West Islip has been a model of consistency since the debut of the LaxLessons.com Top 25 regional rankings.
The Lions have held on to the top spot since the outset.
But there has been plenty of commotion in the other spots, folks. And that continues this week.
1. West Islip: Nicky Galasso had five goals on six shots as the Lions pulled away to beat Chaminade 10-6. (Last week: No. 1)
2. Yorktown: ‘Huskers awaiting meeting with longtime rival Ward Melville on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Charlie Murphy Field. (Last week: No. 3)
3. Manhasset: Indians and Connor English, who already has 24 goals, are riding high after dramatic win at Darien. (Last week: No. 4)
Joe Lombardi MaxPreps.com column: Koufakis, Manhasset bounce back
4. Darien: Blue Wave await April 25 showdown against Yorktown. (Last week: No. 2)
5. Ridgefield: Tigers have been getting their point(s) across so far. (Last week: No. 7)
6. Chaminade: Flyers were outmatched in second half of 10-4 loss to West Islip. (Last week: No. 5)
7. Garden City: Trojans (7-1) haven’t lost since dropping season-opener to Syosset 6-3. (Last week: No. 13)
8. St. Anthonys: Friars looking to establish some consistency. (Last week: No. 8 )
9. Fairfield Prep: Intriguing matchup against St. Anthony’s is set for Wednesday. (Last week: No. 9)
10. Cold Spring Harbor: Seahawks held Somers star Joe Marasco to one goal in a 7-3 win. (Last week: No. 10)
11. Comsewogue: Huge one-goal win over Manhasset catapults ‘Wogue among the elite. (Last week: Not ranked)
12. Rocky Point: Will battle Comsewogue on Thursday in Suffolk showdown. (Last week: No. 12)
13. Port Washington: At 5-0 team may still be a bit underrated. (Last week: No. 16)
14. Lynbrook: Brandon Ayers and company awaiting showdown vs. Garden City on Wednesday. (Last week: No. 17)
15. Greenwich: Cardinal piled up 31 goals in first two games. (Last week: No. 11)
16. Shoreham-Wading River: Impressive win over New Jersey power Mountain Lakes was eye-opening to say the least. (Last week: Not ranked)
17. John Jay: After impressive win over Rye, Indians came back down to earth by falling big at Corning East. (Last week: No. 15)
18. Lakeland/Panas: Rebels will take on rival Mahopac tonight at 7 . (Last week: No. 21)
19. Somers: Tuskers face John Jay and Horace Greeley back-to-back. (Last week: No. 19)
20. Rye: Garnets bounced back from loss to John Jay with impressive win over Iona Prep. (Last week: No. 22)
21. Iona Prep: Gaels are eager to rebound from 13-8 loss to Rye. (Last week: No. 18)
22. William Floyd: Colonials took West Islip yes, that West Islip down to the wire to crack the Top 25. (Last week: Unranked)
23. Baldwin: Dominique Alexander has started the season on a scoring tear. (Last week: No. 24)
24. Plainedge: Dan Rogers had three goals in an 8-7 win over South Side. (Last week: No. 25)
25. Sachem North: Hoping to stay unbeaten after game against William Floyd on Wednesday. (Last week: Unranked)
Dropped out: Mount Sinai, Massapequa, Wilton, Ward Melville
BY REGION – Top 5
WESTCHESTER/ROCKLAND/PUTNAM/DUTCHESS
1. Yorktown, 2. John Jay, 3. Lakeland/Panas, 4. Somers, 5. Rye
NASSAU
1. Manhasset, 2. Chaminade, 3. Garden City, 4. Cold Spring Harbor, 5. Port Washington
SUFFOLK
1. West Islip, 2. St. Anthonys, 3. Comsewogue, 4. Shoreham-Wading River, 5. Rocky Point.
FAIRFIELD
1. Darien, 2. Ridgefield, 3. Fairfield Prep, 4. Greenwich, 5. Wilton
Be sure to weigh in with your comments.
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Posted In: Fairfield lacrosse, Long Island lacrosse
These look good except for Ridgefield. They are way way overrated.
SWR is a team on the rise. It doesn’t get much more impressive than beating Mountain Lakes. Mark it down – SWR vs. GC for the county title.
WI showed on Saturday that it’s the cream of the crop in the region. Let’s face it … there’s a huge gap between #1 and #2 – and everyone else – in these rankings.
LaxinCrew –
Interesting observation. Not sure what you’re basing it on, though. Ridgefield has…
– Six likely D1 players on the offensive end when starters are in.
– A dominant FOGO and a superb junior LSM.
– The best – or second best, depending on who you talk to – senior in the NY/CT area.
– Outscored opponents 54-7 in three games. Starters haven’t seen the field in the fourth quarter yet.
Now, if Ridgefield whiffs and loses to (or edges) Massapequa today, I’ll give you the overrated label. But, as a longtime observer of LI/Westchester/Fairfield lax, there’s no question in my mind that this is the most explosive team in ’09 not named West Islip. As things stand right now, I’d take the Tigers over Manhasset and Darien. And, if I thought the defense was capable of stopping Interlicchio (still haven’t shown me that yet), I’d give ’em a 50-50 shot against Yorktown.
JJ Purple,
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Totally agree with you. Plus, Ridgefield hammered Massapequa today.
Ridgefield’s offense looked flat today against Massapequa and missed a bunch of scoring opportunities. That said, they still posted 12 on the board against an overmatched Massapequa team. While the offense gets the deserved hype, the long poles and goalie heard “Joe’s” interview with Roy (saying that they would win 21-20) as motivation). Hyatt in goal is suprising everyone with his athleticism and clearing.
No opinion on rated/over rated but Ridgefield is an exciting team. Even though Massapequa is horrible this year that doesn’t take anything away from the win. Would love to see Ridgefield vs Manhasset and/or Darien – would be exciting lacrosse!
Old Growth,
That was my interview. Even when Joe isn’t around I’m his caddie. There will be repercussions! LOL.
My bad “cuse”…I’ll cover your next loop. You would have to figure that Roy’s 21-20 comment would motivate the Ridgefield D.
What has happened to west gennees? did they fall off the map or something?
West Genny is in central NY.
Ridge=Overrated. Get off it su*
Cuse – what didn’t Joe like about the Y’town/Greeley game?
PS – Got those JJ/”set stall stats off film if you still want em! 😉
Hey Taz –
I’m back on my laptop now. I’m going to write something up on the two games. But in the meantime, fire away with any questions.
There wasn’t anything I didn’t like about the Ytown/Greeley game, so I’m not sure what that’s all about it.
not so fast my friend…
Explanations/analyses are always helpful. How are they overrated? In relation to who?
Tigers are very good but the comp sofar is bad at best, Massapequa is having down yr, the other two teams they played would not beat the Tigers JV.
Ridgefield is not overrated. OK, so me calling for a 10-goal-plus win may have been a bit over the top, but I spoke to people who were at the game vs. Massapequa today and they told me it easily could have been at least a 10-goal spread. I don’t see Ridgefield losing to anyone except maybe Darien and then they’ll meet again in FCIACs anyway.
It’s clear to me now that the FCIAC race is a two-team race. Greenwich likely won’t be there at the end, though the Cardinals do have some awfully good players at certain position, Horowitz notwithstanding.
Top 25
Basically hard for me to “gut feel” see the “dropped” LI teams not being at least as good (and probably stronger) then the Section 1 teams like Jay, IP, LP, Rye. that are in the top 25. Admit dont really know the quality of some of the LI teams (22-25) but I’ll give “LI” the benefit at this point.
So basically dont see the above-mentioned Sect 1 teams on the list (other then of course Town and probably Somers) and not sure where Somers should be on the list but probably somewhere in the end pack of LI teams.
West. Top
Town
Greeley/Somers
Jay/Rye
PV
LP
Class A
ha ha
Class B
Somers/Greeley
Jay
Class C
Rye
PV
BH
YORKTOWN VS. WARD MELVILLE… Need I say more???
Gonna be a brawl…
Prediction: Ytown 14 Melville 12
**If Interlicchio is not shut off, he will have 5 while Ranagan will do work up top for 4…
Yorktown didn’t beat ward melville last year Joe, I wish it was the case but it wasn’t, they lost 9 to 1 and Marr was ejected from the game. The last time ytown won this game was a dramatic overtime win in 2001.
can u find out the record for this series, i wanna know
I have been in and seen far too many Ward Melville games in the past and let me lay it out for you as best I can.
Throw the records out.
I don’t care that Melville appears to be down this season. It also means little to me that the Patriots struggle to score goals.
This is a program built on defense. Melville has allowed more than 10 goals just eight times in its last 90 or so games dating to 2005.
Melville has been the bane of Yorktown’s existence dating as far back as the 1970s. It’s a rivalry built on mutual respect for sure, because back when no one would play Melville, Yorktown, which was an established power, stepped up. Since then, as Joe pointed out, the two have combined for 13 state titles (WM 7, but none since 2000; Yorktown 6, but none since 2003).
But that’s where the similarities end. Melville has DOMINATED the series, winning something like 28 or 29 of the 40 all-time meetings (anyone who knows the actual stat, please step forward and show yourself).
No team has owned Yorktown like Melville has. Not Darien, not anyone else on Long Island. Yorktown has a winning all-time record against Garden City. Throw West Genny out because they only meet in state finals potentially.
Put it in perspective: Last year’s Yorktown squad was as gifted offensively as any team in the land and what did they do down at Melville? Lost 9-1. They got waxed by a Melville team which wasn’t even half of what they’ve been in the past.
So, before Town supporters get too excited, just keep in mind that Melville has a psychological edge over Yorktown. Then again, the last time Melville was this down was probably in the mid 90s. I actually covered a game at Yorktown that the Huskers won 10-4. I was shocked. I got to meet Joe Cuozzo, class personified. Yorktown didn’t win again until 2001, in OT. So, if you look at the “7 or 8 year rule” in this series, I guess Town is due.
I think Yorktown will win Saturday, but it will be a struggle. I see something like 8-5. Though the Patriots have somewhat gone away from the zone defense that made them basically impenetrable all through the 1990s, they still operate as a team that mirrors West Genny in that they don’t make mistakes. They may not score a lot of goals, but they will go at you mano e mano on the defensive end.
For this to truly be a special Yorktown season, it has to really start with a win over Melville because that team has toyed with the Huskers for seemingly ever. A loss here will speak volumes about the team’s chances come June because, and make no mistake about this, West Islip will eat Melville for lunch this season.
Any team that gets outscored 5-1 in the second quarter by Greeley should not be No. 2, OK???
How about a team that gets outscored 4-0 to start a game? Should they be No. 1?
right on ‘cuse….. MDT – if a team is not “on” every quarter of every game they play ALL season, that diminishes their entire effort? The final scores never matter? That makes zero sense.
LoveTownLax,
You got a prediction for Saturday?
Several, ‘cuse….I predict that I will be there, The Crop will be there, the weather will be great….and the ‘Town boys will be ready to play…and win! but the score? not a chance! way beyond my pay grade…..
Will you be there?
I will be there. My agent worked things out with Joe, so I’ll be covering the game for LaxLessons.
Excellent ‘cuse! Do I remember correctly that last year you missed a few good games due to work obligations? lame excuse haha… Your agent does good work – double his/her fee…
I missed many a game last year due to real world obligations. But then I found Joe … and life changed. I still have the same obligations, but play chicken with them every night it seems. I’m not missing Melville. No chance.
Lionsden-
WI showed on Saturday that its the cream of the crop in the region. Lets face it theres a huge gap between #1 and #2 – and everyone else – in these rankings.
WI would get pretty much owned by Ridgefield. Everyone here knows it…you guys are just lucky that you do not play them.
dawg somers should be like number 10 atleast
CT –
Keep in mind these rankings were published prior to the Tuskers’ big wins over John Jay and Greeley last week.
Look for the Somers to move up a few spots in this week’s rankings, which will be released Tuesday. Will they crack the Top 10? Stay tuned.
With Darien down and Yorktown too one dimensional (or two dimensional with Interliccio and Ranagan the only decent short sticks), its quite apparent Ridgefield ahould be number one let alone number two. I would put West Islip at 2 followed by Manhasset at 3 and Chaminade at 4.
I’ve taken a lot of abuse for suggesting that Ridgefield beat someone really good (which would exclude Wilton, btw) before anointing them as the best in CT, never mind the entire region. Let’s hear how you think their very talented team will handle Somers in Somers. I am of the opinion that while both Marasco and White are outstanding players that Marasco gets an edge because he can do more things other than create his own shot to score, which both young men do extremely well. So I’ll take Somers 10-8. Your thoughts?
I have Ridgefield over Somers 11-8. To Much Talent besides White for the Tuskers to deal with!
Tony, that’s why they play the games, we’ll see,
Like Lax Novice, I have taken a lot of abuse — only for touting Ridgefield.
But that won’t change this week. I think Ridgefield wins a shootout, 17-10. Why? They have stars all over the field. Marasco and Co. will get their goals, but at the end of the day we may be looking at a very special Ridgefield team this year.
Barring an unforseen change of schedule, I’ll be at that game for LaxLessons on Saturday night. I fully expect to see a well-prepared Ridgefield team do work.
Syr,
At least we agree that Somers will get 10. Hope to make it over there on Sat. night. Maybe I’ll have to drop Mrs. Novice at the JV Mall first. Is that still open?
UCuse!