Yonkers PD Tops Yonkers FD During Annual Hockey Match

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The teams' preparation for the game may have influenced its outcome. Firefighter Joe Golusinski said his team trained by watching the 1977 movie, "Slapshot." The police, meanwhile, had five practices before yesterday's game, played on a warm spring afternoon.

Oh, c'mon YFD!!!!! LOL!

Police have an ice day

By DAVID MCKAY WILSON

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: April 10, 2005)

The Yonkers police won bragging rights over the city's firefighters yesterday, beating them 3-1 in the ninth annual charity hockey match between the city's uniformed officers.

Jim O'Conner scored a goal for the police just 17 seconds into the game, and they dominated for the rest of the game, with their tight defense keeping the firefighters at bay.

It marked the second consecutive year the police have won. But the firefighters still lead the series, 6 to 3.

The teams' preparation for the game may have influenced its outcome. Firefighter Joe Golusinski said his team trained by watching the 1977 movie, "Slapshot." The police, meanwhile, had five practices before yesterday's game, played on a warm spring afternoon.

"That's two in a row for us," said Kevin MacDonald of the Yonkers police after the game. "Hopefully, we've really started a streak."

Several hundred spectators paid $10 a ticket at E.J. Murray Memorial Skating Center on Tuckahoe Road to watch the game. It was a laid-back crowd that ate salted pretzels and dipped into coolers filled with bottles of Budweiser and Coors Light. Golusinski had a big cheering section, including his mother, Jackie; girlfriend Nicole Palmiotto; and neighbor, Sara Gorman.

Others, like Laurie Taccetta, cheered for both sides. She's married to a firefighter, Vinny Taccetta, but her brother, Joe Galinksi, is a cop.

"You stand around long enough and you hear the arguments," Laurie Taccetta quipped. "That's why I come."

In years past, spectators have had good fun debating whether one of the squad's quick skaters was actually a "ringer" brought in from outside the city. This year, however, there was no such talk as the players skated hard for 45 minutes, and ended the game with handshakes and hugs.

Each year, the game benefits a charity, chosen by one of the squads. Last year, the police donated the proceeds to the city's Big Brothers Big Sisters program that provides help to children in need. This year, it was the firefighters' turn, and they chose the family of Staff Sgt. Anthony Lagman, an immigrant from the Philippines, who enlisted in the military straight from Roosevelt High in Yonkers. Lagman died at age 26, in a firefight in Afghanistan 13 months ago.

Lagman was single, so the money will go to Lagman's father, said Chris Lagman, the soldier's older brother. He said his father has yet to decide what to do with the funds, but said he may donate it to a charity.

For Lagman, the charity game brought him back to the Murray Rink, where he recalled watching his slain brother play hockey. Being there also reminded him of the sorrow he felt when word came that his brother was dead.

"His day of homecoming had been postponed twice," Lagman said. "We lost him just weeks before he was to come home. It was really tough."