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Lt. Ray Enners Award Winners
The Lt. Ray Enners Award is given to one lacrosse player in Suffolk County by the Suffolk County Boys Lacrosse Coaches Association. The winner must be an All-County player and an athlete who best exemplifies courage, teamwork, skill and leadership.
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Zach Hobbes, Winner 2018
Ward Melville
Zach Hobbes wrapped up a memorable senior season at Ward Melville High School. Personal accolades aside, the Patriots went 21-1 and captured yet another New York State championship and finished the season ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Harvard-bound Hobbes is a major reason for the team’s success. Aside from being an All-American and the Warrior/U.S. Lacrosse Northeast Boys’ Lacrosse Player of the Year, Hobbes also won the Lt. Ray Enners Award as the top lacrosse player in Suffolk County, and was named Section XI Spring Male Athlete of the Year. “He’s the typical throwback, do-it-all middie,” Ward Melville coach Jay Negus told Lacrosse Magazine about Hobbes, who scored 33 goals and had 16 assists as a senior. “Offensively and defensively, he never came off the field. We really pride our...
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Chris Gray, Winner 2017
Shoreham-Wading River
Shoreham-Wading River's Chris Gray won the Lt. Raymond Enners Award as the top player in Suffolk County in 2017. Gray, who helped lead his team to a Long Island championship in 2016 and was also one of Long Island's top football players during his high school career, will play lacrosse and major in business at Boston University. We sat down with him to talk about his lacrosse career and the honor of winning the Enners Award. What does it mean for you to win the Enners Award? "Receiving the Raymond Enners Award has been a great personal experience. Not because of the individual accolade but because it inspired me to really learn who Ray Enners was. Being mentioned in the same sentence as Ray Enners is a great honor. His accomplishments in the class, on the field and in battle inspire me...
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Gerard Arceri, Winner 2016
Smithtown East High School
For the second straight season a player from Smithtown East was selected as the winner of the Ray Enners Award as the top boy’s lacrosse player in Suffolk County. Gerard Arceri won the honor for the 2016 season and is one of the top faceoff specialists in the country. "Being chosen as the recipient of the Ray Enners Award is an incredible honor," said Arceri. "It means that the coaches of Suffolk County recognized my hard work and dedication to the sport, as well as my willingness to always compete with pride and determination both on and off the field." Arceri had heard of the Enners Award and the man it's named after thanks to attending previous All-County award dinners as an underclassman. He never imagined he’d earn the honor. "[Ray Enners] was a selfless teammate, who always tried...
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John Daniggelis, Winner 2015
Smithtown East
Smithtown East’s John Daniggelis won the Ray Enners Award as the top player in Suffolk County in 2015. He plays collegiately now at Yale. The first Smithtown East player to capture the honor since Tom Gunderson in 1982, Daniggelis was a two-year captain in football and lacrosse for the Bulls. He was an All-American, All-Long Island, All-County and All-Division as a senior on the lacrosse field. A recipient of the Bob Scott Award from U.S. Lacrosse, Daniggelis was recognized for going above and beyond in service to his team, school and community. He is the second player to win the Enners Award and attend Yale. The first was Jon Reese in 1990. On the gridiron, Daniggelis was a three-year starter at quarterback. A two-time team MVP, he won the Boomer Esiason Award as the top quarterback i...
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Kieran Mullins, Winner 2014
Islip High School
The similarities between Ray Enners and Kieran Mullins are remarkable. Islip coach Keith Scheidel laid each one out brilliantly in his speech announcing that Mullins won the Enners Award in 2014 at the Suffolk County Boys Lacrosse Coaches Association dinner.He spoke about how Kieran sported qualities of greatness, nobility and courageousness as a student-athlete at Islip High School. "It's almost as if the two of them were cut from the same mold," said Scheidel. "This Islipian leader has pretty much accomplished every goal a student-athlete would want to attain in his high school career." Mullins, who will attend Army Prep for one year before enrolling at West Point, where Enners attended, was a three-sport athlete at Islip. At the beginning of his senior year in lacrosse, Mullins was s...
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Tim Rotanz, Winner 2013
Shoreham-Wading River
There was a clear favorite to win the Ray Enners Award in 2013. Shoreham-Wading River senior Tim Rotanz, one of the top lacrosse players not only in Suffolk County, but in the country, was head and shoulders the rightful winner of the honor in 2013. Rotanz, who has committed to play lacrosse at the University of Maryland, became the first SWR senior to win the award since Pete Vlahakis in 2000. This year Rotanz became the fourth player in Long Island history to reach the 400-point plateau in boy’s lacrosse. He finished with 450 (245 goals and 205 assists), good enough for third all-time behind West Islip’s Nicky Galasso (500) and Elmont’s Jim Zaffuto (498). The 141 points (64 goals and 77 assists) he scored in 2013 were tops on Long Island. He pulled off the dream season for an individu...
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Sam Llinares, Winner 2012
Hauppauge
Since this was Hauppauge High School boy's lacrosse coach Jim Konen's first year at the school, it was helpful to have a leader like Sam Llinares take charge. It also helped that by season's end Llinares had a Suffolk County-leading and school record 106 points. For his leadership skills and overall dominating presence on the field, Llinares, who will play collegiately at Hofstra University, was honored with the 2012 Ray Enners Award, given to the top high school boys lacrosse player in Suffolk County. Llinares is the first player from Hauppauge to win the award and the third from Hofstra after James Metzger (Hills, 1977) and Joe Romeo (Comsewogue, 1990). Llinares scored 59 goals and added 47 assists as a senior and finished his four-year varsity career with 275 points, placing ...
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Luke Miller, Winner 2011
William Floyd
For years the Miller family has helped make the lacrosse program in William Floyd mean something. From Andrew setting records and attending Johns Hopkins to Matt winning the Enners Award in 2002 and helping the Colonials to their first playoff birth in school history, not to mention winning national titles at New York Tech and now coaching at the high school, the name Miller and lacrosse is synonymous in Mastic and Shirley. This year they added another notch to their lacrosse belt when their younger brother Luke won the 2011 Ray Enners Award as the top player in Suffolk County. "I really can't put it into words," said Luke, who was a six-year varsity player for Floyd. "It' s a prestigious award. Just to have my name mentioned with the other guys is an amazing feeling. I’ m ho...
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Nicky Galasso, Winner 2010
West Islip
Heading into the New York State Class A Final against Fairport in 2010, Nick Galasso needed seven points to reach the 500-plateau for his career. Not surprising to many, he achieved the feat in the third quarter on a 7-0 West Islip scoring run, amidst a 13-5 championship victory for West Islip at Stony Brook's LaValle Stadium. The North Carolina-bound offensive genius has been the poster boy for Long Island lacrosse since he reached the varsity level. He was the next gem in a long line of gifted Lions players that probably won't stop anytime soon. For his efforts in 2010, Galasso earned the Enners Award as Suffolk County's top player and his 500 points are now the most in Long Island history, passing Elmont's Jim Zaffuto's mark of 498 set from 1974-1977. He is the second West Islip play...
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Kevin Sabo, Winner 2009
Westhampton Beach
Kevin Sabo, the most recent winner of the Enners Award, is a soft-spoken leader, who was the face of Westhampton Beach High School athletics the past two years. An All-Division football player and All-County athlete on the lacrosse field, Sabo began playing lacrosse in sixth grade because all of his friends were picking up sticks instead of tossing a baseball around. "I always wanted to be with my friends and lacrosse was more of a contact sport," he says. Westhampton Beach has never been a lacrosse power on Long Island, and aside from a handful of track and basketball achievements in the past 20 years, they have not been overly dominant on the athletic scene since legendary head coach Carl Hansen roamed the sidelines and courts at the eastern Long Island school...
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Dwayne Stewart, Winner 2008
Copiague
Dwayne Stewart did not start playing lacrosse until 8th grade, but luckily for Copiague's program he was a quick learner. By the end of his high school career he amassed 141 points and won the Enners Award as Suffolk County's top player in 2008. "I'm into all different kinds of sports, but fell in love with lacrosse," he said. "By the end of my junior and senior years, I really came to. I felt like everything came to me. It was unbelievable how everything happened." Stewart is just talking about the lacrosse part of his life. Juggling lacrosse, school and a job to help support his family, at times it seemed like the world was on Stewart's shoulders in high school. His Enners Award fully encapsulated the quality of being a leader and working through a great deal of advers...
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Justin Turri, Winner 2007
West Islip
By the time Justin Turri graduated from West Islip High School in 2007, the town was transformed into Long Island"s newest lacrosse haven. The name Turri had already been part of West Islip"s sports culture thanks to his father Bill and uncles Ralph and Tim, who all played successful high school and college lacrosse, but Justin made his own name after leading the Lions to two state championships and a 66-3 record in three years on the varsity. When Turri won the Enners Award at the end of his senior season, it meant the culmination of a prolific high school lacrosse career. He finished with 138 goals and 84 assists, was All-Division, All-County, All-Long Island, All-State and All-America. Like many Enners winners, Turri was quick to mention that his team and the season a...
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Chris Ritchie, Winner 2006
Mount Sinai
When Chris Ritchie scored his 375th career point at Mount Sinai in 2006, his lifetime of work came full circle on the lacrosse field. On the road in Babylon, Ritchie scooped a ground ball after a face-off, sprinted down the left side of the field, ripped a shot and beat Panther's goalie Matt Martinez (who is the goalie at Cornell, where Ritchie plays). It was just one goal of many during a brilliant high school career, but it was extra-special because it put him atop the Suffolk County scoring list (and third all-time on Long Island). From the moment he picked up a lacrosse stick during first grade at home in North Babylon, Ritchie was hooked. The only problem was that North Babylon didn't have a youth lacrosse program. But for every problem there is a solution and Ritchie's father, James...
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Pat Perritt, Winner 2005
Sachem East
For years, Pat Perritt was considered the "Golden Boy" of Sachem lacrosse. He had a cocky presence in the hallways in high school, but backed up his reputation as one of the nation's top recruits with outstanding play. He scored 52 goals and recorded 34 assists his senior year at Sachem East - the first at the newly created school. Perritt was awarded the Enners Award the same year in 2005. The two-time All-American finished his high school career with 174 goals and 102 assists, and was a three-time Long Island Empire State Games Team member. As a boy growing up in Holtsville, Perritt roamed his backyard with a Syracuse lacrosse jersey. While others his age pretended to hit a homerun in the bottom of the ninth to win the World Series, Perritt was busy dodging imaginary defen...
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Jeff Strittmatter, Winner 2004
Rocky Point
Of all the gifted athletes to have won the Enners Award, Rocky Point's Jeff Strittmatter is easily one of most deserving. Having lost both parents during his high school years, and remaining a top lacrosse player was more than enough reason for him to be crowed the winner in 2004. His mother Rebecca died of cancer when he was a freshman and his father Dennis passed away two years later from a work related accident. Lacrosse was his exit from the horror of reality. "It was an outlet," he says. "I looked forward to getting on the field everyday after school. It brought me a lot of pleasure and satisfaction and was good to be out there with my friends." As for the Enners Award, Strittmatter was a heck of a lacrosse player, too. He didn't win on character alone. ...
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Larry Cerasi, Winner 2003
Middle Country
Seemingly like many winners of the Enners Award, Larry Cerasi's hometown didn't have a youth lacrosse league when he was growing up. Forced to play with Sachem's SYAG organization as early as 6th grade, Cerasi got his start in the next district over before playing at Dawnwood Junior High in the Middle Country School District. Middle Country is a bit different than other school districts because it combines kids from Centereach High School and Newfield High School onto one team. Kids that were rivals in junior high, became teammates and friends shortly after. Some remained rivals in other sports, since lacrosse is one of the few that remains combined. "We played football against each other in the fall wearing different jerseys, and were competitive during lacrosse prac...
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Matt Miller, Winner 2002
William Floyd
William Floyd has never been known as a lacrosse school, but Matt Miller helped change the sport culture in Mastic and Shirley. His class was the first to take the boys lacrosse team to the playoffs, after losing more than 20 games as a freshman. "To have the guys rally around and be a part of something like that was special," he said. "Lacrosse wasn't that big. We set a precedent for what William Floyd lacrosse should shoot for and since then the program has grown." Miller, a midfielder, led the Colonials in scoring that season with 63 points (31 g, 32 a), a school record until his brother Andrew, who plays at Johns Hopkins now, broke it the following season. His scoring touch and leadership earned him the Ray Enners Award in 2002. "He was a very dedic...
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Nick Miaritis, Winner 2001
Ward Melville
Most of Ward Melville's top players have worn the white, green and gold colors of the Three Village School District since they were old enough to pick up a lacrosse stick. And while that's partially true for Nick Miaritis, he did have a slight hiccup from Melville in 9th and 10th grades when he played at the Stony Brook School. "I wanted to play at the highest level, so I transferred back to Three Village," says Miaritis, who had friends at Stony Brook that moved away and the program took a nose drive rather quickly. "It was like I arrived back home. All my friends were at Melville. I never really knew coach Cuozzo or coach Hoppey, but the second I got there I was embraced." Right away, Miaritis prospered from Cuozzo's confident coaching style. "They knew ex...
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Pete Vlahakis, Winner 2000
Shoreham-Wading River
Shoreham-Wading River's lacrosse program is relatively new, but it blossomed quickly thanks to players like Pete Vlahakis. He was in seventh grade when the program began and skidded to a 1-15 record in its inaugural season, and though he wasn't part of the team that won a New York State title the year after he graduated, he still had plenty to do with the program's drive to succeed. A four-year varsity player for the Wildcats, Vlahakis won the 2000 Ray Enners Award for his efforts on the lacrosse field. Like the other winners, he wasn't expecting the great honor. "I had great role models," says Vlahakis, whose team lost in the first round of the playoffs his senior year, "my dad and my coaches. I always tried to play the game right and lead by example." Looking ...
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Kevin Cassese, Winner 1999
Comsewogue
To be labeled the youngest anything is no easy task. But for Kevin Cassese, coaching and lacrosse are second nature. The Lehigh University head coach and Long Island native is the second youngest head coach in NCAA lacrosse behind Marist's James Simpson. The son of Tom Cassese, Suffolk County's all-time winningest high school football coach (Comsewogue, 209 wins), Kevin has always been a natural competitor. From his younger days battling with his older brother Todd, to high school at Comsewogue, and then at Duke, and now at the coaching level, Cassese has always been one for a challenge. A few constants have mirrored his lacrosse career: he has the ability to lead, will play and coach through adversity and wear his colors strongly on his sleeve, no matter what institutio...
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Nick Russo, Winner 1998
Comsewogue
Had it not been for his uncle Lou Russo, who played lacrosse at Bethpage High School and SUNY Oneonta, Nick Russo may have never played the game. Starting out with old wooden sticks, Russo tossed the ball around from an early age. By the time he reached the varsity squad at Comsewogue High School as a sophomore, he was ready to make some noise in the lacrosse world. The teams he played on became progressively better through his high school career. They were already stacked as one of the top Class B lacrosse schools on Long Island, but playing together and building chemistry helped Comsewogue win seven consecutive county titles from 1996-2002. During Russo’s sophomore year Comsewogue lost to Bethpage, 10-2, in the Long Island championship, then lost again in the big game his junior year...
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Justin O'Connell, Winner 1997
Sachem
Justin O'Connell played on the Sachem teams of the mid-1990s that were propelled to dynasty-like status under former head coach Rick Mercurio. Like Ward Melville and Comsewogue of that day, Sachem was a top power in Suffolk County. Inside Lacrosse and Lacrosse Magazine ranked Sachem in the top 10 nationally by O'Connell's senior season in 1997. "Back in the heyday when Sachem was at its best, we played a number of games that meant a lot and that represented Sachem really well," he says. O'Connell is one of the few defensemen to win the Enners Award, which he earned his senior year. More important than stopping the opposing team's best player was that O'Connell was playing with a birthmark on the right side of his face that hindered his vision. He was able to wor...
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Will Campbell, Winner 1996
Sachem
Lacrosse programs like Sachem, Ward Melville and West Islip truly separate themselves with the quality of their youth programs. Will Campbell was playing highly competitive lacrosse when he was seven years old, so by the time he was a senior at Sachem, he was a fully functional and gifted lacrosse player. Campbell traveled to play the game, visiting Canada, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey, honing in on lacrosse and learning to grow as a player and person at an early age. Like Justin O'Connell, who won the Enners Award in 1997, Campbell played at Sachem in its heyday during the mid-1990s. He padded his stats and passed the ball to many great Sachem scorers from his attack position. His teams only lost five total games from his freshman to senior years. "We ...
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Jay Negus, Winner 1995
Ward Melville
Ward Melville lacrosse was in Jay Negus' blood when he was born. His uncle Jeff Spooner held many Melville records before they were broken in the 1980s and 1990s. Growing up in Port Jefferson, Negus moved to the Three Village area as a ninth grader, but he was already playing with the Three Village youth program since Port Jefferson did not have its own club at that time in the late 1980s. He didn't play varsity until his 11th grade season, but he hit the playing field in perfect stride and did not take any time to adjust to the higher level of play. It was still uncommon at that time for eighth and ninth graders to play varsity, so Negus was right where he needed to be. By the following season, he and the Patriots "were really on a roll," he recalls. "O...
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Al Hernandez, Winner 1994
Whitman
Had it not been for a gentleman tossing a ball up against a wall in an industrial park near Huntington Station, Al Hernandez may have never picked up a stick. "I saw him throwing a ball up against the wall that wasn't too far away from where I grew up," he recalls. "I inquired and he told me it was lacrosse." That was when he was in sixth grade. By then, Hernandez, who was born in the Dominican Republic and spoke barely a lick of English when he arrived in the states at 3 years old, was familiar with football and baseball, but this new sport with a stick and helmet on an open field were intriguing to him. He gradually rose through the system at Walt Whitman, playing JV as a freshman and getting called up to varsity during the playoffs of his sophomore s...
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Greg Cattrano, Winner 1993
Ward Melville
Of all the names on the Ray Enners Award honoree list, Greg Cattrano might very well be the most recognized lacrosse star. In fact, he is hands down one of the greatest goalies to have guarded the pipes on any lacrosse field. The Ward Melville product was an All-American his senior season, when he already had a reputation as being the "next big time player" in the game. He scored six goals from his goalie position, four his junior year and two the following season, proving he could handle himself well on the field. "There's nothing better than humiliating the opposing goalie," he says. "I don't try to score goals, but it feels great. I'll never let an opposing goalie score on me because they'll never get through my defense. It won't happen." Cattrano, nicknamed...
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Mike LaRocco, Winner 1992
Smithtown West
Mike LaRocco started playing lacrosse as a seventh grader and played goalie right away primarily because his brother Rich played the position and because he was familiar with the position from playing hockey. It worked, because by the end of his four year varsity career in the pipes for Smithtown West, LaRocco was one of the best netminders in Suffolk County and was honored with the Enners Award his senior year in 1992. LaRocco said that his selection to the Empire State team as a sophomore solidified him being noticed by other coaches and teams. "I was fully capable of playing any team," he says. "We weren't always successful, but we played hard." Under the guile of Ralph Pepe - now the coach at Westhampton Beach - and a handful of other well-respected coaches, LaRocco and his teammat...
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Chris Theofield, Winner 1991
Northport
Chris Theofield owes his athletic career to his four older brothers. When he was 3 years old, they cut down a larger stick and made him his own. Anytime there was a lacrosse game at Northport High School, Theofield would be there watching, or even assisting as a water boy. With his brothers Bobby, Kevin, Vinny and Michael all playing the game, it wasn't a shock that Chris would follow suit. "The experience I had playing with them gave me an edge," he says. "That made me a better player and a better person. I didn't want to let those guys down." He made Bob Macaluso's varsity team as a 10th grader and started every game of his high school career for the next three seasons. He recalls beating Sachem during his senior year, 8-6, and recording a few points in the co...
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Joe Romeo, Winner 1990
Comsewogue
Joe Romeo was born to a lacrosse family. Since his father Joe Sr. and uncle Mike - who was an All-American at the University of New Haven - both played at Comsewogue High School, it was in his blood to do the same. Romeo, a goalie, was playing organized lacrosse by the time he was 8 years old, and by the time he reached the varsity squad at Comsewogue as a sophomore, he was very skilled. He was a three-time All-County selection and won the Enner's Award in 1990 as a senior. At the time, his father made him go to the local library to look up who Ray Enners was and what his name stood for, which was courage and leadership, of course. Though Romeo admits he was a sympathetic recipient of the award, his actions of caring for his ailing brother K.C., who was suffering from le...
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John Banks, Winner 1989
Ward Melville
John Banks was gifted enough athletically to make the switch from attack to goalie as a sophomore in high school. He had a year to learn from Richie Betcher, who manned the pipes during the 1988 NYS championship season, and took over in 1989 and led Ward Melville to another state title. For someone to lead his team to a 24-0 record, win the Enners Award and be named All-America in his first full varsity season at a critical position is simply amazing. If the player who Banks replaced in net during summer league had shown up, the history books may have been written differently. Banks recalls winning the '89 Long Island title against Farmingdale, which he and his teammates refer to as the "miracle on turf." Melville won dramatically in overtime. "We went on to the state championship, but ...
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Joe Matassa, Winner 1988
Ward Melville
Joe Matassa started playing lacrosse with the Sachem youth league at 11-years old and remembers scoring plenty of goals against Ward Melville - his hometown team. Eventually, he rose thorough the ranks and was a two-year varsity player for Joe Cuozzo and the Patriots. He was an All-American and the winner of the 1988 Ray Enners Award. "He was just a great all around athlete," said Mike Hoppey, the current coach at Ward Melville, who coached Matassa in football in 1988 when they won the Rutger's Trophy. "He was a prolific scorer, tough and did everything right." Ward Melville won a state title in 1988, the same year he scored 135 points (63 g, 72 a) to lead the county. He also had 43 points (24 g, 19 a) his junior year. Cuozzo pulled him off the field during practice to tel...
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Steven Randby, Winner 1987
Half Hollow Hills
Former Half Hollow Hills East head coach Doug Mayer said Steven Randby was a remarkable goalie. "Probably the best all around goalie I've ever coached," he said. "Out of the goal, he was the fastest goalie I've ever had." Mayer said Randby came out of the net better than anyone and was able to control the field. "That was one of the reasons why he received so much notoriety," Mayer said. The other was because he played fairly well against Ward Melville in critical games during his varsity career. "They said they never saw anything like it," Mayer recalls. He was a two-year starter and an All-American in high school and won the Ray Enners Award as Suffolk County's top player in 1987. He played college lacrosse at Adelphi University, where he is ranked fourth all-time in saves in a ...
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Jonathan Reese, Winner 1986
West Babylon
Everything about Jonathan Reese's story is intriguing. His dad played lacrosse at Syracuse and was the head coach at his high school's rival. His mom petitioned the school board when he was in 7th grade so he could play because West Babylon didn't allow kids younger than 8th grade to participate in contact sports. He went to Yale and scored more goals in a single season than any other player in the history of Division I lacrosse, and played football while he was there, too. He worked on Wall Street and quit after 9/11. The stadium at Yale is named after him and his brother, who was also a talented athlete. And now, he's starting his own foundation and finds time to coach with the varsity lacrosse club at West Islip. His life has packed enough content in for a book, and every year Jon Ree...
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Scott Reh, Winner 1985
Rocky Point
By the time Scott Reh was born, his father George was a well-respected head coach in Suffolk County. He was the track coach at Bellport when former NBA star Randy Smith was on the team and was also a longtime coach at Newfield. Competition was in his blood. Reh started playing lacrosse in junior high. A varsity golfer for three years, he excelled quickly on the lacrosse field, was a three-time All-County selection, and named All-American his senior year when he scored 55 goals and added 99 assists to have one of the best single seasons in New York State history. He was voted Athlete of the School in both his junior and senior years. His senior year at Rocky Point was one of legend and was voted Athlete of the School for the second year in a row. He was on a state championship soccer...
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Chris Garvey, Winner 1984
Half Hollow Hills
Former Half Hollow Hills East head coach Doug Mayer speaks highly of Chris Garvey today. After all, Garvey was a special player with exceptional stick work and one of the best midfielders to hale from the Hill's program. "He was very quick and very smart on the field," Mayer said. "He could do just about anything with his stick." Garvey was an All-American in high school and won the Ray Enners Award in 1984 as Suffolk County's best player. He played college lacrosse at Harvard University and quickly rose to the top of the Crimson's program as an All-American honorable mention in 1987. He was also a second-team All-New England selection in 1987 and was thought of as a skilled midfielder, who added depth to the Crimson's roster, according to a newspaper article written on campus in the la...
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Chris Walker, Winner 1983
Ward Melville
Chris Walker received his first lacrosse stick in sixth grade from Ward Melville legend Charlie Brown, who happened to live across the street from him. Brown, was an athletic icon in school, playing point guard for the basketball team, quarterback for the football team and goalie for the lacrosse squad. He was a great athletic example to idolize. "All the kids on the block looked up to him," Walker remembers. The following year, Walker bought a new stick from the old Herman"s sporting goods store at the Smithaven Mall and things began to blossom from there. He was a mediocre midfielder at first, but switched to defense by the summer after his sophomore season. "It was one of those moments where I felt more comfortable at that vantage point," he says. He played at Melville at a time whe...
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Tom Gunderson, Winner 1982
Smithtown East
Smithtown East's Tom Gunderson was the school's first and only winner of the Ray Enners Award when he earned the honor in 1982. An All-American his senior year at Smithtown, Gunderson played his college lacrosse at Cornell. He played four years with the Big Red and finished his career with 28 goals and 29 assists from the midfield position. His senior season he was named All-Ivy, having scored 17 goals in 13 games. In 1986 Gunderson briefly played for the New Jersey Arrows of the American Lacrosse League. At Smithtown, Gunderson earned three letters in lacrosse and football. ...
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James M. Smith, Winner 1981
Comsewogue
Jamie Smith didn"t play varsity lacrosse at Comsewogue until 11th grade, but he made an immediate impact. Playing for coach Ken Reese, Smith gained an instant love of the sport and won the Enners Award in 1981 as Suffolk County"s top player. "At the time I didn"t know how big it was," he says. "I did come to appreciate the significance of it and felt honored. I was part of a good team with good coaches. I don"t recall feeling head and shoulders above the rest. It"s a great award in memory of someone who gave his life for the country." Smith played college lacrosse at Cornell, where he was named first team All-Ivy in 1985, under the legend Richie Moran, and competed in the NCAA playoffs as a freshman and sophomore. He recalls strenuous playoff games and intriguing contests against Syracus...
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Glen Mohrman, Winner 1980
Half Hollow Hills
Though Glen Mohrman had the advantage of watching lacrosse games with a different vision thanks to his father Harry, who is a longtime legendary high school coach on Long Island, his biggest gain was what his father taught him outside the realm of athletics. He saw that many of Harry's players went to junior colleges or lesser-known institutions after high school, which led Glen to work harder and get into an exceptional university. After three years of varsity lacrosse at Half Hallow Hills (two years at West when the split happened), he went to the University of Virginia and played for a nationally ranked team all four years. At Hills West, Mohrman was a two-time All-County athlete in football, basketball and lacrosse, an All-American his senior year on the lax field and the recipient ...
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Robert MacAneney, Winner 1979
Brentwood Ross
Rob MacAneney remembers when he first started playing lacrosse which was before Brine came out with their first artificial plastic stick back in the mid-1970s. "It must have been 10 pounds," he jokes. MacAneney was a fierce middie known for his speed and ability to wrest groundballs from his opponents, but also became an offensive threat at Brentwood Ross. Coach Murry once said that when MacAneney played, he seemed to be everywhere and especially wherever the ball was. He was the team's unsung hero as a sophomore, an MVP and Captain as a junior and rose to prominence in Suffolk County when he won the Ray Enners Award in 1979 as the county's top player. He recalls beating Ward Melville on their home field in the first round of the playoffs in 1979, after losing to the almighty Pa...
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Albert Ray, Winner 1978
Copiague
Albert Ray is still spoken of highly in the Copiague and Rutgers athletic communities. Just last year, his name was thrown around as one of the most elusive runners in Rutgers football history on a random message board, some 25 years since he played for the Scarlet Knights. The 1978 Ray Enners Award winner, Ray still has Copiague's career scoring record with 241 points - 31 more than the next person on the list. He played football and lacrosse in high school and college and was equally as brilliant in both. At Rutgers, Ray earned a total of seven varsity letters between the two, and was a three-time All-America selection for lacrosse. He participated in the North-South All-Star game in 1982, and won the Coursen Award the same year as the school's top male student-athlete. Like wise, he w...
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James Metzger, Winner 1977
Half Hollow Hills
At Half Hollow Hills East High School, James Metzger led his team in points and assists in both his junior and senior seasons. He was recognized as an All-American and won the Enners Award in 1977 as Suffolk County's best lacrosse player. In high school, Metzger was a stud in all walks of athletics, also playing football and basketball, but he achieved the most on the lacrosse field. He set school records for points in a season and assists in a game, season and career. He was the only high school athlete selected to both the North-South All-Star football and lacrosse games as a senior. Metzger started every game in his 3 year varsity football career and led his team in scoring in '74, '75, '76 and rushing in '75 and '76. He scored 27 touchdowns, 170 points and rushed for over 2,000 yards....
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Peter Predun, Winner 1976
Harborfields
Former Harvard lacrosse coach Bob Scalise predicted Peter Predun would be an outstanding offensive threat when he recruited the Harborfields lacrosse stud. "When Peter came here he had the shots and the moves needed to be good," Scalise told the Harvard Crimson in 1980, "but since then he has added the little unsung things to make himself great. It is rare to find a major scoring threat, like Peter, so capable of playing defense. The balance of playing skills he employs makes him one of the best middies in the game now." Predun helped bring Harvard back to national prominence with his scoring flair and the team won two Ivy titles under his guidance. The Crimson was a respectable team on the lacrosse field during his four-year tenure. He finished his collegiate career as one of the...
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Bill Brown, Winner 1975
Ward Melville
Bill Brown played on Ward Melville's first Suffolk County and Long Island championship team. He helped push the team to a new level and decades of dominance. Former Ward Melville head coach Joe Cuozzo said Brown was a fantastic finisher and ran a pretty good fast break. "He was usually on the scoring end," Cuozzo recalls. "He was one of the better finishers." Brown scored 47 goals and added 54 assists during his career, according to Ward Melville stat guru Will Gray. He was an All-American in high school and won the Ray Enners Award in 1975 as Suffolk County's most outstanding lacrosse player. Current Ward Melville head coach Mike Hoppey played with Brown for one season and said he went to West Point for a short time before transferring to Rutgers University. ...
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Bill Carpluk, Winner 1974
Central Islip
There are certain things Bill Carpluk can say he did that many other current Central Islip graduates can not: he played for George O'Leary in two sports, he graduated as one of the most recognizable athletes of the 1970s and he played lacrosse for the Buccaneers when they actually had a program. Carpluk, who won the Ray Enners Award in 1974, played four years of lacrosse, and was on the varsity football team for three seasons. He was an All-American midfielder his senior year. O'Leary wasn't yet the George O'Leary America has come to know over the last 30 years. The Central Islip native was just a high school teacher and budding young coach in Suffolk County, but he knew how to get through to his student athletes. Carpluk was one of them. Central Islip was compe...
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Bob McGuire, Winner 1973
Huntington
Bob McGuire's initial involvement with lacrosse is odd to say the least. He moved from Commack to Huntington in 7th grade and his allergist recommended he play outdoors and run around to beat asthma, which served as a crippling pain during his childhood. "He said you have to do something different to get it out of your system," McGuire said. "I was constantly having asthma attacks." A guy who lived next door asked him to come outside one day and toss a ball around and the rest is history. He would run with ankle weights, lift weights and eventually practiced lacrosse non-stop and grew out of asthma not long after. He remembers the days of practicing in the neighborhood, tossing balls around in back yards and blasting the radio to what he calls a "social practice...
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Frank Urso, Winner 1972
Brentwood
There are many names synonymous with Long Island lacrosse, but few get the respect and praise as the name Frank Urso. Somewhat of a mythical legend now thanks to a prolific high school and collegiate career, Urso is thought of as one of the greatest players to ever pick up a lacrosse stick in the world and especially on Long Island. Urso relied on his natural athletic ability to play all sports. He was a late bloomer in lacrosse, only playing as early as ninth grade in junior high. Originally on the track team, a friend talked him into playing and the rest is history. "I was getting bored from track," he says. "He had a stick and all that good stuff and said why don't you try it?" Urso played three years of varsity lacrosse at Brentwood, where he was also a star...
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Richard Meister, Winner 1971
Deer Park
Richard Meister was an All-American at Deer Park and won the Ray Enners Award in 1971 as the top player in Suffolk County. Though no records exist from that time period of Deer Park athletic history, his days at Brown are well chronicled. He was a three-year starter on defense and helped Brown to three straight winning seasons and an Ivy title in 1973. "He was a terrific lacrosse player at Brown," said Dom Starsia, the head coach at Virginia and a teammate of Meister's, during a video tribute for him in 2009, "a big, strong, solid defenseman. He was someone you could always rely on." His senior year he was a team captain, a First Team All-Ivy selection and played in the 1975 North South All-Star game. Three of his brothers - Steve, John and Charlie - all played lacrosse at Brown. Meis...
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Mike McCormick, Winner 1970
Ward Melville
Mike McCormick was the first recipient of the Ray Enners Award in 1970. McCormick was the quarterback on the offense of the Ward Melville lacrosse team and was, "a real team guy, a real leader," former Melville head coach Joe Cuozzo recalls. Cuozzo only started coaching varsity lacrosse there in 1969, so McCormick was his first big-time player and we all know the lore that followed. Though his one goal and 42 assists during his junior year are nothing fancy, McCormick was very responsible for helping get the program going in the right direction that first year. McCormick scored 19 goals and had 41 assists in his senior year when he won the Enners Award giving him final career stats of 20 goals and 83 assists. "That was back in the wooden stick days," Cuozzo says. "Mike was part of a pre...
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Award Winners
