Quick question, gang. Especially those of you in the Hudson Valley region.
Name the Section 1 program that has produced the most Division I recruits the last two years.
If you guessed Somers, you are correct.
Senior attackman Kieran Donohue became the sixth Tusker player who is or will be continuing his career at the D-I level by committing to Siena College.
Donohue is a talented attackman with good size and a nose for the net.
The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Donohue joins Greg Petre (Army), John Bello (St. John’s), Erik Pfiffner (Colgate) from the Class of 2010 and current classmates Eddie Schurr (Johns Hopkins) and Anthony Lombardo (Binghamton) to form that group of six. This group does not even include 2009 grad and current Syracuse University star JoJo Marasco — arguably the player of the year in New York State his senior season.
Here’s a Q&A with Kieran on his commitment.
What were the main factors in your decision?
My decision to attend Siena College was determined by the quality of education, and the availability of the academic advisers for the student-athletes, as well as the beautiful campus and the family-like tradition that I felt when I visited.
What other schools were you considering and what schools did you visit?
I was considering Cortland, Drexel, Sacred Heart University and WNEC. I also visited Sacred Heart and Cortland.
What adjustments do you think you will need to make to play at the next level?
I need to be smarter when carrying the ball, shooting lefty and overall getting faster and stronger.
What are your strengths as a player and how would you describe your style of play?
I understand where to be at certain times, where to find the open man, and Im a good dodger from anywhere on the field. My style of play is to get a step on my defenseman and to go hard to the net. Also, just finishing from wherever.
What players have you looked up to as you have moved up through the varsity ranks?
I really have learned a lot from JoJo Marasco and Greg Petre. JoJo taught me how to dodge and read defenses. Greg showed me how to shoot and find the open man. Both of them moved on to great D-I programs (Syracuse and Army, respectively) and I look up to them for teaching me and for moving on to those programs.
When did you first realize you had the potential to play at the college level?
During my sophomore year when I received a letter from Chris Bates at Drexel (now at Princeton), asking me to fill out a questionnaire and to wish me good luck on the season.
* For background info on Kieran, check out his recruit profile by clicking here.
* Be sure to e-mail any recruiting commitment news to us at info@laxlessons.com.
Posted In: Recruiting Rundown
I guess it’s a testament to the improved coaching at John Jay that John Jay beat this Somers team team with all this D-I talent 3 times last year!
Congrats broooo
how can you say it was an improved coaching staff when jj has never lost in the regionals ever.
Don’t know about that. Just think JJ was deeper in talent then Somers last year. Juniors are hungrier then seniors.
Congratulations Kieran and good luck!
With Prunty and now Donohue Siena has gotten two of the top srs in the HV…
well done Kieran! And to those of you who might not know, well done to Jim as well. You both kept your cool and composure during some tough times in tusker town. Kieran will prove to be an asset to Sienna and should see time early on. Thankfully he was able to be coached by his dad for a short while and the likes of Schurr. Good luck
Nice accomplishment Kieran.
I’m hearing Lew is going after the legendary Frankie V to join him as an assistant for next year to help rebound from last year’s disappointing year…
I believe the Frankie V thing was a joke, he is not leaving LI.
I think one of the Savs would be a good choice.
Hey K-Man nice work , shaping up to be a nice team Siena with all the Hud Valley Flava!
I dont think the sav’s would leave JFK with the new turf being installed.
Good job KD and good job Lew.
The Savs leave JFK? I don’t see it. New field. Are they getting uni’s too? No matter. They’re building. They won 5 games and almost beat Ossining – say what you will but O was final four and the Savs will build on that. It’s fun times at Kennedy if you’re a lax bro.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Lew got Rob Miller, his U13 coach with Westrock. Outstanding football and lax coach, an organizer and experienced coach. He would be a great addition, and dare I say, an upgrade from BSmith, who I respect. Rob’s son is Taylor Miller, LSM for Somers, but I think he’s on his way to college or something.
If not Rob Miller, I wouldn;t be surprised to see him get one of his other WR guys. He has some bright young guys to choose from. This should be fun to watch. Call ESPN and they can run this after the Brett Favre stories!
Yes good Job KMAN and Coach Lew who no doubt helped in the process unlike some coaches in the area who do NOTHING for recruiting.
Lax odourerves. One problem with Miller , Taylor now goes to Trinity Pawling Prep, mad the switch for acaademic reasons.
I think you are correct with the wolfpack coaches jumping on.Either Brian Dalton, Eddie Geary or Bill Honovich would be a serious upgrade for the Somers staff
Yeh Gill! Fist pump for ya!
Who’s
B Dalton would be great, but he’s on the St. John’s staff. Ed Geary is another serious candidate, good idea by you. Isn’t Hono already coaching somewhere? I’m not sure where.
That’s great news about Taylor. He’ll do well at Trinity. Is that one year or two?
Keiran D. is one of the most well-liked players around and this is good news. Siena is building a Section One juggernaut and a lot of people around here will be rooting for them because of it!
Cheers to all!
Don’t be suprised to see Lew dip into JJ for his next assistant… they have a wealth of their young guys who have returned from sucessful college careers and have been helping Timmy out with his program.
I think you are right Nick Hautau would be a good candidate.
KMAN – congratulations. You worked hard. Looking forward to seeing you play for
Siena. Good luck in your Senior year. SCORE!
Hautau or Johnny Carrozza would be great fits at Somers as assistant. An offensive mind is a must!
I think in short time, both Hautau and Carrozza are going to be excellent Varsity Lacrosse coaches.
Congrats Kieran! I enjoy reading the lax blogs and felt compelled to write when I saw Rob Miller’s name. He is one of those classic unsung heroes in my book. My son graduated from Somers HS two years ago and played both football and lacrosse. He also played both football and lacrosse for Rob at the youth levels. I have know the Millers for many years and so admire everything they have done for the Somers community of youth sports. I can’t imagine Rob would want to coach varsity lacrosse because he has too much fun at the youth level. I dare say that much of the credit for Somer’s success in HS football and lacrosse can be directly attributed to Rob’s work at the youth level. I think he may have even been offered the Varsity coaching job at Somers after Tim Schurr left but probably did not take it out of respect for Tim.
I know that his son Taylor is repeating his Junior year at Trinity Pawling. I know that Taylor is an ABOVE average student and has been talking to a bunch of top ranked NESCAC schools and other colleges of that level. He may have even been recruited by Trinity Pawling because I think they saw him play at a summer camp. Taylor is a really smart lacrosse player with good stick skills.
Taylor has a younger brother in 8th grade who is a phenom on the football field as well as a stud on the lacrosse field. He is a recruited prep school athlete so I would not be a bit surprised if he also ends up at Trinity Pawling. This would be a major loss for Coach DeMatteo and Lew.
Yeh Kieran
Siena is Section 1 north lol.
Great to see all the Hudson Valley kids at Siena. Last year they almost helped them beat Hopkins – tough OT loss they really should’ve won.
Siena has been a hotbed for LI and Hudson Valley talent for a while now. Its really been a program on the rise, and they’ve been getting a lot of resources from the school. Coach Brecht finds some major “under the radar LI talent” year after year. Hopefully Kieran and the other Hudson Valley kids can represent. Best of luck.
Don’t be suprised to see Lew dip into JJ for his next assistant… they have a wealth of their young guys who have returned from sucessful college careers and have been helping Timmy out with his program.
Those guys are all highly qualified but the new Somers assistant will not be one of them. I’m sure Joe will announce it here when it’s official.
Yeh Somers new assistant is a former varsity head coach so it’s not one of the JJ guys…
Interesting info. Thanks.
Congrats Kieran, Anthony and all the Somers laxers who play football for the BIG playoff win at Rye tonite!
Yes congrats to Somers and the lax kids on a very convincing win over Rye. Big line opened up lots of holes for good running backs.
Thanks for the classy comment slacrosse. That is another reason this blog is so much better than any other – not only the insights readers provide but the respect they show for one another. It was a great win to beat a quality program in Rye. Thank you again.
Thanks. Hopefully the football/lax kids from Somers and Rye will have a chance to play each other again this Spring on the lax field.
Good luck going forward.
To add to that, and as a brief aside from lax, Somers at Nyack or Greeley in semifinals next week should be quite a game. I was very surprised Somers beat Rye so handily but knowing how well Coach DeMatteo prepares his teams perhaps I shouldn’t be.