Princeton-bound senior defenseman and New Canaan resident Derick Raabe of the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn., is looking forward to one more season of preparing to take his game to the next level.
Few players in the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region enjoyed the rapid rise Somers senior John Bello did last season.
After coming off an injury-riddled sophomore season, Bello emerged as one of the area’s top defensemen and a Division I recruit. Over the summer, he accepted a scholarship offer from St. John’s of the newly formed Big East Conference.
Two-time defending NCAA Division I champion Syracuse opened its scrimmage schedule today by beating Hofstra 7-6 and Le Moyne 15-8 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, marking the collegiate debut of Somers two-time all-American JoJo Marasco.
Former John Jay star Chris Daniello (pictured at left) and fellow attackman Cody Jamieson each had five points in the two scrimmages for SU.
Marasco (pictured at right), a freshman attackman for the Orange, scored the game winner against Hofstra with 2:18 remaining. New Canaan’s Paul Dubas played the fourth quarter in goal for the Orange, making four saves.
Daniello assisted on Syracuse’s first three goals as it jumped out to a 4-0 lead against Le Moyne. Daniello also scored a goal against Le Moyne. Marasco had an assist.
In the other scrimmage of the day, Hofstra beat Le Moyne 12-6. Former Yorktown all-American Tom Interlicchio scored a goal for Hofstra, giving the Pride a 5-2 lead early in the second quarter.
Syracuse has one remaining scrimmage — at noon on Friday, Feb. 12 — against Maryland at the Dome.
Speed kills. It’s so important, in fact, that some players get by on it alone.
Add scoring ability, smarts and stick skills and you have a complete college prospect.
Meet St. Anthony’s midfielder Joe LoCascio, the 29th-ranked junior in the nation by Inside Lacrosse, who has given a verbal commitment to the University of Maryland.
LoCascio also has the bloodlines. His father played Division I lax, and his uncle is four-time UMass all-America goaltender and former MLL/NLL star Sal LoCascio.
Last season was a historic one for the Iona Prep Gaels, who won their first state championship.
Leading the way was a core group of four Division I-bound seniors, including Nick Trizano, who scored his 300th career point and finished second on the all-time state scoring list behind Casey Powell.
How will the new-look Gaels fare this year and what players will need to step up?
Those are among the topics were discussed with Fairfield University-bound senior Pete De Salvo.
Two of the top juniors in the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region – Darien defenseman Eric Parnon and St. Anthony’s midfielder Joe LoCascio – will continue their collegiate careers at Maryland. For more info on that, check out Geoff Shannon’s recruiting roundup at InsideLacrosse.com.
Parnon, who is 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, has quickness that belies his size.
Roy Colsey. Dom Fin. Steve Carcaterra. Ousmane Greene. Erik Elfstrum. Joe Spallone.
Those were some of the more recognizable teams on the 1989 Yorktown Huskers, who beat Corning East 8-7 in overtime to win the Class B state championship. The Trojans were led by Casey Donegan, Todd Cavallaro and Dan Burnside.
It was the second state title in Husker history. (Yorktown has since won four more for a total of six.)
Let’s take a look back, shall we, to highlights of that classic played at Syracuse University’s Coyne Field
We told you here late last summer that one of the most successful coaches in Hudson Valley high school lacrosse history, Ted Georgalas, would be joining Joe Alberici’s staff at Army as an assistant.
Today, Army officially announced Georgalas’ addition in a press release. You can check it out here.
Manhasset won a state championship for the third time in program history last year.
But the Indians lost a strong senior nucleus from that team, including attackman Connor English, who is now a freshman at Virginia. English had nine — count ‘em, nine — goals in a 16-11 win over LaFayette in the state title game.
So if the Indians hope to contend for another title, they will have to get big contributions from several first-year starters and underclassmen.
Among them is sophomore defenseman Bobby Duvnjak, who shares his thoughts as the Indians prepare for the official start of preseason practice.
It’s Day 2 for our brand, spanking new “Player’s perspective” feature, gang.
Today we head out to Ridgefield, Conn., home of the defending FCIAC champion Ridgefield Tigers. We will be hearing from a couple of coach Roy Colsey’s Tigers here this season.
First up is University of North Carolina-bound junior defenseman Matt Shannon.
If you read the preview of this feature posted here yesterday, you shouldn’t be too surprised as to who our first subject is.
Yorktown’s Kevin Interlicchio (pictured above in the file photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com).
On April 1, 2007, I rolled out a new blog feature called “Outside the Box.” It was basically a first-of-its-kind personality profile in which I asked players as many questions about what interests them off the field as I did about what they were up to on it.
The first subject was a freshman who was coming off a four-goal, three-assist performance in his varsity debut. We learned he was a little nervous when he entered that game against Shenendehowa, but that he knew that if he played with confidence, he could have the kind of game he did.
One of the top juniors in the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region, Bronxville’s Charlie McCormick (file photo above by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com) just informed me moments ago that he has given a verbal commitment to accept a scholarship offer from Georgetown University.
A versatile and athletic midfielder with good size and skills, McCormick was a target recruit of some of the nation’s top programs.
Approximately 30 youngsters attended the “Lax for Relief”
clinic to benefit the victims of the Haiti earthquake
today at Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack.
The clinic was the brainchild of
Clarkstown South senior midfielder Sean Day.
We’ve all seen the horrible images of the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti.
Many of us know at least one person who was among the estimated 150,000 who died as a result. Or know a person who has a friend or relative who did not survive.
Now though, those who did survive one of the biggest natural disasters of our generation need our help.
Clarkstown South senior midfielder Sean Day realized this last week while watching the heartbreaking images on TV with his father, Tim.
So Day decided to do something about it.
The last few days have been a whirlwind for Tim Schurr.
Schurr, one of the most well-known figures in Section 1 lacrosse history, just returned from Florida where he helped a team that featured mainly alumni from Hobart College finish with a 3-1 record at a Masters lacrosse tournament.
Late Thursday night, of course, he was officially appointed as the third head varsity coach in the 31-year history of John Jay’s varsity program.
Tonight, he will meet John Jay players for the first time as head coach.
The Clarkstown South boys lacrosse program is lending a helping hand for the disaster relief efforts following the earthquake in Haiti on Saturday, Jan. 30 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. by holding a clinic in its gymnasium in West Nyack in Rockland County.
You can read and review a comprehensive list of the college destinations of the leading players from throughout the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region by checking out our commitment rundown.
For individual profiles of many of those players, be sure to click here.
For the stories behind those commitments, we bring you our “Recruit spotlight extra” feature.
Next up is Horace Greeley defensive standout Hunter Bastian, who has committed to Division III power Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.
For a Q&A with Hunter on his commitment, check the second page of this post.
We continue to follow up with our “Breaking recruiting news” updates by taking more in-depth looks at the commitments we have been reporting on, including players whose profiles appear on our recruiting profile section.
Next up is Iona Prep defenseman Brian Fahy, who has committed to Division III power Stevens Tech in New Jersey.
Hey gang -
It’s now a done deal. I received word a few minutes ago, at about 10:15 p.m., that the news we broke here earlier today, namely Tim Schurr’s appointment as John Jay varsity boys lacrosse coach, was approved by the Katonah/Lewisboro Board of Education at its meeting tonight.
I just got off the phone with John Jay athletic director Chris McCarthy who confirmed that he will be recommending that Tim Schurr be named John Jay’s new varsity coach at tonight’s Board of Education meeting.
This year’s third annual Lacrosse Day of Champions at Manhasset High School will be spread over four separate days. So mark your calendars, gang.
The official start of practice for the upcoming high school season is less than two months away — on March 8.
But between now and then, there are some important dates to mark on your calendars.
After being relieved of their duties as lacrosse coaches at John Jay on Dec. 15, Nick Savastano, his older brother Vinny Savastano and Erik Hoaglund were prepared to sit out at least one season.
“I don’t think our wives would have minded,” Nick Savastano told me yesterday.
But sometimes, opportunities come when you least expect them. Late last month, Savastano was approached by officials at John F. Kennedy Catholic in Somers about taking over their varsity program.
Now, less than a month later, the Savastanos are co-head coaches and Hoaglund is the varsity volunteer assistant.
Will this be the start of a new era of success for Kennedy’s upstart program? That’s the plan. In fact, the Savastanos have put together a new logo for the program (see above), the debut of which coincides with today’s official announcement.
You can view our archive of more than 130 player spotlights by clicking here.
In this space, we provide more context behind the commitments. Next up is senior defenseman Jamie Lunt of The Harvey School in Katonah.
The 6-foot-3, 190-pound team captain, who came to Harvey by way of Pelham, was an All-Hudson Valley Athletic League selection who played for Team Superstar’s U17 Elite team last summer.
Greetings, gang.
I have some news on a major lax recruiting commitment involving one of the nation’s leading players and an update on John Jay’s search for new varsity, junior varsity and freshman coaches.
Congratulations, Blaxdog.
At precisely 9:30 this morning the comment you posted on the “You make the call: Name New York’s best team of the decade” thread was the 9,000th in the less than 10-month history of this blog.
Nine thousand comments.
Think about that.
Actually, I did.
During the last decade, six teams won more than one New York State title.
Can you name them? (We’ll have the answer shortly.)
And while you’re doing that, how you take it a step further and name who would think was the best team of the decade.
I’ve been known to spend some time each summer in East Hampton.
But as we’ve seen here the last few days, there is plenty going on at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island during the spring as well.
As in lacrosse.
We’ve been profiling several members of the Bonackers’ boys lacrosse team who have committed to colleges.
You can read and review a comprehensive list of the college destinations of the leading players from throughout the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region by checking out our commitment rundown.
For individual profiles of many of those players, be sure to click here.
For the stories behind those commitments, we bring you our “Recruit spotlight extra” feature.
Next up is East Hampton senior midfielder Ryan Shaw, a standout in the faceoff X, who will attend Providence College.
Things have been non-stop on the recruiting front, folks.
Especially noteworthy is the number of commitments to Division II and Division III programs — some of which are arguably as competitive as many Division I programs.
Dec 30
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Recruit spotlight extra: East Hampton’s Heneveld set to take next step at Navy
East Hampton’s Austin Heneveld has it all.
And Heneveld has the strength, shot, size and quickness to make a big impact at Navy.
The 6-foot-1, 187-pound lefty attackman, who was also a football standout for East Hampton, is the latest subject of our new “Recruit spotlight extra” series.
You can check out an archive of the more than 100 players from throughout the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region with their profiles up by clicking here.
You can view our archive of more than 100 player spotlights by clicking here.
Earlier this month, Pleasantville goaltending standout Conor Fraylick joined the growing list of players from the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Fairfield area to join second-year coach Andy Copelan’s program at Fairfield by committing to the Stags.
For more, check out the latest installment of our “Recruit spotlight extra” feature.
All righty, gang. First off, it’s good to be back with you folks.
With those words, written here on March 14, the new LaxLessons.com was officially born.
Just weeks earlier, this was all an idea more than anything else, with the new homepage design and soon-to-launch features having just been sketched by yours truly on a white legal pad.
And now, here we are.
It’s been quite an eventful nine months since then. For all of us, and for lax in the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region.
Harry Razook, a standout attackman for Rye Country Day, has decided he will continue his lacrosse career at Division III power Washington and Lee.
You can find out more by reading the latest installment of our “Recruit spotlight extra” feature.
• You can view our archive of more than 100 player spotlights by clicking here.
We have been reporting on league and non-league schedules for teams from throughout the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region the last couple of months.
Now, there’s a convenient one-stop shop where you can check out schedules for teams from through the region — and throughout the nation.
You can view our archive of more than 100 player spotlights by clicking here.
On Tuesday night, yet another one of those players spotlighted, Mahopac 6-foot-1, 175-pound senior midfield standout Chase Thompson (pictured above), committed to Division III power Franklin & Marshall.
Now, you can find out more by reading the latest installment of our “Recruit spotlight extra” feature.
Following our “Breaking recruiting news” updates, you can learn more about the commitments we have been reporting on.
Next up is Irvington senior midfielder Jake Bernard, who will be playing his college lax at the College of Wooster in Ohio.
We continue to follow up with our “Breaking recruiting news” updates by taking more in-depth looks at the commitments we have been reporting on.
Next up is Clarkstown South standout Sean Day, who committed to Union College in Schenectady earlier this week.
Nick Savastano’s tenure as John Jay coach is over.
Savastano was told today that he will not be retained as the Indians’ coach after a highly successful 10 years as head varsity coach in which John Jay’s program achieved national prominence. John Jay athletic director Chris McCarthy said the decision does not affect Savastano’s status as a full-time physical education teacher in the Katonah/Lewisboro district.
Joey Porcelli, a quick and aggressive midfielder, will be
the latest Yorktown Husker to play at Wesleyan.
(File photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com)
Yorktown senior midfielder Joey Porcelli had plenty of reasons to commit to Wesleyan University, in addition to the fact that it’s recently become a pipeline for current and recently graduated Husker players.
You’ve got questions about the recruiting process.
We’ve got answers.
You can get those answers in “Recruiting 101,” a pdf document that is available now.
For information on how to obtain your copy, visit this link.
Matt Shannon had his pick of Division I programs.
The junior defenseman from defending FCIAC champion Ridgefield had made unofficial visit to Hofstra, Fairfield, Towson and Syracuse, and was planning on visiting Loyola and possibly Notre Dame as well.
But that all changed last weekend. That’s when the 6-foot-4 Shannon visited North Carolina.
“I loved the campus from the second I arrived,” said Shannon, who has given a verbal commitment to join the Tar Heels as a freshman in 2011-12.
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