Animated Lacrosse
Plays and Drills for
your Team

After winning the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference championship in 2012, there was some uncertainty surrounding the New Canaan High School lacrosse program.

That’s because the Rams were starting a new coaching era as former NCHS standout Chip Buzzeo took over for Alex Whitten.

New Canaan went on to accomplish a rare feat in the ultra competitive FCIAC – repeating as tournament champions by beating Greenwich 8-5.

Harry Stanton was one of the big reasons why.

The attackman finished the season with 56 goals and 24 assists.

Stanton decided where he will be doing his scoring in college, verballing to Wesleyan University, a commitment reported by Joe Lombardi on LaxLessons.com’s “Lacrosse Insider” section.

The 5-foot-7, 155-pound Stanton, a righty, uses his strength and quickness to create scoring opportunities and is especially effective at changing directions, dodging and drawing and dishing. The three-sport standout also excels in soccer and hockey for the Rams.

Stanton will be following is brother’s path to Wesleyan’s Middletown, Conn., campus.

Sam Stanton, who will be a senior at Wesleyan for the 2014 season, was named short-stick D-middie of the year by the USILA and was a first-team All-American this past season.

Now, here’s a Q&A with Harry on his commitment.

What were the main factors in your decision?
My main factors were, first, the academics. It’s always been my main focus in this process. I know how great of a school Wesleyan is academically and I know I would fit in well.

Also, the fact my older brother, Sam, is on the team.I’ve seen how much he’s enjoyed his experience at Wesleyan.

I finally decided on Wesleyan because of (Wesleyan Head) Coach (John) Raba, he’s an incredible coach and I just knew I wanted to play for him.

What other schools were you considering and what schools did you visit?
I visited Amherst, Gettysburg, Colorado College and Middlebury. I was in the mix with Michigan to fill their last attack spots in 2014, but I ultimately decided that D-III NESCAC was where I wanted to go.

My final decision was between Wesleyan and Amherst. They are both incredible schools with great lacrosse programs and awesome head coaches.

What are your strengths as a player and how would you describe your style of play?
I understand that I’m not the biggest attackman, but it doesn’t stop me from playing like it. I love to back-in defensemen and get a feel for which way I could turn and get a shot off.

Also, I use my quickness to my advantage. I love to dodge, but I’m not always looking to just dodge to the net with my head down, but I look for the slide so I can dish it to my teammates.

I believe that I’ve worked on dodging with my head up and I’ve gotten a lot better at that.

Lastly, I think I’m pretty good at finishing my chances.

I understand how competitive Connecticut high school lax is and how each scoring opportunity can change a game, so I pride myself on my ability to finish well.

What area of your game do you need to work on?
I need to work on the fadeaway shot when I come around the net. It’s my favorite thing to do, when I have a step on my defenseman and I turn and shoot. I did produce a lot of goals doing that, but a lot of times I don’t get my shot high enough, so the goalie can just  put his stick down and save it.

Also, I believe that sometimes I need to slow my game down, I’ve been told that I’m going 100 miles per hour all the time and sometimes I just need to change speeds to throw off defensemen, so I’ve been working on both of these concepts in the offseason.

How did you get introduced to lacrosse?
I was introduced to lacrosse when I was probably about 3 years old. I have three older brothers who have all played lacrosse and my dad (David Stanton) was an All-American lacrosse player at Colorado College.

How does playing soccer and hockey help you in lacrosse?
I think that playing three sports is an advantage when it comes to lacrosse because I definitely find myself scraping and scooping ground balls out like it’s hockey and kicking a ball out of a pile of players like it’s soccer.

What travel team do you play on what showcase events did you participate in?
I played for the 2014 CT Chargers Blue Team this summer. I also went to the NE Under Armour tryouts and made the Uncommitted Game and I played in Jake Reed’s Nike Blue Chip camp at UMBC.

Any final thoughts?
I need to first thank my parents who have always been on my side and have motivated me to become not only a better lacrosse player, but just a better kid overall.

Next, I think it’s only fair to thank my three brothers, Charlie, Sam and Jack because I wouldn’t have this competitive drive without them in my life.

Lastly, I want to thank my coaches Coach Buzzeo, Coach Koshansky, Coach Rushton, and Coach Geiger who really invested so much of their time for me in this recruiting process and helped me decide on a school that I could truly see myself happy at, both academically and athletically.

I’m extremely happy and excited on attending Wesleyan and playing for Coach Raba, I truly believe it’s the right for me.