After A.P. Randolph tied the score with a late fourth quarter goal, Stuyvesant’s boys’ lacrosse team, the Peglegs, prepared itself for overtime. Stuyvesant was playing its first PSAL lacrosse game in history on Thursday, March 27. In the overtime session, junior and attackman Zakhar Shtulberg scored on a bounce shot—sealing the win for the Peglegs. This was a relatively low-scoring game, with no goals scored in the first half of play. Junior and goalie Joshua Levitt made 13 saves. The final score was 2-1.

The Peglegs played Frederick Douglass Academy, a Division II team, on Monday, March 31. Frederick Douglass scored on their first possession following the face-off, quickly setting the pace for the game. Soon enough, Stuyvesant found themselves down by six goals at halftime, and ultimately lost 11-1. This loss brought the Peglegs to an even 1-1 record.

The relative ease with which Frederick Douglas Academy scored in the first half significantly lowered the Peglegs’ morale, which was reflected in their weak offensive performance throughout the game. “I wasn’t happy with our execution on offense. But it’s only been a couple of weeks, so there’s room for improvement,” junior and defensemen Tarek Elessawi said.

Coming off of this hard loss, the Peglegs competed in the 2008 Mayor’s Cup Lacrosse Jamboree on Saturday, April 5. Eighteen varsity high school lacrosse teams from public, private and parochial schools throughout the five boroughs competed in this invitational event.

The Peglegs had five scheduled games for the day. Their first was against Sports Professions High School, the only other developmental team in their league. Stuyvesant won by a score of 8-1, displaying a much stronger offense than in their recent game against Frederick Douglas Academy. “The most important game for us was against Sports Professions, because they were the only other developmental team and we were able to play well and get a big win,” junior and midfielder Mikhail Goman said.

Their second game was against the much stronger Division I Curtis Warriors, to whom they lost by only one goal. After forfeiting their third game against Frederick Douglass due to a glitch in the schedule, the Peglegs defeated the Division I Port Richmond High School Red Raiders by a score of 3-2. In their last game, Stuyvesant tied the Division II Lehman High School.

The second meeting between Stuyvesant and Lehman on Tuesday, April 8 turned out to be more of a one-sided affair. Lehman took an early lead, and never looked back. They held on to win by a score of 9-4. “I thought we were going to make a comeback near the end of the game, but the defense fell apart and it was really tough to bear,” junior and goaltender Joshua Levitt said. Despite their highest goal total in three games, Stuyvesant faltered in their comeback attempt.

The Peglegs are hoping to improve throughout the course of the season by focusing on their fundamentals. “Lacrosse is a game with a lot of fundamentals,” Peglegs’ coach Brian Sacks said. He hopes to improve the team’s “passing, scooping, catching, and defense” among other things.

Coach Sacks views this season as the template for lacrosse at Stuyvesant. This season may as well determine lacrosse’s place in the future. “My goals for this season are [...] to understand that our wins and losses don’t matter. It’s about building for the future,” he said.