YORKTOWN HEIGHTS — Matt Kull was a lacrosse all-America at Yorktown High School in 1997, and moved on to become a starting defenseman at North Carolina. But he was forced to sit out after the first six games of his freshman year when he contracted Hodgkin's lymphoma.

By January 2000, Kull was in Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He needed blood for a stem-cell transplant, so the Yorktown community responded with a blood drive. But in an example of Matt's character, he told his mother not to announce his blood type, so that donors of all types would come and others besides him would benefit.

Though Matt died later that month, two weeks before the blood drive took place, people still waited in lines for up to three hours and donated a total of 170 pints.

The community's response was overwhelming. Soon afterward came the first Matt Kull Day, which featured a blood drive and a men's lacrosse game for Yorktown alumni.

The fifth annual Matt Kull Day took place yesterday at Yorktown High School. It was an 11-hour celebration of lacrosse to benefit the Matthew Kull Foundation for Healing Lymphoma, which was started by the Kull family.

"It gives all ages in the town the opportunity to participate and raise money for cancer," said Gary Kull, Matt's father.

Each year the event has gotten bigger. In 2002, a women's alumni game was added, followed by a youth jamboree the following year. This year, the American Lacrosse League capped off the day with its championship game between DeWalt (Baltimore) and Tri-State (Bergen County, N.J.); it was the first time the final was held north of Philadelphia.

Yorktown beat Carolina 11-3 in the men's alumni game, which drew over 40 participants. In a sign of the school's lacrosse prowess, rosters couldn't be finalized until it was determined which former Cornhuskers would be playing in Major League Lacrosse games this weekend.

Todd McElduff, a '95 graduate, has played in all five alumni games.

"Lacrosse is a staple of the community, and there's a lot of people here who are proud of the program and couldn't think of anything they'd rather do than come back and play lacrosse with each other," McElduff said. "It's the best of both worlds — it's what we love, and someone we want to keep in our memory."

Senior all-section goalie Ryan Penner was a first-time participant in the alumni game. Penner worked at the Sports Barn with Kull growing up.

"It means a lot to play in it, knowing his whole story," said Penner, who has refereed the youth tournament in the past.

The youth jamboree had 36 teams competing on fields throughout Yorktown High and Mildred E. Strang Middle School.

Richie Denike, an 8-year-old on the Putnam Valley team, said he hoped to become an all-American like Kull.

"I want to be a pro when I grow up," Denike said.

The American Red Cross of Westchester ran the blood drive. Director of volunteer services Andrea Grimaldi said that the need for blood is especially urgent over the summer, when accidents increase but regular donors are on vacation.

Rebecca Glass, who is finishing her sophomore year at Yorktown, just became old enough to donate, and she got over her needle-phobia to participate.

"I was finally eligible and I felt like taking part to help," Glass said.

The ALL is the largest post-collegiate amateur lacrosse league in the country, with 53 teams from Boston to Charlotte. DeWalt won its fourth straight championship — and eighth in 11 years — but Tri-State made the champs earn it. Towson graduate Mike Strohman converted a feed from Gavin Stringer 2:23 into triple overtime for a 6-5 win.

After the game, the ALL and DeWalt each made contributions to the Matt Kull Foundation.

"It's something that we stressed over the past several games: the opportunity to come up here and be a part of this festival and be a part of what this cause is all about," DeWalt coach Marty Joyner said.

Also of note: Yorktown senior attackman Matthias McCall, who like Kull earned all-America honors and will attend North Carolina, won the Matt Kull Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete Award.

"I put a lot of hard work and dedication into the sport, and to receive something like this is amazing," McCall said. "Coming from such a great family and in the memory of such a great person like Matt, to be in the same boat as him is awesome."

McCall earned a $2,500 scholarship. Brothers Mike and Tim McCall were past recipients of the award.