One of the main reasons Yorktown has been able to maintain a level of success few programs in the nation can rival is its tradition.
Not just the tradition of postseason championships, but the tradition of a younger brother playing and practicing the game under the mentorship of an older brother.
And, in some cases, a father, too.
YHS senior attackman Frankie Fusco’s father, Frank Sr., was a defenseman and captain on the first Yorktown team in school history that advanced to the state championship game.
So Fusco, a 5-foot-10 lefty attackman, was immersed in lacrosse from a young age.
Soon, he’ll be playing it at the next level.
But before joining Drexel’s squad in 2013, Fusco has some big goals for 2012.
Now, here are Frankie’s perspectives on the season:
What have you been doing to get ready for the season?
I’ve been working out to give myself a physical advantage over my competition. I have been working with college kids along with other players on my team to improve on dodging and field vision.
We’ve been working as a team to build our chemistry so that we can pick up where we left off last year. As a team, we’ve been working indoors as well as running many types of drills on the turf.
How does your schedule look, what games are you looking forward to most, and who are some of your scrimmages against?
Of course, we’re looking forward to the first game of the season against John Jay. Another huge game we always look forward to is the Murphy Cup. We will especially be looking forward to the game against Mahopac (which beat Yorktown in overtime last year).
We play some of the top competition in the country every year. It takes our game to a higher level and it helps us when we get into the playoffs. We always start off the season with a scrimmage against Don Bosco. We will also scrimmage Iona Prep.
What do you think the strength of your team will be this year?
Our entire attack is returning this year. On defense we lost one close defenseman and two defensive midfielders that played a big part on our team. However, those spots are also filled with strong players.
I do believe our midfielders will surprise a lot of people even though we lost two great powers in Justin Mabus and Ty Schuldt.
That is the beauty of this team. We have plenty of guys ready to step up and do their part.
How do you view the race in your league and who do you think some of the contending teams will be?
The race will be a competitive one. Our team does not take any game lightly. We play strong and we play to win. I think Somers will have a pretty good year. I know teams will be looking to avenge their losses but we’ll be ready.
I’m looking forward to enjoying the season. This will be my last year at Yorktown and playing with these players who I consider all my brothers and I’m especially looking forward to going out on a high note since it will be the last time I am playing with my Syracuse-bound little brother (Austin).
* For more info on Frankie, check out his player profile by clicking here.
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Get in the game
Posted In: Player's perspective, Section 1
YORKTOWN – READY TO PUNCH THEIR TICKET BACK TO SYRACUSE
Whats in syracuse? Section finals are in white plains. First things first. JJ, Somers,etc state semis Stony Brook then state finals are at Middletown.
justlaxin,
your not a Yorktown guy I can tell…you wouldnt understand
“ourtime” I got it!
Enlighten me. Reference to 2003 or 1989? Seriously.
JJ and Somers are looking promising this year, even though a few key players are gone I dont see Yorktown winning the section this year. Theyre players are small, although agile and quick they lack the necessary height and weight to a team. They face a defense with a few big guys that can put a good body on them, theyre gonna be in trouble.
Lack height and weight? It’s about putting the ball in the goal. Town will dominate sectional competition.
I don’t even think that Town’s players are small when compared to players at John Jay and Somers, so this holds no water. Town is heavily favored to win the section and go undefeated in Section One. If Jay was to upset them, it would not be because of their size vs. Town’s.
“ohnoes”
Town not as good as J and Somers because they lack the necessary height and weight!!!!!!
Oh No!!!
Town looks to have a very strong team. Anything can happen, but this team looks solid.
well said…2 years ago people predicted YTown, it was J. Vice versa last year. Too removed to know if it was crazy parents, but the beauty of this is the kids have to play the game and become a team.
Can’t wait for 3/31- two solid programs opening up the season against each other…
Well do tell which team will have a big defense to stop there attack.
And o there D will not have anyone under 6″1 185.Attack all over 5″11.Middies not real big but very tuff kids.And one middie goes 6″2 200 hundred and shoots as hard as any middie in section,So i dont think to many section one teamswill put a big body on them.4 really good face -off kids.
I guess that little skinny QB from Ytown got pushed around on football field- I think not.Size does not matter its whats in your heart that matters,Yorktown has always been on small size.
Sorry folks, theory is wrong size does not matter.I would like to go down the list of players that were considered small that were slightly successful since height and size seem to be an issue.
Dom Fin, Joe Ceglia, Fazio (LP), Will Manny, Chase Matheis. I know there are many, many more but that kinda says it.
In reality talent wise, Yorktown has no competition in Section 1. John Jay is still very good, but other then Lambert and Beck they just do not have the talent of Town to match up. Brewster is Much Improved and Hen Hud is very good this year, both those teams are better then Somers who lost to much to keep up. Obviously , we still have to get it done on the field. And Coaching is a factor, also where Somers and JJ are behind the curve of a Yorktown, Brewster.
Did you just put the J and Somers coaches behind the Brewster coach?
I think he did – and while I think the Brewster coaches are solid – I’m not sure I’d agree with that “throw in” statement. But I’ll forget that – why/how is Brewster “Much improved”?
very well said
Brings up an interesting topic!
Coaching Staff Rankings:
1 – Yorktown
– Obvious favorite – coaching staff consists of Hopkins, Hopkins Maryland, Delaware, St. Johns. All have won state titles at Yorktown as players and coaches.
2 – John Jay – Tim Schurr
– One of the best defenseman to ever play the game? He is certainly up there – Also a Yorktown guy who knows more about defense than most do in the country.
3 – Somers – Lou Janavey
– Nobody has more passion than Coach Lou. His energy and determination has kept Somers always in contention.
4 – Brewster
5 – Lakeland
Lew @ #3 what has he won? Yes he has passion that doesn’t make him even in the top 5. Lindsey @ l/p above him beat Town for sect. champ.(should have won 2). Haddy @ Pac sect. title last year. Kuczma @ Put Valley 3 section titles, 3 trips to state semi’s.
Dooley at Rye and his brother have both elevated that program tremendously. I like Hen Hud’s coach, they have overachieved a couple of times over the years. Corace at Mahopac ? State title in 96′ I believe he has been helping as an assistant and Mahopac has shown some life as of recently. Don’t know much about Brewster othen thatn they have not been really strong since 2000. Schurr is somewhat unproven at Jay because he has only been there for two seasons.
Sav Brothers should be on top (name a section 1 coach that has beaten that many Island teams.)
Beat Garden City
Beat Manhasset
Beat Town in class A and class B
Beat Huntington when they were 64-0
Beat Duxbury
Beat Darien
just to name a few, I know there is some other big wins but cant remember back that far……….
Oh here is another beat Nisky!!!!!
One their most impressive wins, other then the Huntington upset, was 16-4 win over Comeswoguemin 2008. It had no real significance other than Wogue was a very good LI team and Jay came out and went nuts. I wonder if we’ll see any jay teams like that era again?
(Sorry about the typos)
Not in the foreseeable future. Those were special teams.
other teams the Sav’s Beat ** Lot of big wins at JJ
Greenwich
New Canaan
Wilton
Syosset
Calhoun
Corning East
Nice job in the interview, Frank. Enjoy your last season in Yorktown and playing with your brother Austin and all your brothers!
Yes the JJ program has had some great wins, most of them due to the fact that they were very talented.
Yorktown is Yorktown, Nuff said.History, past present and future. BTW Carney is a Lakeland Grad that never won a Title)
Lakeland has always from the days of F Vitolo till now that has been a team to due a lot with what they have. Granted the early nineties did have some studs.
Somers has great history also, for a program that is very young compared to the others mentioned. Lew is a very passionate coach that is knowledgeable on both sides of the ball as well as maybe the best motivator in this area.
Lets not forget Mahopac is the only other team besides Y-Town that has won a state championship.
Since we are on the subject of coaches, lets run with it.
Yorktown is Yorktown, Past, Present and Future they are Yorktown. Dave Marr is very good in many ways, especially working the refs. ( However Carney is a Lakeland grad that did not win a championship)
Savs- decent coaches did a good job getting the youth revitalized at Jay, and putting them back on the map. However a lot of credit should go to the fact that they had enourmous talent to work with, and lost many games to teams they were better then. They will get Kennedy in the right direction.
Lakeland – J Lindsay, very good coach as far as competing with low numbers and getting the best out of what he has.
JJ-T Schurr,one of the best at teaching indivduals on how to play defense, and a zone guru. Dont know if I would go as far as saying the best in the country as far as overall knowledge is concerned.
Mahopac- Haddelands and Corace do a nice job in all aspects of the game
Somers- Coach Lew Knows the game on both sides of the ball, very organized, colorful and maybe the best motivator in the group.
This was not in any particular order. Section 1 and there players and parents are lucky to have these guys.
Savs had some big wins.
Yorktown and Dave Marr Everyone
Somers and Coach Lew Nisky, Cold Spring Harbor, Ridgefield, New Canaan, Carthage, Lakeland 3x, Montgomery NJ
Lakeland And Lindsey Shen, Penn Yan, Mercer Island, Yorktown
If I were a team in Section 1 this year I would fear playing the team that the Yorktown Huskers are fielding this year. The Huskers have their entire attack returning from last season full of college commits and a Strong Defense returning led by Hopkins bound Junior Trevor Koelsch and Rutgers bound Senior Eric Cooley. However, people think that Town’s weakness this year will be at the Midfield position but Town has many returners who all thrived last year including Seniors Joey Raniolo and Brian Quigley. Yorktown will be coming out with a vengeance after losing a close game to Garden City in the State-Semi Finals last year and has their minds set on one goal and that is a state championship. It will be a long road until then but we are all in for a long intense season.
Town also has three excellent FO middies – sr Hunter Palancia, jr Danny Manning and soph Luke Palmadesso.
Marr, Carney, Lodewick, Doerr all won state as coaches in 2003. Same staff.
@ Wizard
I agree with you that Haddy and Lindsey are great coaches and do alot with low numbers at times. but gotta also give Coach lew his due. 2209 Section champion, many good defensive teams at Lake/Panas. Plus he is 2-1 vs Hddy and 3-0 vs Lindsey SO??? Think they are all good for section 1 they all work very hard and do the right thing by the kids!!
As far as teams this year
A- Up for grabs all though mostly a 3 team race
1-Mahopac
2-Suffern
3-L/P
B- Yorktown head way above the rest, they should not lose a section 1 game
1- Yorktown
2-JJ
3-Brewster
4-Rye
5-Somers
C- Hen Hud and Bronxville??
1-Bronxville
1b-Hen Hud
3-Byram
4-