Photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com
Junior attackman Conor Gately hopes to help Yorktown improve to 3-0 when the Huskers play at Shenendehowa.
A mix of rivalry games and intriguing tests for regional powers against out-of-state teams highlight today’s slate.
As far as rivalries go, Darien and Greenwich square off at 3 p.m. in Greenwich. Last year, of course, the Cardinals stunned Darien 8-7 in the FCIAC semifinals after falling to the Blue Wave 9-2 in the regular season a week earlier. Adding intrigue, former Darien player and assistant coach Scott Bulkley is in his second year as the Cardinals’ coach.
Also at 3 p.m., neighboring Northern Westchester rivals Horace Greeley and Fox Lane meet at Fox Lane Memorial Stadium in Bedford.
In Suffolk, Ward Melville, which a week ago beat Garden City, faces another big test when it takes on Smithtown East at 2 p.m.. The outcome could provide a better idea as to who could be in better position to try to end West Islip’s run of Suffolk Class A crowns.
Garden City faces its second straight out-of-state foe when it hosts national power St. Paul’s of Maryland at 10 a.m. The Trojans are fresh off a big win over San Ramon Valley of California, a team that will face another regional heavyweight when it plays today at 5:30 p.m. at John Jay.
Both Somers and New Canaan suffered significant graduation losses. The Tuskers, who have lost a pair of one-goal games to start the season, host New Canaan at 6 p.m.
Yorktown and Shenendehowa, from Clifton Park near Albany, renew their rivalry today at 1:30 p.m. today at Shen.
Also of note, Lakeland/Panas, the defending Section 1 Class A champ, plays its second game in two days when it faces Suffern at the Suffern Middle School. If you’re at a day game and looking for a night game to attend, you may want to check this one out at 7:30 p.m. The game will also be shown on MSG Varsity Channel 14 on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
As we get set to run down the slate, don’t forget, as always, gang, to post updates and info on the game or games you’re attending.
Queensbury at Kingston at Dietz Stadium, 9:30 a.m.
West Islip at Bay Shore, 10 a.m.
West Babylon at Copiague, 10 a.m.
Brentwood at Lindenhurst, 10 a.m.
Lawrence at Bethpage, 10 a.m.
Herricks at Calhoun, 10 a.m.
Valley Stream at Freeport at Cleveland Avenue Field, 10 a.m.
Connetquot at Middle Country, 10 a.m.
Baldwin at Oceanside, 10 a.m.
Southington at Amity, 11 a.m.
Westlake at Croton-Harmon, noon
Red Hook at Valley Central, noon
Nanuet at Putnam Valley, 1 p.m.
Mamaroneck at Weston, 1 p.m.
Yorktown at Shenendehowa, 1:30 p.m.
Walt Whitman at Commack, 2 p.m.
North Babylon at William Floyd, 2 p.m.
Northport at Riverhead, 2 p.m.
Norwalk at St. Joseph, 2 p.m.
Brien McMahon at Stamford, 2 p.m.
Half Hollow Hills East at Longwood, 2 p.m.
Newburgh Free Academy at Highland at Highland Middle School, 2 p.m.
Danbury at Westhill, 2:15 p.m.
Darien at Greenwich, 3 p.m.
Sleepy Hollow at Keio, 3 p.m.
Brunswick at Loomis Chaffee, 3 p.m.
Horace Greeley at Fox Lane, 3 p.m.
Walt Whitman at Commack, 3 p.m.
Westminster at Deerfield, 3 p.m.
Avon at Woodstock Academy, 4 p.m.
Fairfield Ludlowe at Staples, 4 p.m.
Brookfield at Newtown at Blue and Gold Stadium, 4 p.m.
Glastonbury at Wilton, 4 p.m.
Byram Hills at Brewster, 4 p.m.
Holderness at Taft, 4:15 p.m.
New Canaan at Somers, 6 p.m.
Briarcliff at Ossining, 6:30 p.m.
West Haven at Stratford, 6:30 p.m.
Lakeland/Panas at Suffern at Suffern Middle School, 7:30 p.m.
Weather Forecast
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Put those cell phones to good use
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This week’s college schedule
For a rundown of this week’s D-I games, and games you can catch on TV, click here.
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Posted In: Fairfield lacrosse, fciac, Gameday, Section 1, Section 11, Section 8, Section 9, SWC lacrosse
Here’s our first update of the day, gang. Garden City and St. Paul’s are tied 2-2 after one quarter. The Trojans have controlled possession but St. Paul’s has been getting solid defensive/goalie play.
Bryant College-bound senior Gunnar Waldt has been coming up big in goal for St. Paul’s.
A man-up goal has given St. Paul’s a 4-3 lead at the half. GC goals have been scored by Tom Gordon, Patric Berkery and Rob Savage.
It’s 4-4 after three. BTW – St. Paul’s Waldt will be playing both football and lax at Bryant.
Final: St. Paul’s 7, Garden City 5
WI beat Bayshore 10-6
Connetquot/Middle Country????
Great lax seen at the ST. Paul/Garden city game. Pretty even for most part.
Only add to Joe was that when GC had the edge on possession during the 1st half they took numbers of shots from close up. But for the incredible saves by SP’s goalie, GC should have had at least 2-3 more goals saves. In fairness to SP they changed their D in second half preventing GC from getting as many close in attempts.
Bryant is getting a special goalie.
Town vs Shen…anybody out there???
Connetquot 12-6. What is everybody hungover today? Ytown update would be nice
Darien-Greenwich updates?
Pac up 9-3 end of third against Guilderland
Pac up 11-4 6 min. left
Pac 12-4 final over Guilderland
Darien has rallied to take a 5-2 lead early in the second quarter after the first quarter ended in a 2-2 tie.
8 7 Town at Shen. Schuldt winner at 4 minute mark after Mabus tied it with 5 to go. Town was up all game when Shen came back at end of 3rd, start 4th. Goalie from Shen is awesome, going to Cuse. Good game. Section 1 A winner will have hands full. Shen is a legit team. Town played good D most of the game. Offense was ok but shooting was off again. Good win after long drive to Albany. On way to watch LP Suffern tonite.
Darien is pulling away and now leads 9-3 at the half. Ben Preston has three goals. Graham Maybel has two goals.
Yorktown wins 8-7
Great win Town!
Town score?
Final: Darien 13, Greenwich 6
Final: Fox Lane 7 Greeley 5,
Joe will be sending me L/P-Suffern updates, which I will post starting at 7:30 p.m. So check back periodically.
John Jay vs. San Ramon ?
Recap: Ward Melville 14, Smithtown East 4
T. Hags had a hat trick, Edmonds went 2, 4 and Mazzone went 2, 2 for the Patriots. Ten of Melville’s goals were assisted, with Cleary, Coughlan, Harvesinski and B. Hags getting helpers. Starting Melville defense of Zanone, Cashin, Sanders and Finnegan shut down the SE attack. Droesch and CJ Ryan split time in net and each played well.
Ryan DeSimone had a good game for SE, but I don’t have his final numbers.
Next up for Melville is Smithtown West on Tuesday.
New Canaan leads Somers 4-0 in 1st …
Who started in goal for Somers?
any jj updates
John Jay was up 8 to 4 at the half
11-5 john jay up
New Canaan up 9-3 on Somers at the half …
Watch out … Somers on crazy run, has cut it to 11-9 New Canaan in the 3rd. Kieran Donohue has 5 goals for the Tuskers. Jordan DeVito started in net.
Weston, Class C State Champs in Connecticut, beat Mamo 4-1 today. Mamo defense is very very good. It also helps to have the best goalie in the section
Kieran Donohue is going off. He is 6, 1 right now and Somers and New Canaan are tied 11-11 late in the 3rd. Game of the day, folks.
Donohue (who else?) scores his 7th and Somers leads 12-11 with 10 seconds left in the 3rd.
Somers has extended lead to 14-11 over New Canaan (a game they trailed 9-3 at the half).
Way to go Somers – keep it going!!!!!
McNally scores. Suffern up 1-0 over L/P/
Tony Laguerre ties it up at for L/P. But Peter Sharp answers for Suffern, which leads 2-1
Somers leads 15-11 in the 4th. Anthony Lombardo has 3 goals for Somers.
Prunty scores for L/P to tie it at 2.
Freshman Brian Prunty scores from Rob Caffrey and L/P has a 3-2 lead.
Jay Final ?
Conor Prunty had the second L/P goal. Brian Prunty had the third.
Sharp answers for Suffern. It’s 3-3.
Conor Prunty gets his second and L/P goes up 4-3 late in the 1st.
john jay 15 san ramon valley 10 final
Thanks Jeff,
Great win John Jay! Nice putting in 15! The giant is stirring.
Lupinacci 3,6 B. Morris 4 Walter 3 Weil, Daniello, Lobosco, Lambert, Chen with 1
Good win Jay. Sounds like things keep improving for the team.
McNally ties it up again. Suffern 4, L/P 4, with 2:35 to go in the 1st.
does anyone play defense anymore?
Final: Somers 15, New Canaan 11. Incredible win for the Tuskers.
End of 1: L/P 4, Suffern 4
McNally gets his third. Brian Prunty responds. It’s 6-6 between L/P and Suffern midway through the 3rd.
Suffern back on top 7-6, late stages of third.
Suffern leads 7-6 with 1:20 to go in the 2nd. I apologize. We are still in the first half.
who’s in goal for lakeland?
Freshman Michael Zingaro
Six lead changes in the first half. Suffern up 7-6 at the break.
Peter Sharp nets his third and Suffern now leads L/P 8-6
Mike Johnson is having a game in net for the Mounties.
Great win for the kids from Somers! Wow!
That was the craziest lax game I have ever seen. It looked like two different games. Somers struggled in the first half, then came out after the break and went on a wild run. If you would have left at halftime you would have thought NC would have won easily . Instead Somers came out and thoroughly dominates NC in the second half. Great win for Somers.
A Coach Lew pep talk no doubt! Love it!
Suffern leads L/P 8-7 with 4:37 left in the 3rd.
Caffrey ties it at 8 with 2:52 left in the 3rd.
If Jay beat San Ramon by the same amount of goals as GC then that sure is a good sign.
really different, can’t compare things like that
GC 7 above, Jay 5 above. Score comparisons generally are extremely fallible but it seems that Jay has undergone a quick transformation after what happened in the opener. Lupinacci had an explosive day today, Walter is back, and although the D is not yet in play-off form, ( let in 10) they did a fantastic job in the second half of the Rye game and I imagine did very nicely in places today. Jay, at least for now, is back in the serious discussion.
Great job Somers! Who says you need to play four quarters when you play the last two like that ! 🙂
Good job Town too, taking down a very tough Shen team in their house. W is a W and you guys have nothing but W’s so far.
Oops for some reason I thought that GC won 12-7. But you’re right it shouldn’t matter that much.
Yeah I wasn’t there, but Lupinacci must have had some game. Congratulations Jay!
P.S. is there any update on whether Jimmy Morris is gonna return this season or not? He was one of their leading contributers last year and it’s a shame if he’s out for the season.
Definitely cannot compare the two scores in any way shape or form. GC was up 7-1 after one quarter, and then started subbing liberally. I’m sure they could have won by more, but there’s no way they were going to blow one of their own out of the stadium (I believe the San Ramon coach is GC alum). Not a GC or JJ fan, just calling it like I see it.
Caffrey puts L/P up 9-8 over Suffern with 1:39 left in the 3rd. Three unanswered for the Rebels.
L/P leads Suffern 9-8 after 3.
sounds like LP needs to find some defense!
L/P leads Suffern 9-8 with 5 minutes to go in the 4th.
Garden City won by 7, but John Jay’s O put up more goals, and they had some defensive mistakes that looked like mental errors and can be fixed. If Jay continues to improve, they will be a very good team.
Zingaro coming up big for L/P. Pace has really settled. We’re inside 4 minutes to play and L/P still leads Suffern 9-8.
Brian Prunty nets his third, but Hammetshlag answers for Suffern. It’s 10-9 L/P with 2:10 left.
Recap: Somers 15, New Canaan 11
New Canaan- 1-8-2-0 = 11
Somers – 0-3-8-4 = 15
New Canaan Scoring:
Estriaichi- 3 Goals
Blasco- 1 Goal, 2 Assists
Persky – 1 Goal
Costigan – 2 Goals
Miller – 1 Goal, 1 Assists
Brainard – 2 Goals
Repico – 1 Goal
Granto – 13 Saves
Carey – 8 Saves
Somers Scoring:
Brett Emanuel – 4 Assists
Anthony Carpenter – 1 Goal
Chris Rios – 1 Goal, 1 Assist
Kevin Cousin – 3 Goals, 2 Assist
Anthony Lombardo – 3 Goals, 1 Assist
Kieran Donohue – 7 Goals 1 Assist
DeVito – 4 Saves
C. Cousin – 6 Saves
Score was 11-3 New Canaan in the 3rd Qtr.
Final: Lakeland/Panas 10, Suffern 9
ty rebs way 2 go
Great, Great comeback by Somers. New Canaan has some guns. Goalie is execellent, interesting if he didn’t get hurt. Changing face off guy, and putting Schurry on the wing was huge. And Somers plays very unselfish offensive. Nice to see.
Also think Cousins should play the whole game in goal. He is better then the first kid.
Somers Rye on Tuesday should ne a good one.
Goalie never got hurt. He took a penalty when NC was up big and after that expired, they just left the backup in. After Somers had taken the lead, I believe the starter went back in in the 4th quarter. I saw him warming up on the sidelines, but not positive if he went back in as I wasn’t paying attention to numbers.
Actually now that I think about it, it could have been the 3rd string goalie that warmed up on the sidelines. So my apologies.
Great job with all the score updates. Another interesting Saturday.
Went to 3 games today. Already commented earlier on St.Pauls/Garden City
Darien/Greenwich-Think Darien was up like 13-14 to 6 when I left near the end. Darien’s D overwhelmed Greenwich who REALLY struggled to get shots off. In different leagues.
Somers/NC–OK,my third game and it was real cold so with NC dominating and leading 9-3 at the half, I thought it was over and LEFT!!!!! I thought it was all over!!Can’t believe it!! Among other things I thought #5 for NC, Costigan (UNC) was just too punishing for Somers. SYRACUSE–are you sure he only scored 2 goals??
Anyway CONGRATS to Somers on a great win for them and Section 1–Donohue–the man!!
Congrats to LP. Wow, 1st Hen Hud makes it close with LP and now Suffern! Watch out for both these teams in Class A (Suff) and Class B (HH)
Saw this game and was impressed at how L/P responded being down 2 goals. The refs did not have a clue in this game. Probably the worst i have seen
Byram beat Brewster 10-7.
Briarcliff def Ossining 6-3
i think its fair to say that class A is up for grabs. I’ve been very impressed with mamo so far
I didn’t get see any games today – but shout outs to kieran donahue 8 and 1 for somers, and mike lupinacci for a 3 and 6 day! Section 1 had a good day today vs. out of section opponents!
tough loss for suffern today but they know they can play with anyone and they will have the wall ball ballers behind them every step of the way. The wall ball ballers will be dropping twitter bombs from the sky!!!
They played nice but let up when they had L/P down. Will have to play 4 quaters in order to make noise in the sectionals. The young L/P team along with freshman goalie will only get better as year goes on!
this is true they did let up a little bit but they will continue to grow and if goalie Mike Johnson plays like he did when he rattled off 10 straight saves last night they will be tough to beat. They have the scoring up front with guys like Hammershlag, Sharp, Redgate, McNally and Farquaharson to rack up the goals and Johnson will continue to get better in net for the Mounties. Look out for this experienced Suffern team to make noise in Sections.
Just a reminder, folks. You can watch the much talked about LP/Suffern game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on MSG Varsity (Channel 14). Also, look for the prime-time debut of the “Wall Ball Ballers,” Suffern’s very spirited cheering section.
You can follow the wall ball ballers on twitter @WallBallBallers
I hear they’ve been dropping twitterbombs like it’s nobody’s business! I also hear they’re like the 11th man for Suffern. As the Wall Ball Ballers grow, watch out Section 1–Suffern is coming for you.
Suffern cant play with the JJ and Yorktowns. LP will get it together as the year goes on. But the section semis and finals in Class A will be very interesting. Still see LP and Pac in finals but we will see. LP has to figure out their D or they could be losing a bunch of games. Just looked at their schedule…..Shen, Town, Carthage, Greenwich, Penn Yan, JJ….could all be losses? Will be an interesting year.
LP has to get their close defense together. Two of their three close d-men never played the position before – one sat on the bench the last two years.
If Mike Johnson plays like he did when he rattled off 10 straight saves yesterday Suffern will be tough to beat. They have the scoring a tough d and a goalie that will be excellent when sections roll around. They also have a committed fan base that love em!
I agree. Suffern is the most underrated team in the section right now. Not many people get how dynamic the offense with Sharp, McNally, Farquharson, Hammershlag, and Redgate really is.
Suffern might be the underdogs this year, but watch as Hammershlag, McNally, Redgate, Sharp, and Farquharson lead us to victory.
The defense is also pretty underrated with players like Andrew “Moustachio” Lawson hitting people into tomorrow. Rumor has it, his “cookie duster” gives him the strength he needs to compete.
Goalie “Sleepy” Mike Johnson is the real sleeper this year. Not too many know much about him, but he’s going to be tough to score on this year.
So who gets the edge – The Yorktown CROP Cheering Section or the Wall Ball Ballers at Suffern? Have just seen the CROP so far and they’re pretty impressive and enthusiastic.
Check out MSG Varsity on Wednesday at 7:00 PM to see for yourself. We are a new group and have grown for every game. Expect us to be the best cheering squad in Section 1 by the end of the season for sure.
Right now, I’m not sure which group has more size, but our enthusiasm and creative cheers are definitely unmatched.
I’ve seen pictures of the crop and they definitely top the wall ball ballers in terms of numbers but the ballers have creative cheers and a truly great bond with the players. Listen after Eric Hammershlag or Peter Sharp goals and you will hear some signature Wall Ball Baller cheers
Well, it seems obvious that Yorktown would have a larger cheering section as of now. They have a long tradition of winning while Suffern is more or less emerging now as a legit threat in Section 1.
You can’t be serious! The CROP is in a class by itself. the original and best… any others are wannabees………
No one is questioning the crop. The Wall Ball Ballers don’t care about the crop because we will not be playing them so best of luck to them. The WBB try to bring a unique group of fans which can be seen through our signature neon butterfly flag. So let the crop be the crop and the WBB be the WBB. I believe that Joe Lombardi can vouch for our unique approach to fanhood as he interviewed myself at the LP Suffern game. If you would like to know more about the WBB drop a TwitterBomb on us @WallBallBallers and we will be sure to respond
wasn’t responding to you, “the boy,” was responding to HV Lax. But…who cares… if the “Wall Ball Ballers” care about The CROP? silly comment, and sillier name. Joe knows the deal… the original is always the best.
and… a “butterfly” flag? For BOYS lacrosse??
like i said we are a unique group. we have a twitter, butterfly flag we are having a costume party game against White Plains, we had vuvuzelas but they were confiscated and we have better msgvarsity interviews than the crop! no disrespect
the boy – I hope you know I am only kidding around – I think it’s great you have a awesome cheering section for your team. And it sounds like the team is one they will cheer a lot about this season. And we all know Joe would never take sides… :o)
thanks lovetownlax and i wish the best of luck to you and the crop
Joe would certainly not take sides on this but he is following us on twitter if anyone was wondering
Sec 1 – impressed with Mamo when they score 1 goal in a lax game? Easily impressed, I guess.
d is strong with 2 stud close D and a very good goalie.
Will be challenged to score from up top against better teams – no mid depth
they have major injuries on the offensive end, and the d is as good as anyones in the section, with the best goalie. theyll come on strong the 2nd half of theyear
U need to go see more teams play son
somers should be 3-0 amazing win boys keep it up
no they shouldn’t…they lost two games. you can’t simply say they “should have won” those games because they played one good half of lacrosse.
Great win for Somers but I think what we’re seeing is the FCIAC is overrated. Greenwich was a ranked team and got beat badly by Darien. I think the bottomline is there are many more good teams and more parity in Section 1. Would have been interesting to see how a healthy John Jay team would have fared vs Darien this year.
Section 1 is more overrated than the FCIAC. NC is probably the 5th best team in the FCIAC. And even if Jay was healthy they would not beat Darien. Personally, I would take Darien, Wilton, and Greenwich over any team from Section 1 right now.
Agree about Darien. Although it was hard to assess just how good they are as they totally overwhealmed Greenwich, yeah I’d put them in a special class.
But Wilton and the Greenwich team I saw yesterday, no.
Is no one here aware of the fact that Greenwich embarrassed Somers in a scrimmage a little over a week ago?
“Aware”, maybe yes but most importantly, “relevant” in any way now—NO–that’s why no one mentions pre-season stuff.
18 saves for a freshman L/P goalie?
This kid showed me a lot.He made some big saves when he needed to.Sky is the limit with his great instincts.
SUFFERN NEEDS TO START PLAYING MORE TEAMS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER. YORKTOWN SOMERS JOHN JAY AND THEN WILL SEE WHERE THERE AT. THEY PLAYED WELL LAST NIGHT BUT L/P STILL HAS A YOUNG TEAM AND FRESHMAN IN GOAL! GOOD LUCK SUFFERN…
suffern schedule has LP, Mahopac, White Plains, Putnam Vall and Fox Lane…yeah its not the toughest schedule but they will be tested. I always found that all caps meant you were yelling
Close loss to LP + a realistic chance to have wins over PV and/or Pac would be something the program would have a right to be proud of.
definitely. Im hopin that suffern will take down PV this saturday
Hysterical boy who cried wolf. The comment on PVLAX’s caps was funny stuff. Good luck this week.
Sorry about the caps.. Putnam Valley is a class c school and is having down year. All i’m saying is that Yorktown Somers and john jay are good Teams. Mahopac just beat Arlington.. and Putnam Valley lost by one goal to Arlington. Playing white plains and fox lane isn’t much to say..
PV. Team is coached so well. You definately have to show up and play your best to beat them.
Yes they are.. Kuczman is Great, but they lost Baker for offense. The defense that i have seen so far is a little weak. This year i don’t see them going to far. I’m sorry to say that, and the offense is not great
no problem on the caps…a tougher schedule may help suffern or possibly get them more respect in the area but when it comes down to it suffern can win the section title and if they do you can throw out all this talk of scheduling
Suffern could do it.. Lakeland is not the same last year nor is Mahopac. this is the weakest A ever.. With Yorktown dropping to A really changes things this year. Class B is the real deal best i ever seen it
I agree PV. Let’s see who wants it more.
New Canaan goalie did get hurt,(Bad Thigh Bruise ) went out for end of 2nd. He then went back for the 4th. Dont use that as an excuse. As a NC Ram fan Somers just took over the game, faceoffs, groundballs. Also some nice adjustments were made by Somers coaches. I think NC staff should have changed a few things, but anyway. It was a great game clean, well played, coached and refereed. They let them play.
I think FCIAC looks like this right now.
1- Darien
2- Ridgefield
3- New Canaan
4- Greenwich
5- Wilton
1. Darien
2. Wilton
3. Greenwich
4. Ridgefield
5. New Canaan
I know Greenwich just got handled by Darien, but there were segments of good play from them, particularly in the first quarter. Also, who knows how the rest of these teams will do against the Blue Wave (St. Joe’s has already rebounded from their 18-4 setback, beating Norwalk 14-7; for comparison Staples only beat Norwalk 12-6 and was up 7-5 going into the fourth quarter in that game).
Ridgefield should be much higher – perhaps 1, definitely not lower than 2 – after a very nice 2-0 start that followed an impressive preseason win against Manhasset.
How was Manhasset? Don’t know much about them this year…
Perhaps 1?! Absolutely no way that they are better than Darien. Not nearly as much depth. Darien would beat Somers by more than a goal, as would Wilton. Ridgefield is no better than third in the FCIAC.
Excuse me but FACT – Darien has NOT been the best team in the FCIAC the last 3 years! Why should this year be any different. They have a long way to go to prove they are anywhere near worthy of their press clippings! Ridgefield is going for its 2nd FCIAC title in the last 3 years – a span during which Darien has continued to win the inferior Class M state title but not the FCIAC!
I’m not saying that Darien will definitely win FCIACs, I’m saying that right now, based on the results to date, I believe them to be the best team in the FCIAC. Wilton also looks to be pretty good. This isn’t about past years, or what will happen at seasons end, this is about what has happened thus far, and it is just my opinion. In 2009, Ridgefield was the best team in the FCIAC, but that team had Matt White, Colin Scott, Brendan Walsh, etc…I doubt that many people expect this year’s Ridgefield team to be as good as that team. P.S. You are right to say that the FCIAC title is superior.
Agree. Afraid that Coops Hill has a very serious case of “Ridgefielditis”,an irrational favortism to the team based upon past performance disregarding how this yrs roster may have changed relative to Darien or other teams.
I expect THIS YRS’s Darien team to win all its CT games, and to win or be very competitiive in games vs Haverford, St. A’s and other national powers. Until proven otherwise by unexpected losses, Darien is one of the best teams in the country.
I’m a Section 1 fan. Ridgefield beat Somers by 1 goal.IMO Darien would beat Somers by MANY more goals.
Weds. May 18th. 4pm. DHS Stadium. Be on time.
need I remind the doubters of Suffern LAx that they tied New Canaan in a Conn. tournament a few weeks back and went deep into their roster while doing so. Same situation for the ridgewood game when they only lost by 1. Should be a good season for Section 1 lacrosse in NY. As for Conn, Darien and Wilton should have great years as always but I think Ridgefield is going to surprise some people.
I heard Coach Lou likes Jimmy V, an at halftime said “Dont give up, Dont ever give up”!!! Greatest ESPY speech ever!!!
Give credit to the Somers players not a halftime speech by a coach. Unless he instructed the starting goalie for New Canaan not to return to the game.
Great weekend of lacrosse starting on LI with St.Paul’s over GC, in Ct. Darien may have showed they are the best team in the Tri-State and Somers with an improbable comeback over a very good New Canaan team. In section 1 it was a good week; Fordham with the win 5 years in the waiting. L/P with 2 tough wins but wins none the less. Below is my Section 1/Private Westchester rankings:
1. Yorktown
2. John Jay
3. L/P
4. Mahopac
5. Bronxville
6. Iona Prep
7. Suffern
8. Somers
9. Fordham Prep
10.Mamaroneck
Outside looking in – Rye, Byram Hills, RCDS and Hen Hud
laxr,
Sorry above. It was Somers who beat Ridgefield!
Come again?
Woops. Original comment correct. Field beat Somers 9-8
Laxr,
You are correct. Winning the FCIAC Title is more difficult than winning a State Championship in CT. For Section 1 fans, the FCIAC title could only be compared to a true Section 1 title, where ALL teams regardless of class competed for just ONE title, not FOUR. On the flip side, winning a State Championship in NY is much more difficult than in CT and is probably akin to winning an FCIAC Championship. Not a perfect analogy, but that is probably as close as I can get. Any thoughts? Slacrosse?
Big Easy,
I understand (and agree) with the differences in Connecticut between FCIAC and States, but you should have stopped before continuing the analogy with “winning a state champ in NY is akin to winning an FCIAC championship”.
Doid,
I don’t have time to do much research…but think about Yorktown vs Darien the last few years is a good case study. Darien is an “M” school in CT, Yorktown is a “B” school in NY. In the last few years Darien has beaten Yorktown fairly easily and has gone on to Win the Class M Championship but NOT the FCIAC. In those same years, Yorktown has gone on to play in the State Semi’s at least twice (not positive). The Semi’s in NY always pit the Section 1 teams vs. the LI teams. Very often the winner of that matchup wins the championship. I don’t think the statement I made is that far off at all. But I am happy to debate it. The other comparison is Somers and Ridgefield in 2009. Ridgefield easily beat Somers, who won the Class B title that year, as Ridgefield won the FCIAC. How far did Somers go in States in 2009? Any help appreciated!
Big Easy,
Agree with Lax Novice that winning a NY State Title should be more demanding than a FCIAC title given the number and power of schools competing from LI AND mid/western parts of NYS (Jamesville Dewitt-destroyed Garden City last season, West Gennesee, Lafayette-produced the Jamison indian boys playing at Cuse and Albany, etc, etc.) Good that there are more games between FCIAC teams and Section 1 to get a more realistic comp of how the 2 Sections mount up. As I said earlier I do feel that right now Darien should be seen as a nationally elite team.
I saw waht I consider to be nationally elite lax played in the St.Pauls/Garden City game and I’d expect the same level of play in the upcoming Darien/Haverford game.
How would you envision the Rye-Greenwich matchup right now based on what you saw Saturday?
The way Rye has opened up my best guestimate right now is that Greenwich would have the edge over Rye in a close game. It was hard to guage how good Greenwich is because elite Darien so dominated. But trying to strip away Darien, I think the Greenwich I saw is/will be a real good team.
Something else. I am quite impressed with Greenwich’s sched taking on elites Conestoga and Ward Melville!! Could be two “long” games but this competition will be a real + for Greenwich’s play.
Needless to say all bets are off if Greenwich beats undefeated Conestoga (inc. a win over Boys Latin) or Ward Melville!!.
Doid is correct to assert that a NY state Championship is more difficult to win than Connecticut’s, common sense would tell you that the hotbeds of Central NY and Long Island are very formidable and Connecticut cannot match those areas. Bringing in Section 1 muddles the issue somewhat, for the teams there are on a somewhat lower tier than Sections 8, 11, 3, 5 and 6 that dominate NYS titles in the last decade and will likely do so this season. This year, there are enough actual games between Section 1 and FCIAC schools to get an idea of the relative strengths of both conferences, which I would say is a better measure than simply matching one team against another.
Just to throw out some numbers, Darien has been in the FCIAC Championship game 15 times in the 19 seasons beginning in 1992, winning 11 times, the last in 2008. Darien is riding a current streak of six consecutive State Championships, including all five Class M titles since CT went to a L-M-S format beginning in 2006. No FCIAC Class L team has won States since that format began.
Its a pretty big week for the Wave. After Danbury on Tuesday afternoon, it’s Wilton Thursday and then the trip to play IL #1 Haverford School at their place Saturday as part of the 3rd annual Checking for Cancer event.
If Wilton can win some face-offs on Thursday then it can be a competitive contest. If not….oy vey
I totally agree but Coley and Barker have been beating some good guys thus far.
I’m hearing on laxpower that Barlow is going to give Wilton a game when they play tomorrow? That’s crazy IMO, what do you think?
Yeah, I should have had a big IF on my statement.
Sorry, I do not know a thing about JB to comment other than Distler is a great coach and will have them ready.
Novice,
I wasn’t comparing State Championship in CT to State Championship in NY…NY is clearly more difficult given sheer number of teams alone. My point, and I would like your input, is that winning an FCIAC Championship in CT is much closer to winning a State Championship in NY. Your boys from Darien are my case in point…IF Darien was in Class B (similar size schools as Class M in CT), in years that they did (or did not) win the FCIAC Championship, how would they have faired against NY’s top team in Class B? Class B Champs listed below:
2007- Jamesville-Dewitt
2008- Rocky Point
2009- Canadaquia
2010- Jamesville-Dewitt
To my knowledge the only time Darien has played an upstate NY State Champion was in 2008, they demolished Jamestown DeWitt 19-7 in a game played somewhere in the Albany area. I’d say with the exception of 2009 that the Wave would have been competitive with those teams.
Trivia Time: Does anyone remember who JD beat in the 2007 Class B finals? Hint: They upset #1 Huntington in the semi-finals, but after 2007 they haven’t been heard from on the State Championship level since.
Wasn’t it John Jay that upset Huntington? I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s it. Having played against the 06 Huntington team in the state semifinals, I can honestly say I didn’t expect the 07 team to lose a single game either. All they lost after 06 was Scott Kocis, but still had the Bratton twins and Zach Howell. The 06 Huntington team was probably the best high school team I ever saw play and I was lucky or unlucky enough, depending upon how you look at it, to play against them. I’d say I was unlucky since if we beat them, we’d have been in the state finals.
You are correct, Sir. It shows that no matter how you start your season, it’s playing well at the end that matters.
Indeed, it was Jay. Chris Bocklet did score on a hidden ball play too. Bratton shot with a minute to play and caused a turnover. Douglass scored the game winner in overtime. Jay was loaded that year with Douglass ( Yale) Bocklet ( UVA) and Stockel ( Drexel ) at attack- All three were All Americans. Ryder Bohlander, Schneidman and Crosset at pole and Kevin Drew running around the midfield. Jay beat Manhasset that year too.
Novice,
JJ has not since made a State Championship, but they made the semifinals in 2008 and lost to Rocky Point, who went on to win the Class B that year. In 2010, JJ lost to Nisky in the quarters, Nisky lost to GC who lost to J-D. You are a tough critic! How would Darien do in NY Class B? How many years do you think they “get off the island”, meaning win the Class B Semifinal Game against the LI Section Champ? I think they win a couple of championships in NY in recent years.
Thanks, I think the best thing you can say about such a hypothetical is that those teams would have a competitive game. Last year JD ended up #3 or 4 after an undefeated season, Darien was #11. I’m not all caught up with the rankings, although it’d be nice to shut down Haverford and see where the Wave wind up for the short run. At the end of the day its ll about the post season and getting that Conn. state title. That’s what matters most.
If you’re in the SW CT area tomorrow afternoon, Darien is hosting Wilton at 4pm and then New Canaan is hosting FCIAC champ Greenwich at 7pm in a makeup from Tuesday’s thumderstorms. A nice HS doubleheader, and it’s free!
I can see why the suffern fans are pumped. However I am waiting to see the Mahopac game before I jump on the band wagon. Pv is young and raw and will not be a good indicator. With a win against Mahopac I will become a believer.
May 5th against mahopac will make you a believer
If your a Fan Suffern then you should know that the game is on May 7th and not the 5th.. Mohopac is on a down year. It will be a good game.
I would disagree with the notion that it is a down year for Mahopac. I think that this year’s team may be one of the best they have had in awhile. I think they are very well rounded. In the past few years they have always depended on guys like Perelle, Brandofino to shoulder the offensive load. This is the best midfield that they have had in over 5 years. Guys like Foley and Berardis are big physical kids who can really make things happen on both sides of the field. It will take a little time for them to gel but i think they are right there with LP
You are correct it is the 7th but seriously questioning my fanhood? I’m one of Suffern Lax’s top fans. Hope you will be there saturday to watch PV lose to the Mounties. I’ll be wearing my carolina blue pinnie, a hat, sunglasses and hoisting the “butterflag” for all to see. You can see my fanhood Saturday. Best of luck this week and Saturday, I’ll see ya there!
as a general rule, people are jumping to conclusions WAY too soon…the season has just started, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish…having said that, as a Section 1 fan, I think we are looking pretty good so far, and there has never been more parity in our section thene there is now…
Mamo is definitely offensively challenged. Not only did they score a lone goal the other day, they also had a game last week where they were 3 men up for 30 seconds and 2 men up for a minute and played approx 7 minutes of the 4th quarter with at least a man advantage and yet failed to score on any of them. They were oh-fer their man ups for that entire game which has to be a red flag for them. Yes, the other team had very solid defense but no one is that good and I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a team get stoned with the extremely rare 3 man up.
sure mamo is having a little trouble putting the ball in the net but they have a very young offense and they will mature as the season progresses, they havie some young guns like Conley who put 50 goals in last year as a freshman. Also mamo has some studs on defense in my opinion making them contenders for the sectional title.
Yeah LP. Way to gut it out and win a nice game. Nice job stepping up Tony L., Brian P., Mikey Z…
If Mamo can find a SSDM to add to their defense, they would be very tough indeed. On the offensive end, the talent is there, but they are very young and impatient. If they can develop a little patience and learn to move off-ball, they will be a lot more effective. Also getting Trachtenberg back (best attackman, but broken arm in preseason) would mean a lot. But challenge for sectionals, certainly not this year.
Congrats to West Islip on a great win and great start.
Great game from Pac yesterday, played very patient on offense and and tough on D.
This is the game winner in 2OT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tF0ox65n3M&feature=email