Sam Rothman Wins Coveted Metzger HHH East Lacrosse Award

While athletes on all the sports teams at Half Hollow Hills High School East did not know when or if another season would be cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, lacrosse standout Sam Rothman had an additional personal concern. He was worried that an injury might prevent him from playing during his senior year if and when New York State permitted schools to resume sports activities.

But, Rothman was committed to his off-field work to recover from the injury. During the early spring, when lacrosse received permission to open its season, Rothman was ready to lead the Thunderbirds. He was rewarded with a Suffolk All-County designation and the team’s coveted James C. Metzger Outstanding Player Award.

As the calendar flipped to 2021, hopes for high school athletics had risen and fallen with each passing day as schools faced new revelations and restrictions related to the pandemic. For lacrosse players, a limited winter league had been organized during the crises. The league featured indoor and outdoor games with strict limitations for coaches, players and fans. During one of those contests, Rothman had been stick-checked in an awkward location that dislocated his shoulder and tore his labrum. At that time, a final season for the Thunderbirds appeared bleak, another personal setback following a junior season that had been wiped from the schedule.

Following surgery in mid-January to repair the injury, Rothman worked diligently at physical therapy and the gym to provide himself with the chance to play during his final high school season should the state permit resumption of lacrosse. The ball then bounced into Rothman’s stick. The season opened and he missed only one game and half of another contest while recording solid scoring numbers.

An attackman on the travel team, Rothman mostly played middie for Half Hollow Hills. A four-year varsity starter, he had been building an outstanding high school career when COVID shut down play. He scored 18 points as a freshman and 29 in his second season. Following the interruption and still recovering from that shoulder injury, Rothman recorded 43 points with a team-leading 35 goals during a grueling condensed season that scheduled a game every other day for five weeks.

“Through grit and perseverance, he returned to captain his team,” said Paul Benway, Half Hollow Hills East varsity lacrosse coach. “Sam is a remarkable young man and his coaches are extremely proud of him.”

Rothman excelled in the classroom, too, with many citations on the school’s honor roll. According to Seth Rothman, his father and biggest fan, the scholar-athlete is a “quiet leader who lets his play speak for him.”

Meets With Metzger

Rothman was able to meet James Metzger, an outstanding Half Hollow Hills East and Hofstra University athlete during the 1970s and now a lacrosse benefactor, at the Long Island Lacrosse Showcase at Farmingdale High School on July 2.

“It was an unexpected honor and I wanted to formally thank [Mr. Metzger] not only for the award but also for everything [he does] for our Hills family and the lacrosse community at large,” said Rothman, who is committed to SUNY Cortlandt beginning this September.

Since he now is a high school graduate, Rothman did not participate in this year's showcase, which allows high school players to display their talents for college coaches. But the 2021 games provided the opportunity for father and son to meet Metzger, who presented the Metzger Cup to the winning teams and most valuable player awards for each of the four games between Nassau and Suffolk counties, formally thank him for the honor and to chat about the game, leadership and the younger Rothman’s plans for college.

Following the roller coaster ride on and off the field during the last four years, Sam Rothman is looking forward to his college days. He is bringing to the campus exceptional talent, experience and leadership. He also has the good wishes from Metzger, who is the founder and CEO of insurance and financial services company The Whitmore Agency of Garden City. All this will help Rothman take that next step in his lacrosse career and his life journey.