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NYC Mayor's Cup - PSAL Vs Independent All-Stars
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Game Photos: NYC Mayor’s Cup – Public Vs Private

The Mayor’s Cup in New York City used to be a jamboree style event at the beginning of the season where teams from all over the City could come together and play 3-4 games to kick off the season.  As the Public School Athletic League has grown however, the Mayor’s Office decided it would be a good idea to change the format of the event to a Senior All-Star game.

NYC Mayor's Cup - PSAL Vs Independent All-Stars

2012 marked the first year of the new format, and since I’ve been to the last 3 Mayor’s Cup events, I had to check this one out as well.  It was great to see the public schools kids play the Independents, and the game was pretty tight.  Only five years ago, this game would have been a blowout, with the private schoolers taking it easily.  The winner of this game plays the Catholic League All-Stars for the Mayor’s Cup Championship on Sunday.

It is worth noting that a number of the private school kids couldn’t make the game, and they were forced to play the game with only ten men.  It was IRON MAN lax, and while the public school team deserves credit for keeping it competitive, I do think the Independent short bench helped keep it tighter than it might have been otherwise.

NYC Mayor's Cup - PSAL Vs Independent All-Stars

The Independents were up 10-5 at the half, and the PSAL team made a strong comeback late in the game to make it a one goal game.  In the end, the private school All-Stars pulled out the 17-13 win. Today (Sunday June 3rd), the Independent All-Stars play again, and from what we hear, player attendance will be better.

In the event’s first year with the new format, it makes sense that some kids would have to miss the games as the public, private and Catholic schools in the City all use different calendars.  Hopefully, as the event moves forward, it gains momentum, and kids begin to prioritize it over proms, vacations and other late Spring temptations, but for the first year, it went pretty well.

NYC Mayor's Cup - PSAL Vs Independent All-Stars

Poly Prep and Trinity players were the stars for the Independents.  Max Goupit, Hugo Francis, Anthony Reyes, Henry Plagemann, Andrew Fradin and Akira Baruah all stood out, as did Horace Mann’s Ben Deutsch, especially at the face off X.  For the Public school team, both the New Dorp and Tottenville keepers played well and Kenneth Coughlin, Daniel Marroquin, Desean Abraham, Gino Agnese and Brian Higgins were all excellent on the field.

I got to spend some time speaking with John Murphy, the PSAL Lacrosse Commissioner, and the future is bright for NYC public HS lacrosse.  There were also at least two college coaches (ASA Junior College and Mount St. Vincent) in attendance looking for potential players.

A sunny day and some quality lacrosse in the City. Not a bad day! Had a great time hanging out with Joel Taliento, Rudy Martinez and Al Escalante on the sidelines.  I also got to speak with Hector Munoz of Trinity and Brooks Sweet of Poly Prep, and those two guys did a GREAT job running an All-Star team with only 10 players.