BE’ER SHEVA, ISRAEL — Eric Fischer was in goal for Haifa LC when the team fell to Be’er Sheva LC in the 2016 IPLL Championship Game, an overtime thriller that was nationally televised across Israel.
He’ll now be leading the charge for the defending champs as they seek back-to-back titles. Along with Danny Leventhal, and David Reiter, Fischer was named a franchise player for the “Speed of the Negev” today.
Dino Vitale, who currently serves as head coach at Purdue University, takes over as head coach for Be’er Sheva.
Fischer makes the shift to his adopted hometown club of Be’er Sheva, where he has served as program director since September. The Binghamton graduate was the top goalie in the league in 2016 with Haifa LC, leading the IPLL with a 73% save percentage (29 saves, 11 goals against) splitting time with teammate Andrew Landsman; he also scored seven goals and two assists on the offensive end of the field. Fischer was a brick wall for Israel at the 2016 European Championships in Budapest with a 69% save percentage (44 saves, 20 goals against).
Leventhal, who scored six goals for Be’er Sheva in the 2016 IPLL Championship, is back with the “Speed of the Negev” for his first full season in the league. The Tufts graduate has been a core member of the Israel national team since the program’s inception, scoring 11 goals and five assists at the 2016 European Championships and adding nine goals at the 2014 World Championships in Denver.
Reiter, a 6-4, 230-pounder from Long Island, was a three-year letterwinner at Syosset High School, where he earned all-conference honors in 2014 and 2015. He was part of the 2015 LIC Champions and State Semifinalist team. The 20-year-old defenseman is playing collegiately at Stony Brook University but has not yet seen action as an underclassman.
Be’er Sheva opens their 2017 season at Barak Netanya LC in a nationally televised contest.