Perhaps the most impressive tidbit about Ward Melville High (East Setauket, N.Y.) boys' lacrosse coach Joe Cuozzo surpassing 600 career wins earlier this month is that his players knew nothing of the impending milestone when the season began.

Incredibly enough, the nation's winningest high school lacrosse coach was more or less anonymous to his own players as far as win totals went. And that's just the way Cuozzo (pronounced Koo-zo) preferred it. When a few locals did the math and made the coach's march to 600 a media event, Cuozzo couldn't wait to move on.

"To be honest, it's a big relief, because it was a distraction; and I'm just glad it's behind us so we can settle in and get back to work," says Cuozzo, 62, whose squad beat Commack High, 14-1, May 12 to reach the magic number. "We've got playoffs to focus on. I haven't really had time to reflect on it. I'll probably think about it this summer."

	Joe Cuozzo passed the 600-win plateau.

Cuozzo has amassed his gaudy 603-53 record and corresponding .919 winning percentage (as of May 25) because of that relentless focus on the next game, rather than picking apart the one in the rear-view mirror. It's a practical devotion his players have come to admire.

"We didn't even really know it was coming up this year. No one said anything about it," says junior attacker Matt Monfett, 17. "That just goes to show you how low-key he is about stuff like that. I mean, 600 is a huge number and there aren't many losses in there."

"He loves doing it and everything he wants to get done, he gets done," Monfett adds. "There's no horsing around out there. There's a lot of pressure on us to win every time, but coach handles it."

And how. The Patriots have won six New York state championships in the 32 years since Cuozzo founded the program, including two of the last three.

The team is 16-0 this spring and had won 37 consecutive games and 81 of 82 entering today's (May 25) Suffolk County A Division quarterfinals game against 7-7 Connetquoet High (Bohemia, N.Y.). This year's Ward Melville seniors are 59-1 as varsity players, with the only loss coming in overtime of the '98 state finals against West Genesee High (Camillus, N.Y.).

"We have a system that seems to work for us and we'll continue doing it," says a thoroughly understated Cuozzo. "I'm happy for the program and all the coaches involved that we've set a standard of excellence we can be proud of."

That's a nice clip quote for the scrapbook. But it doesn't explain how a guy who was a high school and collegiate football jock, and played just two seasons of lacrosse on a whim at the State University of New York at Cortland, became the Vince Lombardi of high school lax. After all, Cuozzo once coached the Patriots to 71 wins in a row.

Yet the Yonkers, N.Y., native insists there's no secret formula. Just some basic building blocks and a mountain of elbow grease.

"I'm a big believer in pride and making it important," says Cuozzo. "If you're going to do it, do it to the best of your ability."