RYAN CLAY/Arizona Daily Wildcat Senior Laxcat attackman Jay Spatafora has overcome serious injury and the transition from the East Coast to lead the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League in scoring in his final season.

It's approximately 2,400 miles from Long Island, N.Y., to Tucson.

Two years ago, this was the distance Laxcat senior attackman Jay Spatafora traveled from his native city to play lacrosse at UA.

It was a long trip for the team's leading scorer.

However, according to head lacrosse coach Adam Hopkins, the distance he has traveled as a player in the past two years at UA has been his biggest journey yet.

Spatafora struggled through an injury-plagued 2001 season in which he played in only 8 of 19 games and scored 19 total points.

"(Last season) he never really got a chance to show what he could do, because of his injury," Hopkins said.

During the summer before his first season with the Laxcats, Spatafora was injured in a pick-up lacrosse game in Tucson.

The Long Island native tore his ACL, was forced to have surgery on his knee, and went through five months of intensive rehab.

"It was hard," Spatafora said about the injury. "I basically had to learn to walk all over again."

This season Spatafora is walking just fine.

He is the current points leader (85) and assists leader (42) in the West Coast Lacrosse League and has led the Laxcats to a 13-1 record and regular-season WCLL South championship.

"A lot of what he has done this year is because of his injury," Hopkins said.

Hopkins said Spatafora has learned a lot from time away from the game.

"(After his injury) he had a different attitude," Hopkins said. "He's enjoyed the game more and respected the game more."

Teammate and senior goalie Greg Parkington agreed and said that Spatafora's injury has humbled him a bit.

"It made him appreciate his natural ability a little more," said Parkington, who is also the team's president.

Another impressive stat that Spatafora has put up this year is his balance in scoring.

He currently has 43 goals and 42 assists.

Many of the other players in the Top 10 in WCLL points are loaded in just one area.

"It's amazing to see him keep his goals and assists balanced," Parkington said. "You tend to see guys that are uneven - they just score goals or just get assists - but Jay is really balanced."

"I'm not really surprised by the points he has put up," Hopkins said. "Both Jay and I knew that if he worked hard (this season), he'd be successful."

Spatafora was humble in attributing his success to his teammates.

"It's everybody. It's the attack. It's the midfielder. It's the defense," he said.

Before coming to UA, Spatafora played at Nassau Community College in Garden City, N.Y.

Nassau is a perennial lacrosse powerhouse and has won 20 lacrosse national championships, including one while Spatafora was there.

At this time, Spatafora was selected to the under-19 lacrosse National Select team and got to compete against countries like Australia and Canada.

After his national competition and community college career, Spatafora decided to take a year off and coached a high school lacrosse team in New York.

In the summer of 2000 he decided to come out west to UA because he was burnt out and wanted a more of a relaxed atmosphere.

"Jay is a kind of laid-back kid," Hopkins said. "But when it gets down to it, he wants to win and score points."

The Laxcats are traveling to play the No. 1 Sonoma State Cossacks on Saturday at 1 p.m. This will be the Laxcats' final regular-season game before hosting a WCLL playoff game on Saturday April 20th.