You’d be hard-pressed to find a better two-way midfielder in the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region than Greg D’Arienzo.
The Carey senior, who is bound for Maryland, shares his thoughts on the upcoming season.
Section 1 lacrosse
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.
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.
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.
Hey gang -
I thought you might be interested in checking out one of the most thorough, well-written, interesting and graphically impressive college sports previews I’ve seen.
And, perhaps most notably, it was done by a college newspaper.
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.
The Irvington Bulldogs enjoyed a breakout season last year under first-year coach Drew Werney.
But the Bulldogs lost quite a contingent of key players to graduation, especially on offense.
College of Wooster-bound senior midfielder Jake Bernard offers his thoughts on how Irvington will fare this season.
The Brewster Bears have made two sectional final appearances since 2005.
But senior goaltender Andrew Nicol was familiar with what title games are all about even before that.
Nicol’s father, John, was varsity coach at Yorktown from 1998-2002. During those five seasons, the Huskers won sectional championships each year.
The Rye Garnets’ run of four straight Section 1 Class C titles ended last season with a 10-7 setback to Putnam Valley last June in the sectional finsld.
Junior defenseman Michael Collins (shown defending against Rye Country Day’s J.P. Garry last season) will be among the players the Garnets will be counting on if they are to regain sectional supremacy.
Defending Section 1 champion Somers.
John Jay and Rye, who have each won four sectional titles the last five years.
Horace Greeley, a 2009 Class B semifinalist.
Those are the four teams that join Byram Hills to form Conference III League A.
The Bobcats bring strong credentials to the league as well, having made a sectional final appearance in 2008 and sectional semifinal appearance last year.
Senior defenseman Brett Dresner says the Bobcats have the potential to achieve similar success this year.
We have another major commitment from one of the top juniors in the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region, folks.
Bronxville standout midfielder Jack Near, who starred this past summer for Prime Time Lacrosse, just called me moments ago from Colorado, where he is enjoying some skiing during winter break, to inform me that he has verbally committed to accept a scholarship offer from Notre Dame.
Near (pictured above in a file photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com) was also recruited by Syracuse, Georgetown, Hofstra, Colgate and Brown.
It should be an interesting season for Mamaroneck.
Realignment has put the Tigers in a league that includes White Plains, Eastchester, New Rochelle, Roosevelt and Scarsdale.
If Mamaroneck is to contend for the top spot, Connecticut College-bound senior goaltender Matt Weiner will have to come up with plenty of big saves.
Rye midfielder Jack O’Callaghan, one of the top juniors in the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region, told me this morning that he has decided on a college after being recruited by many Division I programs.
“I have verbally committed to Coach (Jim) Nagle at Colgate and am looking forward to playing there with Kevin Gordon,” O’Callaghan said.
This is a big season for Kevin Walsh – and for North Rockland.
Walsh, a 6-foot-3, lefty-shooting attackman, hopes to lead the Red Raiders to another Rockland County championship while increasing his chances of taking his game to the college level.
Lacrosse is gaining popularity throughout the nation and throughout the world.
That’s evident in Westchester, where the Keio Academy’s second-year junior team is picking up steam, thanks in large part to the efforts of senior captain Chris Jinno (pictured above). The goal is to launch a varsity team — possibly as soon as next year. The Keio Academy, located in Purchase, is affiliated with Keio University, one of Japan’s most prestigious colleges.
Briarcliff begins a new era this season as the Bears welcome in new varsity coach Paul Bordonaro. One of the players Bordonaro will be relying on in his debut season is senior midfielder Troy Press, who has committed to attend Division II Wingate University in North Carolina.
Press, who is currently one of the standout on the Bears’ boys basketball team, is the subject of the latest installment of our new “Player’s perspective” feature.
It didn’t take long for the Somers Tuskers to set the tone against three-time defending sectional champion John Jay in last year’s Section 1 title game at White Plains High School.
It happened just seven seconds into the game when Greg Petre (shown above in a photo taken by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com) fired in a shot off a fastbreak.
If the Tuskers are to win another sectional title this year, they will need plenty more big goals from the Army-bound senior attackman, who is also expected to see a considerable amount of action at midfield this season.
Few high school players excel in the two key parts of the posssession game — groundballs and faceoffs — more than McCormack.
So perhaps it’s appropriate that McCormack’s college destination is Cornell, a college program that excelled in both areas en route to its appearance in this past season’s NCAA Division I championship game — a 10-9 overtime loss to Syracuse.
But before he arrives in Ithaca, McCormack has some unfinished business at Rye.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The high school lacrosse landscape is about to change in the northern tier of Section 1.
Add Don Connolly’s name to the ever-growing list of past Yorktown players taking the reins of a program in dire need of a fresh face and some new ideas.
Arlington is a massive school, one of the biggest in all of New York state. For years, it has been best known for its boys soccer prowess. But now, with Connolly taking over a lacrosse program that has taken baby steps in recent years, there’s a buzz that is both undeniable and unavoidable.
The annual Darien vs. Manhasset and Chaminade vs. Yorktown showdowns will have special meaning this coming season.
They will be played at West Point as part of Jim Regan Day at West Point on Saturday, April 24. Army will be hosting Holy Cross at noon.
More on that in a moment.
For the last few years, the John Jay-Yorktown game, regarded as the regular season game of the year in Section 1, has been a May tradition.
And it’s been played on a Friday night the last two years.
This year, the game will be played in the opening week of the regular season — and on a Saturday afternoon.
Conference I
League A
Arlington
Brewster
Lakeland/Panas
Mahopac
Wappingers
Yorktown
League B
Croton
Haldane
Hen Hud
Kennedy
Ossining
North Salem
Peekskill
Putnam Valley
Conference II
League A
Eastchester
Mamaroneck
White Plains
New Rochelle
Roosevelt
Scarsdale
League B
Ardsley
Irvington
Hastings
Sleepy Hollow
Bronxville
Pelham
Edgemont
Conference III
League A
Byram Hills
Greeley
John Jay
Somers
Rye
League B
Briarcliff
Fox Lane
Harrison
Pleasantville
Westlake
Conference IV
League A
Clarkstown North
Clarkstown South
North Rockland
Suffern
League B
Albertus Magnus
Nanuet
Nyack
Pearl River
Tappan Zee
We’ve been passing along news these last few months about the commitments of the top seniors and juniors from the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region.
Programs such as Ward Melville, Manhasset, Yorktown, John Jay, Somers, Ridgefield and Darien are well represented, of course.
But on Monday, we told you about a couple of players — both attackmen, in fact — from a school that has not exactly been synonymous with college recruits.
Until now, that is.
During the varsity season, we present our Top 25 regional rankings each and every week.
The 2010 season won’t start for another five months.
But why wait?
Johns Hopkins-bound Jameson Pickel and John Jay will be
hosting defending FCIAC champion Ridgefield next season.
(File photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com)
There has been a lot of talk here as to why John Jay and Ridgefield don’t meet on a regular basis.
Well, wait no more, gang.
John Jay’s Mike Daniello is the ninth-ranked junior
in the nation by Inside Lacrosse.
(File photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com)
John Jay’s Mike Daniello, one of the top junior recruits in the nation, has done some soul-searching after verbally committing to attend North Carolina on Sept. 28 and has decided to change his commitment and attend Johns Hopkins.
Bronxville attackman/midfielder Joe Wood committed
last night to Division III power Washington and Lee.
Joe Wood of Bronxville is a versatile player who can play both attack and midfield.
And at this time next year, he will be playing for the Washington and Lee Generals.
Mike Daniello, right, the No. 9-ranked junior in the nation,
will be playing his college lacrosse at North Carolina.
(File photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com)
It was decision day for Mike Daniello.
I just got off the phone with the John Jay attackman moments after he contacted the final list of schools he was considering.
The first call he made was to North Carolina. Daniello, the No. 9-ranked junior in the nation by Inside Lacrosse, has given a verbal commitment to accept a scholarship offer from the Tar Heels.
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