West Islip Patch Athlete of the Week

West Islip Patch names West Islip High School senior Andrew Hodgson as the Athlete of the Week. In last week's county championship game against Ward Melville, it was Hodgson's play that helped seal the Suffolk Class A championship for West Islip in lacrosse.

Last Thursday, with the Lions leading 8-7 at the end of the half, Hodgson went to work to ensure that the county title would stay in West Islip. In the second half, he had three goals and two assists. Lions coach Scott Craig called Hodgson's play "outrageous."

Craig seems to have a knack for saying the right thing to get Hodgson going. In the semifinals game against Connetquot, Hodgson was down on himself at the end of the first half when Craig offered him advice, telling his player he was trying to do too much. Hodgson responded with two goals in third quarter en route to the Lions 13-9 win.

Then last week against Ward Melville, Craig told Hodgson that being tightly checked should not be enough to keep an All-American player down. Craig's advice paid off again as Hodgson led the Lions' onslaught, which helped advance West Islip to the Long Island championship on Tuesday against Farmingdale at Hofstra University,