When sports fans discuss the importance of rankings, I have always maintained that, though they are hardly scientific, they serve an important purpose.
They get people talking — and even arguing.
I mean, isn’t conflict what sports is all about? Without it, there would be no sports of any sort to speak of.
Which brings us to a couple of the biggest games on tap involving teams from the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region on what is an unusually busy Friday.
Rankings very much come into play when talking about what’s on tap for today.
John Jay, coming off a 10-9 season, is No. 7 in the nation by Inside Lacrosse in its latest National Power Rankings.
Manhasset, coming off a state championship season, is nowhere to be found in the Top 25.
What does that mean? Well, for starters that was then, and this is now. Last season is just that. Last season.
For another, Inside Lacrosse will look very good if John Jay pulls out a win in its 7 p.m. game tonight at Manhasset.
But consider this. John Jay has only won a game on Long Island once in its history. And it was the biggest win in school history — a double-overtime victory against the top-ranked team in the nation and two-time defending state champ Huntington in 2007.
That’s hardly the only showdown on tap for tonight.
In an intriguing intra-state battle, five-time defending Connecticut state champ Darien visits 2009 Class B state finalist Niskayuna at 7 p.m.
In Section 1 4:30 p.m. games, Mamaroneck hosts Pelham, New Rochelle hosts Sleepy Hollow, Arlington visits North Salem, Hastings is at White Plains, Edgemont is at Scarsdale and Tappan Zee visits Eastchester.
Also on Long Island, Locust Valley plays at Roslyn at 4:15 p.m., Hewlett hosts Holy Trinity and Mepham visits Glen Cove at 4:30 p.m. and MacArthur visits Bethpage at 7 p.m.
?In Connecticut, defending FCIAC champ Ridgefield looks to bounce back from its season-opening overtime loss at Staples when it plays at Fairfield Warde at 4:30 p.m.
Greenwich hosts New Fairfield at Cardinal Stadium at 4:30 p.m.
As always, be sure to post your thoughts on these matchups during the morning and throughout the day and provide any any info on the scores and game details. in the afternoon and evening.
MSGVarsity.com coverage
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* Lombardi on Lacrosse: Tri-State Report
* Hudson Valley/Connecticut Top 10 rankings
* Play of the Day: Over-the-shoulder, no-look goal by Pelham’s Doug Eich
* Lombardi: Uncertainty lingers after Week 1 in Section 1
* John Jay-Yorktown game video
* Jared Greenberg’s Beyond the Boxscore: Lax Lives up to the Hype
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Posted In: Scoreboard Central
Set 10, JJ 8
Fascinating game. Not big on comparing scores but this should be a good indication of how sec 1 compares to LI right now, along with WM vs Town. Set handled WM with it’s starters in at LA12. This will be their young guys first big test while JJ has Town under their belt.
LI Fans,
Does Sett have the option of petitioning to move up a Class like I believe Town did (B to A).
If so maybe they should? Not that Class C on LI or NYS does not have some very strong/elite teams. But Sett has been a traditional national power for many yrs and I do think the depth of elite teams is better in B.
Don’t know. Just throwing it out.
Set 12 JJ 9
Joe what is your prediction
laxingonli –
I went on record on Monday picking Manhasset 9-7:
http://msgvarsity.com/connecticut-westchester/msg-varsity-lax-picks-week-1-1.18413?p=
Yes, Manhasset lost seven players from last year’s state title team who are playing in the college ranks, led by UVa freshman Connor English, but I’m amazed Manhasset isn’t getting more attention right now.
In Syracuse-bound Ricky Buhr and Penn-bound Drew Belinsky, the Indians have two of the top midfielders around. Throw in sophomore defenseman Bobby Duvnjak, and you have another player who will likely play at a high level of D-I lax down the line.
John Jay has three D-I bound players of its own, including a pair of Hopkins recruits in Mike Daniello and Jameson Pickel, and has a lot of confidence right now.
For me, the X factor is tradition. John Jay, in its history, has won only once on Long Island – the 2007 win over Huntington in the state semifinals.
Okay, time for the Predict-O-Tron line for today and tomorrow!
All non-league games!
Bronxville -7.5 over Roosevelt; Give the 7.5 and take the Broncos at home over the still brand new program from Yonkers.
Eastchester -1.5 over Tappan Zee; Interesting toss up game. Tappan Zee coming in at #10 lost its only road game at Nanuet and the Eagles, ranked #13 are 1-0 at home. Two evenly matched teams, but give home field advantage to Massi, Cirillo and the Eagles and give the 1.5 by virtue of home field.
Arlington 6 North Salem; The Admirals are one of those building programs that seek the rare air at the top of the section. Their schedule though is that of a building program, not an elite. They beat Haldane 15-4 in their opener, which somehow was good enough to put them at #2, huh? If that doesn’t surprise you, Pelham is #3 with one game played and Yorktown is #4! Still the Admirals are a formidable team and can start to build momentum with a victory at N Salem. N Salem is in a rebuilding phase and even though they won’t back down find themselves in a tough matchup here. Arlington on the road and give the 6!
Finally, the Game ‘O Da Day
Section One John Jay travels to Manhasset…in the game of the century! Maybe not, but this is a test for both teams and a road win here for the Indians will leave no doubt they are the beast of section one to date. In fact, all of their wins have been on the road, rename them the John Jay Mel Gibson Road Warriors and none of their opponents have a losing record!
Manhasset; only one of their wins came against a team with a winning record and they have made easy work of their opposition so far, winning by an average of six. But today they ain’t playin’ Mineola!
Give Manhasset 1.5 for home field to start with because of the long day and bus ride for the John Jay guys. They’ve been up since 6:30 – 7:00 this morning, have a full day of school, quick change into their uniforms and a 1 hour plus bus ride, during the dinner hour to Long Island for the 7pm start. Brutal. Hey folks, these are high school kids…but then again, here I am laying scoring odds…probably not a good idea, but what the heck, I have 15 minutes to spare and I like causing trouble.
The bottom line here is that John Jay has a tough time winning on Long Island and Manhasset still has a talent laden team at their own cushy confines.
Manhasset 3.5 over John Jay; Add it all in and Manhasset at home on Friday night.
Take John Jay and the 3.5?
or
Take Manhasset and give the 3.5?
You make the call!
slacrosse…
I’m not sure what point of MHS moving would serve, they play plenty of top teams, going back to the 70’s and trips down to Baltimore play Gilman.
gimme a stick,
Hear you and thats why I mentioned that Sett was facing some top teams already.
Guess I’m thinking whether Sett has dominated Class C enough yrs that they should move up and face tougher comp on LI and maybe in NYS?
So questions follow: Has Sett dominated Class C over the yrs? Would Class B present tougher comp for Sett? on LI and in NYS?
As much as this hurts me, Set 12 JJ 7. I think it’s early and Jay is still finding their legs, losing Merlino hurts, the FO disparity, and Set at home on a Friday night will make it tough for Jayto pull the upset.
And can I get some love from MSG? NO JJ games this year? I’m obviously biased, but I’d rather see JJ v Set over St. Anthonys vs. Fairfield Prep this weekend, just a more compelling game with a history of close finishes. St. A’s will be on twice, and CT has New Canaan, Darien, Prep and Wilton represented on the schedule, and Section 1 only gets Town twice.
slacrosse…years back Levittown, Elmot, Cold Spring Harbor, among others always played tough games…there is always the Woodstick Classic with Garden City which I think is still a larger school, and then the playoffs would eventually match them with the Farmingdales and Ward Melvilles of Suffolk, much larger schools. These days they mix in the top Westchester, CT, and Jersey schools so I don’t really see the need to change class.
thanx gimme a stick
Doid23
May have this completely wrong but thought I heard J’s School Board did not want them on TV for some “reason”??
‘Set plays GC, Chaminade, Darien, CSH 2x, JJ; then throw in some good “second-tier” programs (Northport, SS, Comsewogue)….they dont need to play better teams. And not to mention, Nassau Class A isnt that great.
JJ wil bring it home for Section 1 ….. Their offense is sure to start clicking and the defense has looked strong and has brought into Timmy Schurr’s program !
Good luck tonight John Jay!!!
I heard that too slacrosse. I believe the Garden City athletic department is doing the same thing. It’s a real shame, at least the JJ-Yorktown video is up on MSG varsity interactive.
WhaleBelt
How bout Nassau Class B?
By the way Rye had Max Siebald (Hewlett/Cornell) speak at the start of season dinner. Great kid and very inspiring speech. One of our senior middies is a Cornell recruit (McCormack).
Farmingdale is a Nassau County school.
sorry Dalerfan, typing too fast before and not paying attention
Class B has OK depth…GC, Lynbrook, Wantagh, SouthSide….all competitive teams…Bethpage every so often is in the mix….on any given day!
Good luck tonight John Jay!
Tomorrow, I sense after a good week of practice and a big win over Greeley a determined business like Mahopac team coming out tomorrow and shocking Section One by taking it to Somers. Let’s say 10-7 Mahopac. Go Pac!
Mahopac-Somers should be a war even though Somers may take the Pac lightly. That would be a big mistake.
Mahopac 12, Somers 8
Thanx for any J/Set game updates
Not Even Close Somers 12 Mahopac 6
schurr is going to shut down Brando, and a solid team defense will be able to hold back the rest of Pac.
i say
Somer 10, Pac 8
EI takes down Smithtown West, 17-15, at home. I love Suffolk A this year.
Somers 12-6 over Pac.
Northport 9, Commack 8
Set, JJ just underway. Cell battery running low but will be back hopefully with more.
IslandLaxpert
Thx!
Manhasset has jumped out to a 3-0 lead against John Jay in the first quarter.
Arlington over N. Salem 14-2
3-0 set 1st qtr
West Islip 10, Smithtown East 6
Go Indians!! Manhasset that is
Manhasset leads 5-1 at the half. Mike Daniello has John Jay’s lone goal. It was unassisted.
5-1 Set at half. The teams look very even but JJ came out slow. Have a feeling they’re going to get back in it. Set defense doing a nice job so far and Set is controlling faceoffs.
i bet this is a close game by the end. Set known for second half let downs
7-1 Jay down
Thanx for continuing color–knew FO would be an issue for Jay.
#7 in the country ….. LOL
As Joe wrote in his book, possession is 9/10ths of the lacrosse law. John Jay just hasn’t had the ball enough. Very frustrating.
New Fairfield 9, Greenwich 8 in OT
Manhasset leads 9-1 after three quarters.
Inside Lacrosse looks VERY bad right now. Set not even in the Top 25. JJ #7. Props to Joe atleast for saying Somers is the team to beat in Section One this year.
Mamaroneck 11, Pelham 7
Ward Melville 10, Bay Shore 2 … YORKTOWN IS NEXT …
http://www.facebook.com/wmlax
Manhasset has stretched the lead to 12-1 midway through the fourth.
Set pulls away… wins 12-3
Final: Manhasset 12, John Jay 3
Any score on Darien-Nisky?
Wow, I didn’t see that score coming. I thought JJ v Set would be a battle. 1 goal through 3 qtrs for Jay? Crazy. Somebody give some analysis here. Did Set dominate face offs? What was the story with Jay’s offense?
12-3 Jay no match for Manhasset
OK start the debate:
What does this mean for Sect 1 Class B
St Anthony-10
Somers-7
Manhasset-12
Jay-3
????????????????
Darien —-Nisky?????
Guess JJ Indians and Tim Schurr’s defense got scalped by the Manhasset Indians.
Final –
Darien 9, Niskayuna 2
Anyone care to shed some light on Darien – Nisky? I anticipated it being closer. Who looked good for the Wave?
Buhr was dominant at FO except when Daniello took a couple and I believe was 2 for 4. Set on defense was smothering. Not sure JJ attack even got off more than 10 shots while 1st D was in. Scored 2 goals against Set 2nd D. Even the 1 goal they had was a one handed roll by Daniello that was a little weak. Set was bigger, faster and better prepped for sure. It really was never a game. The middie and D for Set absolutely dominated. Strongest part of JJ was actually the keeper. Not much else to say
Right now Somers is #1 in section one losing to the #2 team only 10-7 and being tied with them in the 4th qtr while JJ lost to an unranked team #25. Not that rankings are the end all but I mean come on.
Also Somers beat JJ twice last yr and I know Jo-jo is gone but their offence is still just better than JJ’s as evidanced by today…
As depressing as it is, thanks for the insight laxified
Other than the fluke Huntington win in 07 where Huntington was looking past JJ bc they beat them during the season its been the same story. John Jay getting outclassed by Long Island teams. The Savs had to hold the ball just to prevent a score even worse than this last year. (So what’s the point in even scheduling the game if you’re not going to play a real game.) They blew it against an inferior Rocky Point team the year after Huntington.
Let me start by saying I wished J would win but I picked sett 11-5 so I was off by 3 goals in favor of sett.
I hope I’m not gonna get creamed too badly here but cant understand why there would be surprise at the outcome?
(1) Jay’s team is made up of a good core of Juniors who are STILL developing , INCLUDING Dinello. (2) I assume Jay was dominated at FO by a Syracuse bound FO kid giving Sett big possession, a senior top Long Island M going to Penn and I’m sure many other expereinced quality lacrosse O and D players (3) I dont know how many saves Jay made but my observation up to this point was J’s goalies were average–also a disadvantage when facing a team like Sett.
Frankly I’m also really angry at the incompetence of Inside Lacrosse. Their ratings have always been a joke with a few exceptions and the #7 they gave to Jay just added a totally unrealistic “expectations” burden to Jay as well as really psyching up Sett to cream them!!!
Jay has great kids and a top coach. This game will only make them better..
slacrosse- JJ goalie in first half was excellent. Just don’t know which one it was. Sorry wasabi, but your welcome.
Maybe Manhasset saw Tim on the sidelines and had flashbacks to ’03 and decided it was payback time.
Nobody should be shocked at anything Inside Lacrosse does. That site/publication is all about creating hype and always playing favorites, as in brand name programs.
I can’t wait to see Arlington-Kennedy on Saturday, get back to basics.
I love all the breast beating going on here and I really love the parsing and micromanagement.
When JJ beat Yorktown it was, “…Oh, what a team, onward and upward, look out world…!” Now they go down to Long Island, get waxed and its, “…well, they’ve got a lot of juniors, they got outcoached…” hehe, I love you guys.
LI is king and SecOne is their pesky little brother.
Up next; Yorktown vs Ward Melville and Garden City…good luck Huskers.
If Somers loses to Mahopac and Yorktown gets killed by WM what’s the best team in Section One. Sad to even think about. Come on coaches/players… Step it up!
Valley,
For some of the same reasons as why Sett beat Jay, Somers should win as well, but by a much closer margin. (1) Somers has more experienced seniors that are very good lacrosse players at both offense and defense and (2) Somers has a top qoalie, Face-offs are close but I’d give the nod to Somers.
Somers also almost beat a very elite St. Anthony’s team(being ahead 8-7 end of third).
I’m looking forward to Arlington-Kennedy on Saturday too, should be a good game
mamo beat pelham 11-7
Manhasset , at least in terms of IL, is completely underrated and we now know from all of their scores that they are one of the best teams in the country. This should not come as a surprise to anyone who knows their program. John Jay is a good team who got down and could not get back on their feet. They beat Manhasset in 07 and played them close in 08 so I don’t think that all this “see they stink” talk is anything more than chest pumping. As for the implications on who is the best team in section one, they are none. St. A’s may not even be near the number 2 team in the country ( maybe/maybe not) and we don’t know where Somers, Yorktown, or Jay will be in the middle of May.
Section one is not LI’s pesky little brother. Unless of course your pesky little brother has a history of occasionally beating up on you. Manhasset must be excellent. A fantastic lacrosse team. They would beat Somers , Yorktown, and 98 percent of LI about as easily as they beat Jay.
Excuses? Yes, you have to make some. I feel the best excuse is that Manhasset is awesome. Comparing scores? Look at what Manhasset has done to all opponents thus far. Then look at what they did to their like opponent with Garden City. It’s score comparing- which you should not do, but they are clearly a dominant squad.
If you do want to criticize Jay, and apparently this is a popular thing to do for now, you can certainly get away with pointing out that they have been plagued with inconsistency even in their recent successful years. Tonight was a dip.
Lets let the season develop on it own. Teams will improve, dip, and some will dominate.
Indian j
You always seem to need to denigrate Somers, win or lose. J lost BIG!!!!!!!!! J was never in the game! Do not say Set would beat Somers and Town as easily as they beat J. J was crushed. Somers was in the game with St. A’s the entire game leading during the third. J lost.
Accept it and stop dragging the rest of Section 1 down with you.
Indian J- that is pretty well said. Manhasset wanted this game in the worst way. I know the kids have felt very slighted with what they perceived as a lack of respect for them and the program in general. I think JJ got steamrolled tonight by a perfect storm of ability, pride and desire. Teams are never as good as they look when they win or as bad when they lose. I do think this year as every year, there are overrated teams and underrated teams and only time will tell. It’s easy to say now, but I have felt all along that this Manhasset team was way underrated and is as deep and athletic as any team on LI including WI. Good luck to JJ the rest of the way, they won’t see a stronger team than this the rest of the year
Indian J, laxified,
Both very well said.
Pac 11-9 win over a Jo Jo less Somers. I predict Somers D with 6 penalities (hackers). Brando shows why he is an AA this year with 4 goals 2 asst. If the Pac’s D holds they win the game. Their O has looked good the last two games scoring over 13 goals. Carey, Bernabo, Thompson, Foley, Berardis, and Brando too much to cover with only 5 long poles. McGuigan has a monster game. Go pac
You cannot say that Somers and Yorktown would have the same outcome, you cannot say that St. A’s may or may not be near the # 2. You will because the outcome of St. A’s and Somers was much closer. But you don’t know what the outcome would be.
Maybe one of the reasons Jay is being criticized so intensely is because of all the talk Jay fans do about every other team in section 1 on this blog – “chest pumping” payback. It really doesn’t feel so good when someone is putting down your kids. It is a shame too because most of these kids play together over the summer and they don’t feel about each othe the way angry adults do.
East Islip improves to 4-0 and Mercer Island to 9-0. These teams are for real and the only teams that the Pac has lost to and not by much. Somers better not take the Pac too lightly.
Pac beats Jo-jo less, banged up and undisciplined Somers 8-7 on a late man up goal as a result of a Somers hack
A reasonable estimate for the game would be that JJ held the ball for 12 of the 48 minutes that the game was played in. Meaning that Manhasset had the ball for three times as long as JJ. Playing that much defense will get to any team, no matter how good they are.
JJ was sloppy on clears and played pretty selfishly on offense. Manhasset dominated every aspect of the game, especially face-offs.
This game just proves a fact of lacrosse, or any other sport for that matter. You can’t win without the ball.
Somlax,
No beef with Somers or Somers fans in regards to this. Somers is clearly a strong team. I did not intend to belittle their accomplishments at all. Jay absolutely got smoked, yes you’re right. I think though that Manhasset could probably handle anybody in section one right now, and, the overwhelming majority of LI teams.
From a JJ offensive perspective ,… the game was AWFUL., very few faceoff wins, bad shot selection ( sometime to selective), bad passing.. totally sloppy play.
Maher and the defense were OK in the first half (5-1 score), middie play slow and sloppy picking up the faster Manhassett middies. Franklin and the defense totally melted under the constant barrage on the second half … I think JJ had the ball for a grand total of 4 minutes in the entire second half.
Indian J
I am a little sensitive because Somers seems to get trashed alot lately.
Good luck the rest of the season!
Somers Vs. The Pac the last two years with JO JO. 2008 double ot win Vs. Pac, 2009 8-6 win Vs. the Pac. The Pac has the same team as last year. What is missing from Somers? Oh yeah he plays at Cuse now, JO JO ….. He was pretty good. I got the Pac 8-6.
laxforfun,
i went to jj and i played summer lacrosse with many players from yorktown. the jay town rivarly is one of the greatest lacrosse rivals in our area, but the players don’t hate each other or anything as much as the adults do. I not only played with players for town i hung out with them a couple times because they were nice kids and of course we did joke around about our game and such.
Just got back from Albany. Here are some stats from Darien’s big 9-2 win over Niskayuna.
Case Mathies 3-1
Brian Gleason 2-1
Bobby Nolan 1-2
Alden Frelinghuysen 1-1
Bryan Annecchino 1-0
Graham Maybell 1-0
Joe … Your site is amazing. We’d be lost without it in Darien. Keep up the great work. With your site, your book and your work on MSG, you are a tremendous ambassador for the game.
I had JJ winning this game – hadn’t seen either team play live so far this season. Can’t believe the disparity in the 2 teams. I have watched JJ/Set games for the last 7 (?) years – the 3OT game a few years ago might have been the best HS lax game I’ve ever watched. This was a mismatch. Only reason JJ was down 4 at half was the excellent play of the 1st half goalie. Why switch???? JJ had none of the athleticism of the teams of the last few years. Whoever said game seemed even in the 1st half must have been at a different field.
Having watched JJ last season I thought this would be a big year for them. Major step backward tonight.
scores were
2008 6-5
2009 7-4
I certainly agree that Sett would/should be favored over Somers and Town.
If they were playing tomorrow based upon Somers’ strengths I spoke of above + very importantly their close game with St. Anthony’s, I’d project a 11-7 win for Sett . Maybe something like 13-5 over Town.
2009 3 goal win. What did Jo Jo have in that game???? My guess is 3 + goals. Jo Jo is gone Somers. This will be a game……Can’t wait to watch.
Ride the Wave – i know it’s hard to tell from this game, but does Nisky have a good squad this year? trying to understand how dominant the team’s play was, that score is impressive
k, here’s what we know a few weeks in….
jay, town, l/p seem relativey close in ability….nod to jay for winning 2 close games that could have gone either way.
somers plays St. A’s close thru 3 quarters – but lost by 3….different circumstances but Jay played St. A’s close (won by a goal) – albeit in a scrimmage. toss-up for what this means to section 1.
jay got beat badly by ‘Set. no idea what this means – but Manhasset looks very strong. All we know is right now is that Manhasset is better than Jay.
does any of this mean anything when Jay plays Somers – 3 TIMES? Nope. I expect close games, with neither team winning all 3. Whoever wins the last one, gets bragging rights.
Purple Pride,
Not exactly sure what you were getting at but I think you proved my point exactly the kids don’t hate each other – the rivalries between schools is normal but once the game is over the kids are all laughing and joking. It is the adults who get on these sites and call other teams and players names. My question is why? You can be all for your team you just do not have to degrade the other team. Indian J is asking that we let the season develop on its own – because JJ lost but he has had no problem voicing his strong opinions on Somers, “smash mouths”, won’t make an impact on the top college lacrosse teams because Jay has stick skills, etc. Why would someone say that about kids? Win or lose all of these kids play to their fullest and they don’t need people sitting behind a pseudo name tearing them down.
Manhasset-Darien@St Anthony 4/24 2pm. Should be some game
Oh ‘Pac fans —- I’d lay low until after the game….poking that red elephant to your south doesn’t seem like such a good idea…. Spread is Somers -4, and I’d lay a hundy on the Tuskers to cover.
What is Schurr doing with the goalies? Now I hear that Maher (who had a tough time vs Town) played pretty well and then was switched and the tending was not as strong. Gee, doesn’t he finally have to choose one or the other.
Taz
Different players, different results. This team is good and will get better but they are no where near the skill level of those GREAT Jay teams .
Last season, I think even alot of J people felt that it could be this yr OR ’11 for the team to reach a peak, given all the juniors.. So maybe the really good juniors need another yr to reach a peak. But even there I dont believe even next yr’s team will be eqaul at all to Jay’s great teams and therefore will have their back against the wall vs elite teams.
On the way home from the game various and numerous headlines went through my head. Jay Mugged on LI (It was more like an execution.) Did the real Jay show up for the game. (If they did it was a sad thing.) Not to be too overly critical, but something overlooked by all the posts that Ive read, is that Jay was still in it 3 minutes into the third. In fact, with a little luck, the half could have easily been Jay down 3-4 (but you can consider that total biased conjecture!). No, in the third after Set missed two shots, Jay blew a clear and Set came back and hit on an outside bounce that IMO should have been a save, and made it 6-1. Shortly thereafter, Set scored again on an assisted goal. Someplace and time between those two goals, Jay gave up! It was all over, except for the final Score! There final 2 goals came against Sets 2nd team and backup goal keeper who were in the game from the 7 min mark on in the 4th.
I think the biggest Jay mistake was not going with one goalie for the entire game. Maher had acquitted himself well in the first half and with a little luck the game could have been closer. Near the end of the half, the 5th Set goal came from a rebound back into the stick of the Set player. 9 of the 12 Set goals came unassisted, indicative of poor backing by Jay on D.
Set outshot Jay 40 to 16! Was it because of Set dominance on the FO? No, For Face offs I got: 1st half, 5 to 3 Set and 2nd half, 5 to 4 Set. Not overwhelming, as was implied by other posters. The real difference was that Jay failed to score with their opportunities and turned the ball over often. Set was tenacious in stopping Jays transition and stripping the ball. They were excellent picking up the ground ball. In this, Set looked more like Jay than Jay usually does in these areas!
To summarize Set looked like a top 10 team while Jay played like they didnt belong on the same field. The Jay work in progress has a lot more progress to work on for the end of the season. Somers could be the next stumbling block. They, as far as Section 1 is concerned, is now their most important opponent to make or break their season. They will have to play Somers twice in league and most assuredly in the playoffs. No one saw this Set whipping coming! Jay has to learn how to not let such happen to them before they can truly reach the top.
P&G
Agree with all your comments except the third. Somers close loss to SA in a real game to me counts much more then an earlier, one half of a srimmage between J and St. A-advantage to Somers on that particular one.
To me right now it’s pretty close but:
Somers
Jay/LP
Town
In addition to the offensive stats Ride the Wave shared, Darien’s defense also did an excellent job holding off a strong and athletic Niskayuna squad. Goalie, Andrew West helped set the tone early with some great saves. Other defensive standouts were long poles, Eric Parnon and George Benitez, long pole middie, Baylis Treen, and short pole middie, JP Walsh
Benlaxman,
Wow, am surprised at how well J did on the FO’s. Had assumed they got wiped in this area, particularly as someone said J may have had possession for only 4 minutes in the entire 2nd half.
East Islip is for real…they upset Smithtown West 17-15 today after being down 12-4… ‘Pac took them to OT, though the game was at home for them, which actually makes a difference with the long drive from LI (especially Suffolk County). I would conclude that ‘Pac has a pretty solid team this year, and that their game against Somers is going to very close. I would be surprised if it is more than a 2 goal game, but I suppose I would slightly favor Somers. I don’t think that the Mahopac fans on here are being too unrealistic, though.
I’ll be interested to see how the ‘Pac does against my Northport Tigers on 4/24…we have beaten them every year since 2000 except ’05 (big win for ‘Pac at home, our FOGO broke his collarbone ending our county title chances) and ’06 (game was canceled), including the 2001 state semifinal game. Mahopac would have to be favored by a few goals this year, although the game is home for us.
Pac Out,
Are you implying that Perrelle was a nobody? You keep referencing that Pac has the same squad and Somers lost JoJo. Perrelle was Mahopac’s best player for the last three years. He was basically a mini JoJo. Don’t disrespect your own guys, especially one as good as Perrelle. Btw, he just had the game winning shot for Binghamton against Siena.
and in College Club news, Michigan saw their 49 game win streak snapped by Colorado last night, 12 – 10. Several Sec 1 kids on Michigan.
Newsday has Buhr winning 12 of 14 faceoffs for Manhasset. That is much closer to how I had it than Ben’s #’s.
(I do understand that the winning coach calls in the stats.)
BigBadBear
Yeah but dont forget Colorado has Ben”the animal” Litwak at pole!!!
Taz,
Please no offense to Ben who has great insight into games but I have to say that your stats seem a more logical tie-in to the dominance in possession (I guess partic during the 2nd half). If Ben is correct then a great night and congrats for J at FO versus a Syracuse bound FO kid.
Wasabi
Perrelle was/is a great player for sure!!
sla:
hah..Colorado has major issues this year…were 2-5 coming into the game…was played in Boulder, so maybe it was the altitude..this is comparable to J beating Huntington
Town 1-1 end of 1 Fresh Nick Mariano scores
Go Town!
I dont know where Benlaxman got his F/O facts but Set completely dominated this phase of the game. Factoring all the goals and quarters there were 19 faceoffs…I would say Set won 14 of the 19
Any Town score??
A few thoughts:
*Surprised that J got so thoroughly dominated, but not surprised they lost (I predicted 12-7). Looks like Schurr’s got a lot of work to do, but let’s give him some time. Also surprised that he’s still going with 2 goalies.
* Agree with Syracuse, IL rankings are a joke, and hurt Jay because nobody thought they were #7, Benlaxman and I argued on the Laxpower board that they shouldn’t even be Top 25. So St. Anthony’s as #2 doesn’t mean anything either.
* For all those “Huntington win was a fluke” jokers, don’t let facts get in the way of your hate. As in, that J team lost 6-9 to Huntington in the regular season, lost to GC in OT, beat Manhasset (3 OT), Niskayuna, Yorktown, Corning East (Class C finalist), Duxbury that year, and then lost to JD 13-11. They’ve also beat GC, Comsewogue, Calhoun, Syosset, etc in the past several years. So, upset, OK. Fluke? Not having it.
* What happened to my Wolverines?!?? Now THAT is a fluke. Something doesn’t add up. Saw them play Oregon down here in Dallas this season, maybe not the same dominant team as in the past, but shouldn’t be losing to Colorado.
* Bunch of Section 1 kids in DI games to today, let’s hope they represent (saw Ranagan put one in v. Albany)
Perrelle was one of the most underrated players in sect 1 while in H,S, the kid is a stud
Perelle is an unbelievable talent, i would bet that he would be playing for a top team in the country had he had a little more size
Jay and Somers now coming off rough losses. Thursday’s game at JJ will be even bigger now.
Somers needs not just a win, but a pretty dominant win to re-establish themselves as potentially an elite regional team. Then again, they just need to win Class B.
If I’m Jay I’m positive Schurr and J’s players are not looking past their game Tuesday with Rye.
Yorktown played a very hard fought game vs Ward Melville….It was a very close game most of the day but the patriots pulled away in the fourth….They locked in on Interlicchio all day, even face guarding him to preven him from touching the ball…..I thought Koelsh played well and Nick Mariano (freshmen attackman/middy) really stepped up….The ytown coaching staff needs to come up with more options when KI is locked off bc many teams are going to be doing that…
Yeah of course a win would have been better for Town but I like the tough game they played vs WM and think that has real positive potential for Town’s season. Just like Pac’s win over Somers.