Memorable Mondays: Top coaches

Welcome to MSGVarsity.com's Memorable Mondays, a summer-long series that looks back on the top players, games and moments from the past season and gazes ahead to 2012-13. As the summer goes on, we'll compile all the lists and post them here: www.msgvarsity.com/mondays. New lists will be posted every Monday morning.

In Week 7 of Memorable Mondays, we look at five of the top coaches on Long Island from the 2011-12 school year.

Rob Hoss, Sayville, football

Sayville head football coach Rob Hoss led his Golden Flashes to undefeated 12-0 season en route to the fifth Long Island Championship in school history in a dramatic 78-61 win over Lawrence in the Class III title game. Hoss was able to lead his team through a midseason injury to starting quarterback Steven Ferreira, and was named head coach of the Long Island team in the UnitedHealthcare Empire Challenge, leading the LI all-stars to a 41-7 win over New York City.

Steve Finnel, Garden City, boys lacrosse

When you're the head coach of a national champion, you better believe that you will be one of the top five coaches of the year. Finnell, in his sixth season at the helm, made history in the long history of Garden City lacrosse this season by becoming the first former Trojan to coach a team to a state championship. The Trojans finished undefeated at 22-0, marking the first time Garden City finished a season without a loss since 2000.

Diane Chapman, Garden City, girls lacrosse and field hockey

It was just another year and another string of championships for Diane Chapman and the Garden City field hockey and girls lacrosse teams. First in the fall, Chapman led the Trojans field hockey squad to its 17th straight Nassau Championship and 7th straight LI championship. In the spring she had a different challenge ahead of her with the girls lacrosse team. After seeing its 55-game win streak snapped by Maryland's McDonogh School, the Trojans lost five games in 2012 -- that equals the combined losses from 2008-2011. However Chapman led the Trojans through rough waters to the team's seventh straight state title.

Jim Quinn, Chaminade, boys basketball

For the past 40 years, Coach Jim Quinn was the face of Chaminade basketball and at the end of the 2011-12 season he handed those reigns over to Bob Paul. But Quinn made his last season count, leading the Flyers to a 14-9 finish with his last and 426th win of his career coming against perennial rival St. Mary's in a 73-66 victory in front of MSG Varsity cameras.

Paul Longo, William Floyd, football

William Floyd head coach Paul Longo has made it a habit of appearing in the Long Island Championship, and this year was no different with a 54-47 Class I title win over East Meadow. With the exception of 2008, the Colonials have made every Long Island Championship game since 2005 under the tutelage of Coach Longo.

Join us throughout the summer as "Memorable Mondays" brings you more top 5 lists:

Aug. 13: Top five most memorable games from 2011-12
Aug. 20: Top five teams from 2011-12
Aug. 27: Top five teams to watch in 2012-13 

Find them all at www.msgvarsity.com/mondays.

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