Nassau

Sophomore Ethan Mills had six goals and two assists to lead Nassau Community College over Herkimer County Community College, 22-11, in the junior college national lacrosse championship game at Essex Community College yesterday.Herkimer, the five-time defending champion, had won 32 consecutive games.Mills, named the tournament's Best Offensive Player, had three goals and an assist in the first 15 minutes.Nassau (12-5) led 7-2 and never trailed.Mike Wilber and Chris Knever combined for six goals and six assists.

Adam Dahms had three goals and two assists as CCBC-Essex, the No. 1 men's lacrosse team in the National Junior College Athletic Association, defeated visiting No. 2 Nassau Community College, 9-8, on Sunday. After trailing 8-7 late in the fourth quarter, the Knights, 10-0 (3-0 MD JUCO), came back to take the lead and secure the victory. Also leading the Knights offensively were Brandon Kendrick (Mount St. Joseph) with three goals and an assist, and John Atkinson (Calvert Hall)

They knocked little Brian Kelly down not once, not twice but three times in the third quarter yesterday.But Kelly, a fiery midfielder who played as a freshman at Johns Hopkins, kept getting back up and finally, in the fourth quarter, he scored two key goals to help Essex Community College hold off a rallying Nassau (N.Y.) Community College, 13-11, in the semifinals of the National Junior College Athletic Association championships at Catonsville Community College.The victory sends Essex (15-0)

GARDEN CITY, N.J. -- Nassau Community College goalkeeper Charles Parr was named the defensive Most Valuable Player of the National Junior College Athletic Association final four. As far as CCBC-Essex was concerned, though, Parr could have shared the honor with the rest of his teammates. A swarming Nassau defense shut down Essex, which scored its fewest goals in more than two months in an 11-6 loss to the Lions in the national championship game at Mitchel Field. "They were shutting me off, and usually when they shut you off it's tough to run," said Essex attackman Andrew Reinhardt (Calvert Hall)

A rematch of last year's championship game will highlight the first day of the National Junior College Athletic Association men's lacrosse final four, which comes to CCBC-Essex this weekend. The host Knights, who won the Region XX title with a 15-8 victory over CCBC-Catonsville on Sunday, will meet defending national champion Nassau (N.Y.) in today's second semifinal at 3 p.m. The Lions (8-6) thrashed Essex in last year's title game, 14-2, but enter today's contest as the third seed after losing the teams' regular-season meeting, 14-11.

Already the cabdrivers line the cruise ship piers in Nassau plugging tours to Anna Nicole Smith's home and gravesite. Just as it did elsewhere, the Smith circus pushed everything else off the front page in this capital city of the Bahamas, a chain of islands 179 miles southeast of Florida. It's not as if Nassau needed Smith to draw tourists. It has been a perennially popular port for cruise ships for eons. At some time or other, virtually every line schedules stops there. But there's more to Nassau (known to residents as New Providence Island)

Jake Posey scored with two minutes left in the second overtime off an assist from Ian Cordwell to lift CCBC-Essex past Herkimer, 16-15, in the semifinals of the JUCO men's lacrosse national championships yesterday at CCBC-Catonsville. Essex (11-4), the tournament's third seed, will play top-ranked Nassau in today's title game at 1 p.m. at CCBC-Catonsville. Herkimer, the second seed, fell to 14-2. Freshman Chris Petrush (C.M. Wright) had 26 saves for the Knights, including five point-blank stops in the two overtime periods.

A year ago, the CCBC-Essex men's lacrosse team threw everything it had at Nassau Community College in the National Junior College Athletic Association championship game, and it still got steamrollered by 12 goals. When the teams met yesterday in the NJCAA semifinals, the result was once again a blowout. This time, however, it was host Essex that did the routing. The Knights defeated the Lions, 16-8, to earn their second straight appearance in the national championship game and ended a string of four consecutive titles for Nassau.

CCBC-Essex entered yesterday's National Junior College Athletic Association men's lacrosse national championship game battling injuries to its midfield, tired legs and more than three decades of tradition. Given that, a 14-2 loss at CCBC-Catonsville to perennial-power Nassau (N.Y.) Community College didn't come completely by surprise. For the Knights (11-5), however, even palatable excuses didn't ease the pain. "When you're playing against a team that can pick from 100 or 200 schools on Long Island with all great lacrosse players, it's a little tough," Essex coach Tim Puls said.

In one sense, it seemed only right that top-ranked and undefeated CCBC-Essex should have advanced to today's championship game of the National Junior College Athletic Association lacrosse tournament at Essex - as it did in yesterday's 11-10 overtime victory - having proven its worthiness repeatedly over the season. In another, however, Nassau Community College might have expected the chance to play for its 21st national title, given the upper hand it held over the Knights for 58 minutes, 57 seconds as the two teams met for the second time this year.

Already the cabdrivers line the cruise ship piers in Nassau plugging tours to Anna Nicole Smith's home and gravesite. Just as it did elsewhere, the Smith circus pushed everything else off the front page in this capital city of the Bahamas, a chain of islands 179 miles southeast of Florida. It's not as if Nassau needed Smith to draw tourists. It has been a perennially popular port for cruise ships for eons. At some time or other, virtually every line schedules stops there. But there's more to Nassau (known to residents as New Providence Island)

NASSAU, Bahamas -- Reporters for The Bahama Journal newspaper and Love 97 radio station packed their joint newsroom one recent morning and scribbled their story assignments upon a whiteboard. "Morton Salt Follow-up" referred to a union dispute between the Morton Salt Co. and miners on the island of Inagua. The "Haitian Poachers" headline related to Haitian fishermen who cruised into Bahamian waters and illegally fished the prized Nassau grouper. One topic absent from the board: Anna Nicole Smith.

LEVITTOWN, N.Y. - More than 50 years ago, World War II veterans and their families swarmed to Long Island for the single-family homes and green lawns of a new, affordable, middle-class dreamland called suburbia. But these days many of their grandchildren can no longer afford to live here. With census figures showing the number of 18- to 34-year-olds on the island down 20 percent between 1990 and 2000, employers worry about a shrinking labor force, politicians fret about a declining tax base and Long Islanders debate how much change they're willing to consider to stanch the population hemorrhage.

NASSAU, Bahamas - Hurricane Frances flattened houses, tore open roads and flooded broad stretches during its three-day rip through the Bahamas, killing at least three, injuring dozens and knocking out electricity, telephone and water lines throughout the islands. The strong, slow-moving Category 2 hurricane stormed directly over Grand Bahama yesterday, blasting the Caribbean nation's second-most-populated island with sustained winds of 105 mph and soaking the international airport under 6 feet of water.

NASSAU, Bahamas - Hurricane Frances barreled up the Bahamas yesterday, ravaging island after island with high winds, heavy rains and surging seas as it took aim on Florida. In Nassau, home to two-thirds of the nation's 300,000 inhabitants, 90-mph gusts blew out windows, sheared limbs off trees and ripped power lines from utility poles. White surf smashed boats into seawalls and flooded coastal roads. A Nassau teenager was electrocuted yesterday, the first death here attributed to Frances.

In one sense, it seemed only right that top-ranked and undefeated CCBC-Essex should have advanced to today's championship game of the National Junior College Athletic Association lacrosse tournament at Essex - as it did in yesterday's 11-10 overtime victory - having proven its worthiness repeatedly over the season. In another, however, Nassau Community College might have expected the chance to play for its 21st national title, given the upper hand it held over the Knights for 58 minutes, 57 seconds as the two teams met for the second time this year.

Nassau used to be a cheap weekend. A quickie cruise from Lauderdale to the Bahamas. A second-rate gambling junket. The poor man's Caribbean experience. Not anymore. If you want to come to Nassau -- and you may, after reading this -- raise your expectations and assume the brace position for a little sticker shock. And we're not talking just about the marine-themed Atlantis resort -- though we will talk about that later. First, a quick geographical orientation and a bit of history: Nassau is the capital, main port and only real town on New Providence Island, one of 700 Bahamian islands.

Willie Mitchell bounds up and down the stairs, time and again, like in football practice, only these aren't stadium steps he's taking but the narrow, spiral staircase of a 19th-century shell in Bolton Hill. His uncle is renovating the house and Mitchell, a college cornerback, lends a hand during semester break.Some vacation. Mitchell charges up each step of the three-story rowhome as if he were in on a blitz."Willie must climb these stairs 100 times a day," says Renny Bass, his uncle. "It's good training; it keeps him fit for football."

A year ago, the CCBC-Essex men's lacrosse team threw everything it had at Nassau Community College in the National Junior College Athletic Association championship game, and it still got steamrollered by 12 goals. When the teams met yesterday in the NJCAA semifinals, the result was once again a blowout. This time, however, it was host Essex that did the routing. The Knights defeated the Lions, 16-8, to earn their second straight appearance in the national championship game and ended a string of four consecutive titles for Nassau.

A rematch of last year's championship game will highlight the first day of the National Junior College Athletic Association men's lacrosse final four, which comes to CCBC-Essex this weekend. The host Knights, who won the Region XX title with a 15-8 victory over CCBC-Catonsville on Sunday, will meet defending national champion Nassau (N.Y.) in today's second semifinal at 3 p.m. The Lions (8-6) thrashed Essex in last year's title game, 14-2, but enter today's contest as the third seed after losing the teams' regular-season meeting, 14-11.