By:KEITH GRANT
As an employee with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union, Steve Sombrotto should take extra pride in Labor Day. But instead of hitting the sand or a barbecue, the Long Beach man was hard at work in Bridgeport, Conn. His labor paid off, though. Sombrotto helped his Long Island Lizards become the first champions of Major League Lacrosse.
Founded by Long Island native Jake Steinfeld, the fledgling professional league featured six teams representing Long Island, Boston, Baltimore, Bridgeport, New Jersey and Rochester. Thousands of Long Island fans flocked to Hofstra and EAB Park to see a cast of lacrosse royalty take the field for the Lizards: Casey Powell, Terry Riordan, Gary and Paul Gait, and Sombrotto's older brother, Vinny. The elder Sombrotto is already a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, but had to be coaxed into suiting up for the new league at age 41.
He didn't really want to do it,Steve said. I put the paper work in for him the night before the deadline. I told him afterward, come on! It'll be fun.
No one could doubt that now that the team has made history as the league's first champions. The title win came over the Baltimore Bayhawks, a talent-loaded squad that had beaten the Lizards in the teams' only two prior meetings. This time around, Long Island controlled from the start and rolled to a 15-11 win.
It was a nice win,Sombrotto said. To go out there, work all summer, and get the job done and win is great.
The Port Jefferson native, who moved to Long Beach this past spring, left an indelible mark on last Saturday's semifinal game, a 13-12 overtime win over Rochester. Sombrotto made a nearly impossible pass to set up the winning goal in a breathtaking semifinal that saw the Lizards rally from 12-9 down in the final minutes to force overtime.
In the sudden-death extra session, Sombrotto took a pass that he promptly lost when he was crushed by a pair of Rochester players. However, the midfielder never lost sight of the ball and managed to smack a hockey-like pass down field to Powell, who dished a behind-the-back pass to Paul Gait for the game winner.
We kept rewinding that play Sunday night,Sombrotto said. It was actually a play we drew up Thursday night, but it didn't quite go as well. I got sandwiched between two guys. Then trying to pick [the ball] up, I looked up and there was a third guy was coming to lay me out. I just whacked it, like a nine-iron golf shot.
From his back, Sombrotto watched Gait bury the winner that sent the team onto Monday's championship. The come-from-behind nature of the semifinal win was typical of the Lizards' season.
This team will never pack it in. Not with the talent we have,Sombrotto said. We're mentally tough, and one thing we never do is panic.
Though I would have much rather win 16-10!
