If you’re a player from the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region who wants to share your thoughts on the 2010 season in our “Player’s perspective” feature, please be sure to get in touch with me.
The Byram Hills Bobcats are set to embark on what promises to be a challenging season.After all, the Bobcats have been aligned in a league with defending Section 1 champion Somers as well as John Jay and Rye, who have each won four sectional titles the last five years. There’s also 2009 Class B semifinalist Horace Greeley.
Senior standout attackman Danny Lohrfink shares his thoughts on what kind of shape the Bobcats are in to take on these challenges – and more.
As has been well-documented here, the defending Class C state champion Manhasset Indians suffered significant graduations losses.
Namely, 10 players who are now on collegiate teams.
If the Indians are to have a shot at repeating as champions, Syracuse University-bound midfielder Ricky Buhr will undoubtedly have to continue doing what he does best — namely winning faceoffs and getting Manhasset possession of the ball.
We caught up with Ricky to get his thoughts on the 2010 Indians as the start of the season rapidly approaches.
Chris Longo came up big in Somers’ biggest games last season.
The senior goaltender made 17 saves as the Tuskers unseated four-time defending champion John Jay 14-9 in the sectional finals. This came after a 26-save performance in a 10-7 regular-season win over John Jay.
Longo and the Tuskers are in action on Saturday as they host their second annual Red/Gray Preseason Tournament, starting at 9 a.m.
North Salem, an upstart program in Section 1 circles, is getting ready for what promises to be an interesting season.
The Tigers will be playing plenty of games at home — or close to home — thanks to the newly aligned Section 1.
Providing thoughts on this is North Salem’s 6-foot-4 senior defenseman Chris Wood, who is bound for Division III power Salisbury, which picked up a big win last week over defending national champion Cortland State.
Manhasset rolled to the Class C state championship last season.
But seven stars from that team are now playing at the Division I college level.
The Indians still have plenty of talent returning.
University of Pennsylvania-bound senior midfielder Drew Belinsky takes a look at the team and how it has been preparing for the start of the season.
Despite starting last season with little fanfare, the Lakeland/Panas Rebels were thisclose to winning the Section 1 Class A championship. But the Rebels wound up losing to Yorktown 11-10 in overtime after holding a 9-4 third-quarter lead.
Once again this season, most observers have tabbed Yorktown to win the title. But Lakeland/Panas should, at the very least, be a strong contender.
Junior midfielder Conor Prunty tells us more.
The Greenwich Cardinals have started a new era.
Former Darien star and longtime Blue Wave assistant Scott Bulkley has taken over as the team’s head coach.
There’s lots to talk about when it comes to Cardinals lax.
And we did just that with Bryant University-bound senior midfielder Colin Dunster, whose brother Jimmy, is a starting midfielder for undefeated North Carolina.
As has been well-documented, Yorktown will have a new look on defense this season.
That defense will be anchored by a first-year starter in goal, Trinity College-bound senior Derek Koelsch.
After strong showings in the summer and fall, Koelsch has been spending the winter working hard to be physically and mentally prepared for the season.
White Plains enjoyed a breakout season last year that included groundbreaking wins over Mahopac, Putnam Valley and North Rockland.
Though league realignment has altered the Tigers’ schedule this season, they still hope to pick up some eye-opening wins.
That’s among the topics we discussed with Dickinson College-bound senior attackman Norman Greenfield.
Today, it all starts.
Officially, at least.
This is the first official day of practice and tryouts, but for many teams and players throughout the area, it’s just the continuation of a what’s already been an intense and diligent preseason.
John Jay senior midfielder Brandon Merlino (file photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com) has been getting ready for months. The UMBC-bound Merlino and the Indians face their first test on March 17 when they host Bronxville in a scrimmage.
Horace Greeley will be getting its share of tough tests this season.
The Quakers are members of newly aligned Conference League III-A, along with defending Class B sectional champion Somers as well as John Jay and Rye, who are both sectional champs four of the past five years.
Wittenberg University-bound senior defenseman Hunter Bastian shares his thoughts on the challenges that await the Quakers, who advanced to the sectional semifinals last year.
Conor Fraylick will be playing his college lacrosse close to home — at Fairfield University.
But he has some unfinished before then. Namely, two more varsity seasons at Pleasantville.
The Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region has no shortage of premier programs.
One program that often gets overlooked is Brunswick.
If you look at the scheduled the Bruins play – and the number of college recruits they churn out – you could argue Brunswick is as good as any program around.
How do the Bruins look this coming season?
That’s among the topics we discussed with Darien’s own Jimmy Craft, a Yale-bound defenseman for the Bruins.
Remy Lieberman is set to begin his third year as a starting attackman for Yorktown.
But this year’s Husker team will be minus many of the key players Lieberman played alongside the last two years.
That’s among the topics we discussed with Lieberman, who will attend Division III power Wesleyan, where he will join a pair of former Yorktown teammates: John Froats, the 2009 NESCAC rookie of the year, and incoming freshman Brett Cabriele.
Garden City can’t wait to get started.
The Trojans, who are coming off a state quarterfinal appearance, are the No. 7 team in the Under Armour/Inside Lacrosse Preseason National Rankings.
Garden City opens the season against Syosset for the second year in a row. The teams play on Wednesday, March 24 at Garden City. The game will come after the Trojans scrimmage St. Anthony’s (March 17), Hicksville (March 18) and Delbarton (March 20).
There’s a lot to look ahead to — and that’s exactly what we did with Connecticut College-bound senior midfielder Kevin Dachille.
Considering all the highlights he’s already enjoyed at the high school level, it’s almost hard to believe that Mike Daniello has two more varsity seasons to go.
In fact, considering all that’s happened, Daniello’s sophomore season seems like an eternity ago.
Since it ended, he became one of the most heavily recruited players in the nation, rising to No. 9 in Inside Lacrosse’s rankings of juniors in the U.S.
In the fall, he changed his college choice to Johns Hopkins after initially committing to North Carolina.
Then, just months later, John Jay relieved Nick Savastano of his duties before naming Tim Schurr as its new coach earlier this year.
Ossining will be playing this season in a newly aligned league that is made up of eight teams from Northern Westchester and Putnam, including Hen Hud.
How does Ossining look as we get set for the official start of varsity practice?
We got the perspectives of junior defenseman Michael Zavarella, who is coming off a productive summer and fall playing for WestRock.
The Clarkstown South Vikings will be keeping it closer to home this season.
The Vikings have been placed in a four-team league that also includes rivals Clarkstown North as well as North Rockland and Suffern.
While those teams are all familiar, being minus Luke Haggerty isn’t. The goaltender, who was an all-American last season, has graduated.
Those are among the topics that South’s Union College-bound senior midfielder Sean Day discusses.
With all the wintry weather we’ve seen — and will see — this week in the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region, let’s take a trip to one of the area’s premier summer hot spots.
East Hampton.
Jake Beyer calls it home.
The 5-foot-10 senior longstick midfielder, who is bound for the up-and-coming Division I program at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., shares his thoughts on the upcoming season.
John Jay lacrosse has started a new era. Tim Schurr, who has taken over the program, is just the third varsity head coach in the 31-year history of the program.
The Indians, who saw their run of consecutive sectional titles end at four last year, welcome back a strong nucleus, and drew the No. 20 spot in Inside Lacrosse’s Preseason National Power Rankings.
Now, here are Kenyon College-bound senior goaltender Fletcher Franklin’s thoughts as we prepare for the start of varsity practice.
It’s been a busy few days for Johnny McGuigan.
He’s been spending the last few weeks preparing for his senior season as starting goaltender at Mahopac.
And this past weekend, he committed to Division II power New York Tech, where he will join teammate John Brandofino.
Last week, Brandofino shared his thoughts on the upcoming season. Now, it’s McGuigan’s turn.
Yorktown is hoping to win a sectional title for what would be the 29th time in the last 31 years this season. It’s certainly one of the more impressive streaks in high school sports. Anywhere.
If they are to do it, the Huskers will have to get consistent play from a new-look defense that is minus two all-Americans (John Fennessy/Towson and Ethan Fox/Marist) and three all-section standouts (Brendan Brunelle/Marist, Brett Cabriele/Wesleyan and Michael Bonitatibus/Loyola).
Perhaps the most experienced returnee on defense for the Huskers is C.W. Post-bound senior Stephen Burke.
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