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Flyers vs. Friars.

If you’re a high school lax fan in the nation’s No. 1 hotbed, the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region, it’s always one of the best matchups to watch of the season.

Often, times three.

Last year, the teams split their regular-season meetings before St. Anthony’s won the CHSAA final in OT.

We received an overview on how the Friars look last week from Maryland-bound senior middie Joe LoCascio.

So equal time is in order.

Representing the Flyers is versatile Yale University-bound senior attackman/midfielder Shane Thornton, who had a strong sophomore season last year, registering 16 goals and 10 assists.

He’s next up in our continuing “Player’s perspective”‘ feature.

If you’re interested in sharing your thoughts, drop us an e-mail at info@laxlessons.com.

Now, here’s Shane’s thoughts on the upcoming season.

What have you been doing to get ready for the season?
A group of the seniors at Chaminade put together some sessions at the Hofstra indoor facilities for any varsity candidate this year. We started in late November and will go through early February. Along with that, Coach (Jack) Moran has made up a workout regimen for everyone so that the team will be in the best shape possible when March 10th comes around.

How does your schedule look, including scrimmages, and what games are you looking forward to?
Our schedule doesn’t really change from year to year. We always have great competition and play some of the best teams in the nation. I am most excited for any of the games in which we play teams that we lost to last year, especially Manhasset. We have been playing them annually since 2005 in the memory of Jimmy Regan, so that will always be a special game for us. Then, of course, we have St. Anthony’s twice (hopefully three times), which always seems to be a great game.

What players on your team do you think will surprise some people this season?
Definitely keep an eye on Matt Kavanagh. He is a senior, lefty attackman who had a huge year last year, both in season and in the summer. Look for him to put up a crazy amount of points. Also, Matt Clarkson, a senior middie, going to Colgate, was injured for all of last season. He is a freak athlete and can play any position on the field.

What do you think the strength of your team will be this year?
I think our team will do huge things this year. I don’t want to jinx anything but we don’t think we should lose a game. We have seven starters coming back along with a really solid group of juniors. We all expect to do big things behind the leadership of Sean Mahon and John Connors.

How do you view the race in the CHSAA and who do you think the contending teams will be?
The CHSAA is always a strong league with us and St. Anthony’s usually at the top. Hopefully it will be the same way this year but Holy Trinity has been strong the past couple of years so look for them to make a strong push towards the end of the season.

* For background info on Shane, check out his recruit profile by clicking here.

MSG Varsity coverage

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* Lombardi on Lacrosse Hot Stove Report, Dec. 28, 2010

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