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My fellow lax aficionados,

In my continuing quest to keep everyone up to date on what the rest of New York state has to offer in each classification as we head toward June, I’m going to add on to the bottom of every weekly “View” column a quick Top 10 with notes on the best of the rest. Or, in other words, the other schools in the state LaxLessons.com doesn’t cover, but ones you should keep tabs on.

Because you never know who the Sections 1, 8 and 11 teams will face in the state semifinals and finals. I encourage our upstate friends, like Ric B., to please chime in and offer thoughts because odds are you people will be able to shed a lot of light on many of these teams.

So, without further adieu, here’s the weeks edition of “CUSE’s Best of the Rest Top 10.”

1. West Genesee (4-1): The Wildcats rebounded from a 7-3 loss (dare I say it!) to Pennsylvania’s LaSalle College High, with a 23-0 win over Utica Proctor, a 10-2 pasting of rival Fayetteville-Manlius and Tuesday’s 15-10 win over Liverpool. Junior middie Matt McCabe (11, 5), sophomore middie John Glesener (13, 3) and junior attackman Jordan Rogers (10, 6) are tied for the team lead in scoring. On a cool note, you have to check out the Web site for the 15-time NYS champs. It’s great and features kick-ass music.

2. Corning East (5-0): The Trojans have outscored the opposition 75-34, including an 11-4 win over John Jay last Saturday. Senior attackman Justin Patterson has a team-high 16 goals and 28 points. The perennial Section 4 powers are still my pick to get to the Class B state finals.

3. Niskayuna (3-0): In typical Silver Warriors fashion, they have outscored their opponents 34-4. They may not lose this season, though I think John Jay will give them a game for sure. Nisky is on a collision course with Corning East in Rochester, provided someone from either Section 1, 8 or 11 steps up and drops the hammer when the chips are on the table.

4. Lafayette (3-0): The Lancers are loaded with shooters, particularly Johns Hopkins-bound John Greeley, who had four goals in a 17-7 win over Bishop Ludden back on April 7. Lafayette pounded perennial Section 3 Class C power Christian Brothers 24-13 on Tuesday.

5. Guilderland (4-0): The Dutchmen will likely be the team that faces the Section 1 rep in the state quarterfinals now that Nisky has dropped to Class B. They play Nisky on Wednesday.

6. Orchard Park (3-0): Biggest win so far was a 5-4 victory over Canandaigua, a Class A state semifinalist from 2008 (lost to Genny). Many think if Section 6 (Buffalo area, Western N.Y.) is to ever win a state title, the Quakers are the likely candidate, but their road always goes through West Genny.

7. Jamesville-DeWitt (2-2): Started slowly with losses to Homer (15-10) and Lafayette (8-4), but has started slowly in the past only to get to the state finals. Just ask John Jay circa 2007.

8. Skaneateles (3-0): The Lakers beat Homer, which knocked off JD, 11-8 on April 9. Skaneateles has been one of the better upstate Class C schools for a while, getting to the state finals in 2002 (loss to Shoreham-Wading River) and losing 10-9 to Corning East in the state quarters last year. The problem is Lafayette seems to always stand in the Lakers’ way.

9. Hamburg (3-0): The Bulldogs hope to put behind them a heartbreaking 2008 Class B state semifinal loss to Carthage that saw them blow a huge lead and then lose in the final seconds. That said, Hamburg got a measure of revenge this season, beating Carthage 8-2. Like Orchard Park, Hamburg is seen as one of the few shining hopes for Section 6 as far as advancing in the state tournament goes. The Bulldogs defeated the Highland School of Va. 9-8 in OT on Tuesday.

10. Fairport (4-0): Games against Penn Yan, Jamesville-DeWitt, Irondequoit and Canandaigua will give a pretty good indication of whether the Red Raiders can get out of Section 5 and eventually lose to West Genny.

Well, there you have it. There are several other teams to watch, including Webster Thomas (Section 5), Penn Yan (Section 4), FM (Section 3) and Carthage (Section 3), but as of right now, these 10 have the best chance of getting to the three state finals. Please feel free to point out any team I may have missed.

Obviously, West Genny is in a class by itself, but Corning East, Lafayette and Nisky should be taken VERY seriously. Yes, even by you, Long Island folks.

Be sure to weigh in with your comments and predictions.

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