Ridgefield will be looking to win a state title for the first time in 10 years today when the Tigers take on New Fairfield in the Class L title game at 3:30 p.m. at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk. The Tigers last took the championship when they beat New Fairfield 10-1 in the 2001 Division II state championship game back when there were only two divisions in the Nutmeg State.
Immediately after Wednesday’s night downstate semifinal tripleheader at White Plains High School, I headed out to Long Island’s East End for a quick two-day stay.
But now I’m back where the biggest games of the 2011 high school lax varsity season will be played. And I’m ready for what promises to be an eventful and memorable day.
Are you ready too, folks?
Hope so.
After all, it’s state championship — and Tournament of Champions — day.
Among the major storylines:
* Three new state champions will be crowned in Connecticut as all three of last year’s title-game winners — Cheshire (Division L), Darien (Division M) and Weston (Division S) — did not make the title game.
* A team other than Darien will win the Division M title for the first time in seven years, and that team will be one of the Blue Wave’s biggest rivals no matter who wins as it will be Wilton vs. New Canaan in the 1 p.m. title game, the middle game of the tripleheader at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk..
* Farmingdale, making just its third-ever state title game appearance, hopes to win a state title for the first time when it takes on Ithaca in the Class A final at today’s New York State championship tripleheader at Ciceo-North Syracuse High School.
* Bayport-Blue Point, one of the three LI teams in the finals, is also looking to take a first-ever state title.
* Garden City, which fell to Jamesville DeWitt 11-5 in last year’s final, meets the Red Rams once again for the Class B crown. J.D. is in pursuit of its third state title in the last five years. Garden City, which has won four state titles in its history, has not won it all since 2000, when it defeated Carthage.
* In New Jersey, if Summit captures its third straight Tournament of Champions title, it will end the year with a 69-game win streak. The Hilltoppers take on Bridgewater-Raritan at Rutgers University.
It won’t be long now before the games get going.
If you’re on hand for the action, be sure to put your cell phones to use and weigh in with info and insights.
Here’s the rundown:
NEW YORK
at Cicero-North Syracuse High School, Syracuse
Class A: Farmingdale vs. Ithaca, 11 a.m.
Class B: Garden City vs. Jamesville-DeWitt, 1:30 p.m.
Class C: Bayport-Blue Point vs. Cazenovia, 4 p.m.
CONNECTICUT
at Brien McMahon High School, Norwalk
Class L: Fairfield Prep vs. Ridgefield, 3:30 p.m.
Class M: Wilton vs. New Canaan, 1 p.m.
Class S: St. Joseph-Trumbull vs. Joel Barlow, 10:30 a.m.
NEW JERSEY TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
At Rutgers University
Bridgewater-Raritan vs. Summit, 3 p.m.
WEDNESDAY SEMIFINAL SCORES
NEW YORK
Downstate
Class A: Farmingdale 14, Shenendehowa 10
* For the final game stats, click here.
Class B: Garden City 10, Yorktown 8
* For the final game stats, click here.
Class C: Bayport-Blue Point 9, Bronxville 8
* For the final game stats, click here.
Upstate:
Class A: Ithaca 6, Pittsford 5, 2 OT
Class B: Jamesville DeWitt 9, Irondequoit 6
Class C: Cazenovia 15, Silver Creek 13
CONNECTICUT
Class L: Fairfield Prep 7, Simsbury 2; Ridgefield 10, Staples 3
Class M: Wilton 11, Darien 3; New Canaan 6, New Fairfield 5
Class S: St Joseph-Trumbull 15, Somers 6; Joel Barlow 13, Stonington 7
NEW JERSEY TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
Bridgewater-Raritan 12, Immaculata; Summit 10, Delbarton 5
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Posted In: Fairfield lacrosse, fciac, Section 1, Section 11, Section 8, Section 9, SWC lacrosse
Picks…
NY –
Ithaca 11, Dale 10
Garden City 8, JD 6
BBP 9, Cazenovia 5
CT –
Fairfield Prep 8, Ridgefield 7
Wilton 11, New Canaan 5
St. Joseph 10. Joel Barlow 5
NJ –
Bridgewater Raritan 9, Summit 7
Cazenovia will score at least 10 goals.
Chris Kieser, on the scene in Syracuse, reports that Farmingdale and Ithaca have just gotten under way in the state Class A final.
Ithaca scores off the opening faceoff. 1-0 Little Red.
After a save by Palmer, Farmingdale gets its first possession two minutes into the game.
Slash and push vs. Farmingdale. Ithaca goes two men up and quickly scores on the two-man EMO. 2-0 Ithaca.
Hendrickson scores for Dale at 5:38 of the first quarter. It’s 2-1 Ithaca.
Ithaca immediately answers off the ensuing faceoff on a goal by Eli Lasda, 3-1 at 5:31 mark of the first.
Bucci from Riley Lasda. 4-1 Little Red with 3:22 left in the first.
Ithaca dominating time of possession. Farmingdale calls a timeout.
Joel Barlow and St. Joseph’s-Trumbull are tied 3-3 at the half in the CIAC Division S title game.
Continuing with updates from Syracuse. …
Late first quarter: Ithaca 4, Farmingdale 2.
After Farmingdale called TO following Ithaca’s latest goal, Starke scored off the faceoff for the Dalers.
Prendergast at 1:45, 4-3 Ithaca.
Bucci scores for Ithaca off a rip on the run with 13 seconds left in the first quarter. 5-3 Ithaca
Unsportsmanlike vs. Dale. Ithaca goes a man up early in the second quarter.
Dale kills off the Ithaca EMO. Still 5-3 Ithaca with 10:33 left in the second.
Hendrickson unassisted. 5-4 Ithaca at 9:40 of second quarter.
Slash vs. Dale. Ithaca will be a man up.
Continuing with updates from Syracuse. …
Dalers tie it at 5-5 on a goal by Perretine from Prendergast at 5:28 mark of second quarter.
Bucci scores again for Ithaca. The goal, in an unsettled situation, gives the Big Red a 6-5 lead with 5:01 left in the second quarter.
After Dale is awarded FO win after illegal procedure vs. Ithaca, Starke goes in to score and tie it at 6-6.
6-6 at the half.
Just got to McMahon for NC-Wilton game. Barlow and St. Joe are tied 5-5 midway thru 4th.
Final: St. Joseph’s Trumbull 6, Joel Barlow 5.
St. Joe’s wins the Division S CIAC title.
As predicted. Congratulations to St. Joe’s.
FCIAC wins M…could be sweep time?
Yep. Congrats to St. Joe, Wilton and Ridgefield, CT State Champions for 2011.
Wilton team of the year. Darien’s Eric Parnon POY.
I’m also looking for Wilton over New Canaan, 9-4 and Ridgefield over Fairfield Prep 8-7.
Why? Seniors lead the way. Good luck to all.
Halftime stats, NYS Class A state final – Farmingdale 6, Ithaca 6:
Shots: 27-13 Ithaca
Faceoffs: 9-4 Ithaca
Saves: Farmingdale 8, Ithaca 0
Turnovers: Farmingdale 9, Ithaca 3
Prendergast scores at 11:17 of third quarter to give Dale its first lead. 7-6
Stats are almost identical to HT stats of Yorktown-GC in downstate semi on Wednesday – with HT score also 6-6 and Yorktown dominating stats. If this holds up, Farmingdale will win 10-8.
You can view the final GC-Ytown stats here:
http://www.laxlessons.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/New-York-State-Class-B-Downstate-Championship.pdf
Perretine scores of a rebound on an EMO opportunity with seven minutes left in the third. Farmingdale now leads 8-6.
Bucci gets Ithaca’s first second-half goal. It comes off a Henderson feed at 5:56 of the third and cuts Dalers’ lead to 8-7.
Riley Lasda ties it at 8-8 at the five-minute mark.
Perretine scores again, this time on a bounce shot from 12 yards out. It’s 9-8 Dalers with 4:34 left in third. Dalers call a timeout.
Riley Lasda scores on a bounce shot of his own in the final minute of the third. It’s 9-9 after three.
Amazed that it’s tied with those stats.
We’re now in the fourth quarter at Syracuse. Continuing with Chris Kieser’s updates:
Farmingdale takes a 10-9 lead at the 8:57 mark as Perretine scores on an EMO for his fourth goal of the game.
Riley Lasda answers with an unassisted goal for Ithaca at the 6:34 mark of the fourth quarter. 10-10.
Farmingdale has a two-man advantage with just under five minutes remaining in regulation.
Ithaca kills it off.
Farmingdale turns it over at 3:16.
Hendrickson scores from Starke with 1:09 left in the fourth. Farmingdale now leads 11-10.
Riley Lasda answers off the next faceoff. It’s 11-11 with 42 seconds to go in regulation.
Wow, what a championship game!
Continuing with updates from Syracuse. …
Farmingdale and Ithaca are tied 11-11 in the final minute of the fourth quarter. Hendrickson was just denied on the doorstep with 30 seconds to go, but Ithaca has having difficulty clearing.
OT
Joe, you have me on the edge of my seat. I feel like I’m there.
Still 11-11 1:23 into the first four-minute sudden-death OT. Farmingdale clears and called timeout.
Hendrickson scores for Farmingdale 1:42 into OT. Farmingdale wins 12-11 and takes its first-ever state title.
Great Win Farmingdale Congrats!!!!
Congratulations to the Dalers, sounds like an incredible game
Congrats to the Dalers. Glad I got to see them play in WP.
Wilton up 2-1 right now on NC.
Wilton up 3-1 after 1st qtr. Get the feeling they will be in control the whole way.
7-1 HT Wilton over NC
JD up 2-0 on GC. Goals by Evans and Brady. Middle of 1st qtr
9-1 Wilton after 3….
JD leads 3-2 after 1. GC tied it at 2 on goals by Coleman and Berkery then Edwards scored for JD right before the buzzer
Quick, someone name the last time a Nassau County team won the NYS Class A state title? Answer: Garden City all the way back in 1986.
JD up 5-3 middle of 2nd.
Edwards from Burns and Burns from Edwards for JD.
Gordon for GC.
Wilton 12, New Canaan 2 FINAL – Wilton wins Class M state title – Somers finishes with 15 saves
12-2 Wilton final. Warriors may have made themselves a case for the CT team of the year…
Great team, but I don’t think so. Darien was the best team before Matheis and Gregory went down (they beat Wilton twice, one in a rout and the other by a relatively secure margin). Add in losing their fogo, and West and Shaw only just getting back on the field and not at 100%…this is not to say that Wilton couldn’t beat Darien if they played at full strength, but Darien proved it twice on the field, and their dominance throughout the year shouldn’t be forgotten because of one bad game in which they were missing their two leading scorers.
I agree. You can’t be Team of the Year and not be State Champion. Wilton is my Team of the Year and Eric Parnon Player of the Year. About to be named 2X All American, only CIAC player in UA All-America game, MVP of the FCIAC tournament. Three-time Class M State Champion. That’s as locked as lock gets.
6-4 JD over GC at HT. Gordon from Dwyer for the last goal by GC with 1:20 left in 2nd qtr
Dwyer for GC. 6-5 JD in the third.
JD went up 7-5 on a goal by Burns but Berkery answered for GC. It’s 7-6 JD after 3.
7-7 Berkery scores in first minute of4th qtr.
Still 7-7 midway thru 4th now.
Three minutes left in 4th. Still 7 up.
Second OT game of the day!
Fairfield Prep leads Ridgefield 2-1 in the 1st qtr
JD soph Jordan Evans scores with three seconds left in OT. JD wins 8-7
Prep up 6-1 late in 1st qtr
Man, Yorktown would have had a very legitimate shot. Garden City still searching for first state title since 2000.
How so? GC beat Town, and JD beats GC, so what makes you think Town beats JD?
What part of legitimate shot don’t you get?
You know why they didn’t have a legit shot? because they lost to GC.
6-1 after 1
Back to back goals by Ridgefield. It’s 6-3 in 2nd
6-5 FP at half. Prep starting goalie got injured.
4-3 bridgewater-raritan over summit at the half
Apparently Seelye won’t be back in goal for FP. A sophomore is in there now that he’s out.
Connor Kelly scores off assist by White. FP leads 7-5 early in 3rd.
8-5 FP.
Buckanavage scores, Wilkinson assists. Ridgefield pulls within 8-6
Matt Brophy answers for FP. 9-6 Prep
Scala makes it 9-7 FP with 3 mins left in 3rd.
Bonaparte for Ridgefield. 9-8 FP with 1:40 left in 3rd.
Connor Kelly scores off assist by White. FP up 7-5 early in 3rd
Kelly from Edmonds for Prep. It’s 10-8 FP after 3 qtrs.
b’water-raritan/summit tied 4-4 headin into the 4th
BBP and Cazenovia tied 1-1 mid 1st.
Kelly has 5 goals now for FP.
Cazenovia up 2-1. Attackman Sean Cannizzaro has both their goals.
Scott scores with 8 minutes left. FP lead down to 10-9.
Tied 10-10
Riley had the last goal for Ridgefield. Hvratin assist
Cazenovia gets 2 more and leads 4-1 after 1st quarter.
Three minutes left. Still 10-10
Just over a minute left in regulation.
Ridgefield gets possession with 34 seconds left. Calls timeout.
Wilson scores with 14 seconds left. Ridgefield leads 11-10.
Ridgefield wins 11-10.
Winning goal was by Wilkinson. I think I wrote Wilson.
He’s #4
Great job, CT Lax!! Loved reading your updates. Thanks so much!
Cazenovia up 9-2 at halftime… Wow
Breaking news, gang.
The streak is history. Bridgewater-Raritan beats Summit 6-5 to win NJ TOC title and end the Hilltoppers’ 68-game win streak.
What a day for one-goal games.
b’water-raritan beats summit for nj title. great run by the hilltoppers of summit!!
Wow all the great ones lose…don’t they?
A couple of quick notes on Ridgefield’s state championship.
It’s Ridgefield’s first state title in 10 years and the first time Tigers coach Roy Colsey was a part of a state champion since 1991.
Colsey, as a senior, starred on 1991 Yorktown team that beat Nottingham 12-3 for its second NY Class B state title in three years.
Now that the season is over, how would people rank the top 5 teams in each region (LI, HV, CT, NJ)? Obviously everyone has slightly different criteria. I personally think that the regular season should not be forgotten in such lists as such, for me:
LI: 1. West Islip 2. Garden City 3. Farmingdale 4. Smithtown West, Set, Chaminade, St. A’s and Ward Melville (I know it’s a cop out, but I feel like they are all so close in terms of overall resume)
CT: 1. Darien 2. Wilton 3. Ridgefield 4. Fairfield Prep 5. Greenwich
HV: 1. Yorktown 2. Mahopac 3. John Jay 4. Somers 5. Rye
NJ: 1. Bridgewater-Raritan 2. Summit 3. Delbarton 4. Chatham 5. Immaculata
Brother Blue Waver,
You’re brave to be the first to put out a list. Yet you violate your own rule by putting Summit and its 60-something winning streak aside just because they lost the TOC final, yet you promote our guys based on the overall regular season over a team that just trashed New Canaan as well as our team. You have to put Wilton first based on what they accomplished this week, when it really matters. They ended the season in a pile, this year.
I also think it has to be Farmingdale #1 in Long Island, then Garden City, then West Islip. Fair is fair, and Championships do matter.
I think that putting WI and Darien above Dale and Wilton is consistent with my logic. I have Summit behind Bridgewater-Raritan because it’s not clear that Summit accomplished more than Bridgewater-Raritan during the season, and they didn’t have a prior head to head meeting. When in doubt, you go with the team that won the head to head battle to win the state championship. This was not the case with Darien, as they won twice during the season, won FCIACS, had the better overall season, and were shorthanded when they did lose (although they would have been a dog fight and might have lost anyway at full strength). West Islip is above Farmingdale because they had a much better overall performance during the season; one OT loss (in which they hit the pipe in OT at that) doesn’t negate an entire season’s performance. They may not be state champs, but in terms of rankings, they are still the top team (or at least ahead of Dale IMO).
Just like I said…dalers win their 1st & JD & caz win!! The way it should be LI needs to know their place!! Lax in the finger lakes/ upstate is GOOD!! Way to go boys!!!!!
Congrats 2011 STATE CHAMP RIDGEFIELD!!!
I called it all along… Field would win state title, Darien would not!!
You’re Kreskin with thicker glasses. Congrats!
Nah Pops. I don’t wear glasses. I do wear sunglasses though bc Ridgefield Tiger lacrosse’s future is so bright I gotta wear shades!
We need a Ridgefield/Wilton backyard brawl to settle #1
Contests to the neighbor’s from the north. See ya next year
Meant Congrats, d-mm iPad sure type
You had one already and you won at their place when you weren’t playing half as well as you did this week. Great job.
Thought I’d provoke a Laxr and Copps Hill reaction, but tip of the hat to Ridgefield for winning in a season when not much was expected except perhaps within.
I was really surprised at Wednesday’s final Darien/Wilton result, perhaps not the outcome as the team was really coming together. It makes you appreciate how special a player Matheis is and how he allows others to be better all over the field. As Brameier said, it’s like Wilton without Francia.
I remember seeing both young men play in the 2009 final and while they were primarily finishers anyone could see they had bright futures.
Wiseman seems to have righted the ship and program so hopefully the rivalry can return in earnest for years to come. Of course, Darien has boat loads coming back next year along with a lot of motivation. Enjoy your summer season.
Summer season starts tomorrow, 9am at Avon Old Farms, UA Underclass New England Tryouts. Good luck to all.
Amen to that. Not to take away from the kids, but I think Wiseman showed what a great coach he is with the way he made adjustments this season. Their defense was awesome by season’s end, and the middies and Francia were huge. The Warriors were also outstanding in transition; I think they’d give Conestoga (PA) a run for their money as the best team in the nation at running the fast break. I expect Wilton will have some growing pains next season, as they replace a lot, but Wiseman will have them in contention come playoff time. On a side not, it will be interesting to see Francia, Kolderup, and Maybell on the same team next year down at Nova. Who has high school bragging rights? Kolderup and Maybell certainly were on the winning side more often than not, but Francia ended their high school careers.
That’s usually what the FCIACs are for, but Darien beat both of them. Darien also beat them both badly in the regular season. Again, I don’t think Darien loses the number one spot because of one game w/o their two best offensive players, their fogo, etc…It’s funny, because the last few years Darien has won states and lost FCIACs, and people said they weren’t #1 because they didn’t win FCIACs. This year, it’s the opposite, and yet the teams that didn’t FCIACs are the ones people are throwing out as #1. And btw, Wilton beat Ridgefield 10-6 in the regular season, so that’s as good an indicator as any.
Ridgefield didn’t have to face Wilton, and I’m sure you knew that Darien’s two leading scorers would get hurt when you made that prediction, right?
Haha. You sound even worse than the John Jay fans using injuries as an excuse.
I think they have valid excuses too. The only difference is they never got the chance to prove it because those guys were injured before the season. Darien proved it twice, against both teams. These injuries are substantial and have an impact, and there is no denying this. I guess if Scott and Buckanavage were injured, that would have no impact on Ridgefield losing to Fairfield Prep (which they would have if this was the case), right?
By the way, I’m not detracting from Wilton’s excellent State Championship run, I am simply commenting that Darien should still be considered the #1 team in CT this year because of their overall body of work.
Final – Cazenovia 14, BBP 6
Hey Dalers..way to win your 1st state championship!
JD way to shut alot of experts up. Hope they give you national props! You deserve it!!
Finally, Cazenovia…you guys were the class of C & dominated so all the rest need to SHUT UP!!!
Season Over
Interesting side note on Ridge win over FP – obviously FP scouted Roy’s “Summit Zone D” very well and capitalized with 9 goals in the soft spots of the zone. Ridge switched back to a man d late in the 3rd which seemed to frustrate FP. Great game all around for both teams and terrific performance by FP’s Kelley and Ridge Bucky and Wilkey.
Since you were there, if Prep’s goalie doesn’t get hurt and plays the entire game, does anything change? Maybe somebody from Prep has an opinion.
Hard to tell – FP goalie was playing well but it seemed like alot of his early saves were not that difficult. The kid who replaced him did not play badly and came up with a few big saves for FP.
Was up in Syracuse. Congrats to Dale and JDW on their wins. Incredible games to watch. Agree with Syracuse in that had they gotten by GC Town’s play would have made a real good game with JDW.
I left the third game with Caz leading 9-2 at half. BPBP was way over their heads with Caz, who are also the NYS Ice Hockey Champions with a number of those kids playing lax. Congrats to BPBP for their accomplishments and getting to Syracuse but I’d say they were not nearly as strong as past LI Class C teams (obviously Manhassat + others) that got to the semi or finals.
Dont hear much about Cazenovia as the other teams that played today so I’ll point out that Tierney of Denver found a real good one from Caz in Sean Cannizarro.
and people thought JD was a joke when they beat JJ. now JD has 5 titles and jj has what 0!
Agreed. Although to be fair I think JD has elevated their program to new heights since 2007.
Charlie, how many state titles have you won with the team you root for and/or are involved with?
His little brother Connor might be even better. Not to mention they have Mason Powell..youngest of the Powell brothers, plus the Nardella bros..and Greacen(all state linebacker at midfield)..Caz was loaded with talent…they’d match up well with top teams outside of class c as well.