Pondering a Post three-peat in men's lacrosse

C.W. Post men's lacrosse, take two. As in two consecutive NCAA Division II titles.

"I don't think we were going into the year saying we're going to repeat,'' coach John Jez said yesterday, six days after beating upstate Le Moyne in the title game. "We had a bunch of style players who fed off of each other and worked well with each other.''

Post duplicated Le Moyne's back-to-back run of 2006 and 2007. With NYIT winning in 2008, Long Island has owned the title three straight years.

So how about a three-peat for Post? "I'm not really thinking about that,'' Jez said.

Not yet, anyway.

The leading players

D Joe Blount, Sr., Lawrence. First team, USILA All-American. Led the Pioneers with 25 caused turnovers and also scooped up 25 ground balls.

M Mike Cama, Sr., Island Trees. First team All-American. The best faceoff specialist in the country with a .703 percentage. Had 193 ground balls.

D Richard Schmidt, Sr., Hicksville. First team All-American. Totaled 43 ground balls and 23 turnovers, with big game against Dowling in national semifinal as he caused four turnovers and picked up three ground balls. Played for Sacred Heart as a freshman and Nassau CC as a sophomore. Wears an NYFD shirt under his jersey every game in memory of his uncle, who died in the Sept. 11 attacks.

D Bryan Leonard, Sr., Lakeland (Yorktown, N.Y.) Second team All-American. Accumulated 35 ground balls and caused 17 turnovers, including two against Le Moyne in title game.

M Joe Meo, Sr., Sayville. Second team All-American. Scored 41 goals on a team-leading 88 shots on goal. Added 11 ground balls and caused five turnovers. Meo scored at least three goals on nine occasions

M Mike Messina, Jr., Sayville. Second team All-American. Scored 18 goals, added 19 assists, picked up 21 ground balls and caused eight turnovers. His family has been involved in three straight titles as his brother, Matt, played for NYIT 2008 champion. Scored hat tricks against Mercy and Mercyhurst.

The production team

D Erik Boyd, Jr., Made one of the biggest defensive plays of the season when he partially blocked the point-blank shot of Dowling's John McClure in the final quarter of the national semifinal.

A Nicholas Coric, Jr., De La Salle (Calif.). Scored 24 goals and added 27 assists to finish second in scoring with 51 points. He scored six goals against Seton Hill, had three assists against Le Moyne.

D Dan DaCosta, Soph., Lakeland (Putnam Valley. Started 14 games and caused 23 turnovers.

G Michael Giordano, Jr., Farmingdale. Reclaimed his starting job down the stretch, going 8-0 with a .500 save percentage. Allowed 6.51 goals per game. Came up big against Dowling in the semifinal by shutting down the Golden Lions late while Post mounted a comeback. Made season-high 11 saves in pivotal game against Mercyhurst

M James Johnston, Jr., Sachem East. Breakout season with 18 goals, 13 ground balls and five caused turnovers. Came up big in Dowling games, totaling five in two meetings.

M Nick Lacagnina, Jr. Sachem East. Started in 15 games and had 40 ground balls while causing nine turnovers. He tallied two goals, added an assist, caused two turnovers and picked up three ground balls in the national semifinal against Dowling.

A Justin Patterson, Fr. Corning East (N.Y.). Nine goals on only 11 shots on goal. Added 15 assists.

A Eddie Plompen, Soph., West Islip. Terrific shot, led the team with 45 goals and nine assists for 54 points. Scored the tying and winning goals against Dowling in the NCAA semifinal and scored four goals on four shots against Le Moyne in the title game. Had 41 ground balls.

A Matt Ricco, RF., Bridgeston Academy (Conn.). Saw action in 17 games in his first season with the Pioneers and scored nine goals. Also had eight assists and 17 ground balls.

A Keith Rodriguez, So., Lakeland (N.Y.). Good scorer and playmaker who had 16 goals and 14 assists.

M Wade Unger, Soph., Longwood. Picked up 32 ground balls and caused 12 turnovers Ungar caused 12 turnovers and picked up 32 ground balls.

D John Wood, Jr., Marblehead (Mass.). Became an integral part of the defense, with 40 ground balls and also caused 19 turnovers.

The understudies

D Keith Arcuri, Soph., South Side. Played for state high school champion in 2004.

A Marc Andreassi, Soph., Sachem North. Active skeet shooter.

M Brian Andrews, Jr., Hicksville. Doubles as building manger at campus' Pratt Recreation Center.

D Sean Baum, Jr., Bellmore JFK. Played for 2008 NJCAA champ Nassau CC.

D/M Rich Blumberg, Gr., Plainedge. Studying for his masters in adolescence education.

D Matt Carrello, Fr., Bethpage. Wants to become a pediatrician.

D Mike Celano, Sr., Calhoun. Picked up 13 ground balls and caused seven turnovers.

A/M Brad DeSouza, So. St. Andrew's (Conn.) Ed, his dad, played at NYIT.

G Nick Foote, Jr., St. Joseph's (Conn.) Aiming for career in law enforcement.

A Thomas Giordano, So., Kellenberg. His brother, Pat, played at Post in 2007.

A/M John Hannan, So., Saratoga Springs. Biology major.

A/M Doug Hoch, Jr., Lakeland (N.Y.) Was All-American at Herkimer CC.

M Ronnie Irving, Jr., North Shore. Played for 2008 NJCAA champ Nassau CC.

M Justin Ivanditto, Fr., Bay Shore. Majoring in television and film editing.

M James Kozlakowski, So., Lynbrook. Won eight of 12 faceoffs this season.

D Gavin McCormack, Jr., Long Beach. Brother, Tim, is goalie at Massachusetts.

D Rob Messina, Fr., Sayville. Younger Brother of Mike. Led Sayville to LI championship.

M Peter Michaleas, Jr., Glen Cove. Once scored six goals in a high school game.

A Vito Minerva, Jr., Smithtown East. Played ice hockey for 10 years.

M Luke Murray, Fr., Pine Bush (N.Y.). Scored 41 goals in his senior year of high school.

G Bert Olin, Fr., Horseheads Brother, Bill, plays lacrosse at Rutgers.

M Travis Ray, Fr., Deer Park. Big on concerts and softball, wants to teach history.

A Kyle Riegel, So., Island Trees. Brother Scott played football at Hofstra.

M Chris Ruhlig, Fr., Avon Old Farms. High school team was Winged Beavers.

G Dan Orlando, Jr., South Side. Transfer from Hofstra.

G Drew Smith, Sr., East Hampton Transferred from Adelphi.

D Nick Watson, So., Trumbull. Was a scholar athlete in high school.

M Austin Wolfson, Sr., Calhoun. Favorite athlete is LeBron James.

Coach John Jez (Fourth year, 51-9). Started his career at Post as a non-paid assistant, now, at 40, among the most influential and respected coaches in the nation. Let the players give him a buzz hair cut after beating Mercyhurst.

Assistants: Frank Vitolo, Chris Gencorelli, Dan Forsyth, Nick Dello-Iacono, Greg Cerar.