Ward Melville High School has a strict code of conduct...

Ward Melville High School has a strict code of conduct for student athletes which are signed by the athletes, their parents and the coaches. Credit: Wikipedia

Fifteen members of Ward Melville's boys lacrosse team have been suspended for today's game against Smithtown West, including six players who have been banned indefinitely because of a "violation of team rules," according to Ward Melville coach Mike Hoppey.

Hoppey declined to offer specifics about which players were suspended and the reason for the discipline but said, "It will be a different lineup than you're accustomed to seeing" when Ward Melville hosts Smithtown West in a Suffolk Division I game at 4:15 p.m.

Hoppey said he and the school became aware of the violations after Ward Melville's last game, a 10-7 victory over Connetquot on April 21. The 15 players were found to have violated the school district's athletic code of conduct [see PDF of code of conduct].

Nine will serve one-game suspensions Tuesday and the other six are suspended for a to-be-determined amount of time, Hoppey said.

"The opportunity to represent the Three Village School District on an athletic team is a privilege afforded to students," Three Village School District interim Superintendent Donald F. Webster said in a statement. "All student-athletes sign an Athletic Code of Conduct agreement and are advised that they have an obligation to themselves, teammates and the school community to abide by this agreement. Several student-athletes have been temporarily suspended for violating this pledge."

Ward Melville, 8-1 overall and 6-1 in Division I, usually carries 36 players on its game day roster. The team will play with 21 against Smithtown West (6-3, 5-2).

The Patriots are ranked No. 3 in Newsday's Long Island boys lacrosse top 10 and No. 9 in the Inside Lacrosse national rankings. They practiced Monday in steady rain on their home turf field.

Ward Melville's next three matchups after Smithtown West are games against Northport, West Islip and Floyd.

Ward Melville interim athletic director Erin Blaney declined to comment.

The school said Tuesday morning it would have no further comment.

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