We had the programs first international goal scorer (I believe). Joe "I speak properly" Tyers scored his first collegiate goal.

Another big day tomorrow with lunch at the Tansey's and a game at Richard Stockton so I'm gonna wrap this up. I leave you with a classic that and a favorite of Tom Cavanagh, Assistant Coach Ryan Cavanagh's dad and avid reader/listener of the blog. Both Cavanagh's were the driving force behind getting the St Baldricks event off the ground so this ones for you:

-DeFran

Well the weather outside is frightful

So once again we had a game moved. Richard Stockton game will be played on Thursday at 7 p.m. The game tomorrow however is still very much on. We will be getting our heads shaved for childrens cancer at noon and then playing Briarcliffe at Veterans Park in Northport on Long Island at 7 p.m.. To make a donation to St.Baldricks which will go completely to childrens cancer go here.

That's all really for now. Hope to see you all at the game tomorrow being loud and proud like I know you always are.
-DeFran

In honor of watching Dazed and Confused on the bus I leave you with this...

A break in the chain..

Today was tough. Not much you can say about a 17-4 loss. St. Mary's is definetly a good squad but there is no way the final should have been what it was. We played them close through the first two quarters (2-1,7-4) but things fell apart in the second half. All we can do now is regroup and look to put our best foot forward against Richard Stockton. Side note on that game, do to the monsoons that have been going through the East Coast the Stockton game is still somewhat up in the air. We may play the game tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Richard Stockton as planned or at a local NJ high school. Worst case scenario we will play the game on Thursday at Richard Stockton. I'll try to post when I know more.
-DeFran

Plattsburgh State Lacrosse goes Animal Planet all over you

Just got back from a day at the national zoo...such a good time. Nothing like watching gorillas repeatedly throw up there food and than eat it again (which they do because they don't have taste buds...thank you Coach Cavanagh). Personally my favorite was either the two otters or the lion and tigers who kept competing with who could roar louder. Overall great time though.

Also got to drive by some monuments and important buildings around D.C. (White House, Washington Monument, Capital Building to name a few). I think out of all the players Joe Tyers appreciated the trip the most. There's nothing like being repeatedly told your country is not as good as America and being shown examples why.

For those of you that don't know the game that was supposed to be played today was postponed until tomorrow at noon at a recreation field somewhere in Maryland. The rest of the day is strictly relaxing, enjoying what was supposed to be the post game tailgate tonight for dinner (thank you to the Lehmann's for setting that up). Than back to the room to chill out and watch the new 30 for 30 documentary "Winning Time" on ESPN about how Reggie Miller owned the Knick's in MSG.

I know my mom sent out an email with all the photos from the tailgate but for those of you that didn't check it I've included some of them below:


















The Spread

Our trainer Matt and the Joey "Fish and Chips" Tyers


The meatballs

Brandon and Nick enjoying the food

Bunch of the guys chowing down


Me and the next Bill Nye aka Will Folgherait


I leave you with a montage of what our zoo experience was like:
-DeFran

The Calm before the storm

Just relaxing at the house before we head off on our big spring break trip. For those of you that don't know I'll give you a rundown of tomorrow ahead. The bus leaves tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. for my hometown and the unofficial nicest town in America: Poughquag. We'll arrive at my house at around 2:30-3 and enjoy some of the finest meatballs this side of the Atlantic made by my wonderful mother and lovely grandmother. After the team is done feasting we hit the road again to drive another six hours down to Baltimore were we will set up camp for our first game against a tough St.Mary's team on Sunday at 1 p.m. I know my mother will be taking photos so I'll try to post as many pics as I can of us chowing down. I'll keep you all up to date as we go throughout spring break. For now I leave you with something in preparation of tomorrow...
-DeFran

The kids are alright...

If the season continues at this pace I will mostly die of a heat attack before SUNYAC's. Another thrilling win for the Cards up here in the North Country. The final was 14-12 but that hardly describes the game. The score stood at St. Mike's 7 Platts 4 at halftime and it only got worse. At one point in the third it was 10-5 before we buckled down. A combination of strong play at the face-off x along with the defense holding strong, especially in transition, allowed for the O to really start clicking. Nine goals later we had a lead we wouldn't relinquish. Shout out to Pete Morgan who had a big day in his first game as a full time starter scoring 4 goals and an assist(although the box scored might have missed the apple). I don't have the box score on me yet so I'm sorry for not mentioning more people. Once again though everyone, top to bottom, played extremely hard and more importantly never gave up. Despite not playing our best in the first half the team stayed positive and didn't get down on each other. This is the third game we've come from behind to win. It really says a lot about how much heart our team has to not give up when the chips are down.

Also want to give a shout out to the Carpenter's for making the trip up to come support Logan and the team. For the rest of you, check out some awesome photos from the game here.

Couple days off until Spring Break which means MEATBALLS at my crib! That should be exciting. Than we start our four game road trip beginning with a tough Maryland squad in St.Mary's on Sunday. Tomorrow it's back to work but tonight we celebrate 3-0!!!

Here's a song from when Mark Wahlberg used to be cool...
-DeFran

Mr.Goose feeling loose

Quick shout out to Kyle Norchi (pictured here to the left) bringing home the first SUNYAC player of the week award of the season. This is also Kyle's fourth career SUNYAC POW award which is a school record...go figure.

Big game tomorrow against Lake Champlain rival Division II Saint Michael's. Games at 3:30 p.m. for those of you that can make it.

I'll leave you with a montage of one of Kyle's favorite players.
-DeFran

You know what I like...

What a weekend! First off, I just want to apologize for not posting after the game. The internet wasn't working too well on the bus. By the time I got back to my house (1 a.m.) I didn't have much energy to do anything but watch the new Bird/Magic documentary on HBO (which was awesome) and then pass out. Than today, believe it or not, I actually had homework to do. Contrary to popular belief, we don't play lacrosse full-time and actually have to go to school.

Anyway...although Sunday's game was a little closer at times than we would have liked it to be we go it together in the end to pull out a nice victory in front of a great crowd. Several milestones and firsts were made. Both Luke Weidlein and Kyle Norchi scored their 100th goal. Also Ryan Price had an absurd 18...yes 18...ground balls in Sundays game, a Plattsburgh game record, en route to going 74% at the face-off x. Also several players scored their first career goals at Plattsburgh. Pete Morgan, Joe Kramer, Tommy Kilderry, Mike Lind and Ryan Hastings all netted their first goals in the red and white. Liam Mccarthy also earned his first career point. More importantly several players got to see the field for the first time, including everyone's favorite red coat Joe Tyers. Tyers is "on loan"to us for the year from Central Lancashire University which is located in London. On Sunday he had an excellent or shall I say "bloody brilliant" takeaway check on a defenseman to stop a fast break that is most definitely a candidate for "Slice of the Week".

This week we face a tough Division II opponent in St. Michael's on Wednesday when we head across Lake Champlain to face them at 3:30 p.m. My first two years here we scrimmaged them so it'll be interesting to see how things shake out when we suit up for the real deal. I know week day games are tough for a lot of the parents, especially ones in Vermont, but we will greatly appreciate anyone that can make it up to support us. For those of you that can't make it I'll try to post as soon as I can but to find the score your best bet is to check our website here.

This is for all the youngsters getting their first career points...before jay-z and the blueprint 3 their was....
-DeFran

Just another day on the island...

Today was an off day down here in LI so we had a chance to relax. Just wanted to quickly post a couple of thank yous. First to Mrs.Domaratius for using the P.L.M.P.A money to get us tickets to see a great college lax game between Stony Brook and Towson. Stony Brook pulled out a nice 14-11 win. After a quick rest back at the hotel we had the pleasure of enjoying an awesome meal at the Huntington Fire House set up by the Wright family. Big thanks to everyone that came and brought addition food making it a really awesome spread. Tomorrow we end our tour of the 51st state when we head to Farmingdale to take on the Rams at 1 p.m. This is another big game for us so PLEASE come out and be loud and supportive like I know you all can.

Also the team decided to add a little feature entitled "Slice of the Week". "Slicing" was a term developed by Senior FOSHO middie Mike "Mamba" Keenan. A "slice" is a particularly nasty slash. "Slicing the bacon" is slashing a player several times. A "bacon slicer" or "slicer" is someone that is a known slasher. We decided to show you pictures of the results of some of the more nasty slices. This week's winner is senior Luke Weidlein who suffered a particularly nasty slice during the West Conn victory.



Thats Luke's finger...and a lot of blood.

Here it is again a little cleaned up.

In celebration of our day off I'll leave you with a gem to relax to...
-DeFran

Starting off on the right foot

What a game! For those of you unable to attend I'll give you a brief summary. West Conn jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. The score could have been a lot worse had it not been for the phenomenal goalie play by junior Logan Carpenter. We regained out composure and the game was basically goal for goal until the 3rd quarter. The Colonials went on a bit of a run and gained a 2-0 lead. Plattsburgh stayed strong however and went on a 5-0 run, including 2 man down goals. The run was sparked by a big hit/hustle play by converted long stick sophomore Kevin Farrell. After that run we never looked back, keeping the lead for the remainder of the game. Seniors Pat Nastro and Luke Flegar stepped up big with two goals apiece. Seniors Luke Weidlein and Kyle Norchi scored three and four goals respectivly. Sophmore Pat Wright netted three goals. Their are some assists thrown in their but the box score isn't out yet and when your 70 yards away its hard to tell who passed to who.

Well I need to go to sleep. The teams headed to watch Towson vs Stony Brook tomorrow. I'd like to give a BIG thank you to everyone who came out to support us and all the parents for making the tailgate awesome. Also a shoutout to the Weidlein's for hosting the tailgate (if their was another family I apologize for not knowing) and for letting me stay at their house tonight! Hope everyone comes out just as loud and crazy for Sundays game vs Farmingdale.

As always I leave you with a gem....guess the young guns can make some noise?
-DeFran

Don't Tread On Me

Well its been six weeks in the making and now that it's almost here it feels a little surreal. This weeks practices definitely had an increased amount of intensity with the upcoming games. The team really looked to be running on all cylinders in Wednesday's full field scrimmage. A lot of people might think that we're too young of a team to make any noise but all the freshman have picked up our style of play quick are game ready. I don't see the scared 18-year-old Winnie the Pooh loving-boy's that came to fall ball in September anymore. I see 16 men ready to give everything they have for their teammates. Every one on this team from top to bottom, attack to goalie, senior to freshman is ready to battle and put it all on the line to leave the island with two W's and that's what makes this years team so great.

Well I should probably go to bed considering we do have to leave at 9 a.m. tomorrow. If you live on Long Island and your reading this than chances are I don't have to tell you this but...GO TO OUR GAME! For those of you that don't know the games at 7 p.m. at Lindenhurst Middle School, former home of senior captains Mike Glynn and Ryan Price and freshman Joe "Mad Dog" Kramer. I'm not a geography major but I'm pretty sure LI is about 10 miles long, give or take, so the commute shouldn't be bad. Honestly people where I'm from it takes 30 minutes to get across my school district, not my county. So come, bring your family, bring a friend, bring your dog, bring anything as long as it makes noise for the Cards. AND WEAR RED!

Hope to see everyone tomorrow (actually tonight). I'll leave you with another classic....
-DeFran


PS-The Jets got Antonio Cromartie...ARE YOU KIDDING ME. Super Bowl 2011..Book it. Done.

PPS-For those of you unable to attend the game I'll try to post about the results as soon as I can but head to our schools main website for the most up to date scores here

Welcome to the danger zone!

Welcome to the official SUNY Plattsburgh men's lacrosse blog. My name is Dan DeFrancesco, better known as DeFran, and I will be posting on this site throughout the season. A little background info on myself: I am a junior close defense man from Poughquag, New York, a small town located just outside Poughkeepsie which is essentially the half-way point between NYC and Albany. Here at PSU I am a journalism major with a minor in general business.

Now on to the team...for those of you new to the program I'll give you a brief recap of last season. 2009 was big year for us. For the first time in our program's history we clinched a birth into playoffs in the extremely competitive SUNYAC conference. Current captain and senior Luke Weidlein became the Card's all-time leading scorer with 175 points after only three years. Redshirt junior and captain Kyle Norchi ranks third on the list with 132 points after just two seasons with the Cards. Records were also broken in goals scored, total points, ground balls, wins, ground balls in a season by one player (captain Ryan Price), career assists (Weidlein), face-off wins (Price), conference wins in a season and season saves (Matt Billia). The Cards also placed three players on the All-SUNYAC team with Weidlin and Norchi earning spots on the Second Team and Matt Maes receiving honorable mention.

This fall, led by captains Norchi, Price, Weidlin and senior defense man Mike Glynn, the Cards made big moves on and off the field. Despite integrating one of the biggest recruiting classes the program has ever seen the team continued to work hard towards making its second consecutive post season appearance.

In addition to working hard on the field and in the gym we also gave back to the community. The team accumulated over 600 hours of community service in just four months. The majority of the hours came from a project the team decided to undertake at a local Salvation Army. In an effort to give back to the less fortunate each team member worked at least six hours, either organizing or serving food. The team also got it done in the classroom, achieving the highest GPA for all men's athletic teams on campus for the fall of 2009.

Although due to the start of the season we have stopped working at the Salvation Army our team hasn't stopped all its community service efforts. Our assistant coach Ryan Cavanagh has organized a St. Baldricks Foundation Fundraiser in which our whole team will shave our heads for children's cancer prior to our game against Briarcliffe in Northport. I'll post more on this as the game approaches but anyone interested in donating to a GREAT cause should go to the events website here or contact Coach Cavanagh at rcava002@plattsburgh.edu.

So now, after five weeks of practice we are only four days away from our first game. Without a doubt the team has grown by leaps and bounds since that first day of tryouts in September. A casual fan might glance at our team's roster and immediately label it a "rebuilding year" with more freshman and sophmores on the team than juniors and seniors. The underclassmen have stepped up big time however and has gladly taken on the extra responsibility. From top to bottom, every player has worked hard for us to achieve the goals we set in the off season.

I think I've droned on long enough. I look forward to keeping you up to date throughout the season. Feel free to comment on any of the posts I make. And now I leave you with a great montage to a great movie that featured a great song....
-DeFran