Hempstead PAL Lacrosse Players Receive Conveted Team Awards

Three Hempstead PAL Tigers lacrosse players received coveted awards at recent ceremonies that capped a 5-3 winning season for the team of seventh and eighth graders.

Bentley Cannon received The Rob Pannell Award as the team’s outstanding player. This inaugural award is named for Rob Pannell, a professional lacrosse player who formerly starred at Cornell University. He is the fourth leading scorer in men's Division I history and he holds the Cornell and Ivy League all-time scoring records. Pannell attended Smithtown High School in Suffolk County, where he played on the varsity lacrosse team for three years. He led Long Island in scoring during his senior year with a school record 130 points. Pannell was named offensive MVP of the team that season and earned a place on Newsday's All-Long Island second team. He also was named to the 2007 high school All-American team.

Kaylib Bruzon and Joseph Henn received The James C. Metzger Award for "their strong work ethic and improvement made throughout the lacrosse season." James C. Metzgerwas a three-sport athlete at Half Hollow Hills East in Dix Hills. He received the 1977 Lt. Ray Enners Award for outstanding Suffolk County lacrosse player when he scored 102 points and received All-American honors. An All-American lacrosse player at Hofstra University, Metzger’s support for Long Island lacrosse includes boys high school leadership, MVP and outstanding player awards for teams in Nassau and Suffolk counties. He is the founder and chairman of Whitmore – The Agency, an insurance and financial services firm in Garden City now known as Acrisure.

The Pannell and Metzger awards were presented by Hempstead PAL Coach Alan Hodish, Metzger and James Pannell, Rob Pannell’s brother and two-time All-American and career points leader at Smithtown West High School. He was an All-American at the University of Virginia and a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) All-Star.

The Hempstead PAL Program, which includes players introduced to the game for the first time, has continued to increase in popularity since its introduction to the community 12 years ago. The program is led by Alan Hodish, a former lacrosse and football coach at Hempstead High School. An attorney in Garden City and an East Meadow resident, he has coached youth lacrosse on Long Island for decades. Hodish is a member of the Long Island Metropolitan Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame.