Welcome to Championship Saturday, gang. It’s been an interesting and eventful season. Now it’s time to award state titles.
We’ll have team coverage of today’s New York and Connecticut state title games, but don’t let that from stopping you from weighing in with your thoughts and insights as the games unfold.
I’ve already arrived in Stony Brook for the New York state title games, eager to see if Manhasset can win back-to-back championships, whether or not Garden City can win a title for the first time since 2000 and, of course, if the nation’s top-ranked team, West Islip, can win it all for the fourth time in five seasons.
You can follow all the scoring and highlights in real time by getting updates from Chris Kieser on the InsideLacrosse.com high school page. Here’s the link.
Ed Boulat will be reporting from the Connecticut state championships in Norwalk, where we will see if Fairfield Prep can make it an impressive five in a row in Class L and Darien an astonishing six in a row in Class M. St. Joseph’s-Trumbull is aiming to defend its Class S title.
Here’s the schedule, with some notes and a look at players to watch in each game.
Enjoy the action, everybody.
New York state championships
at Stony Brook University’s LaValle Stadium:
Class B
Section 3s Jamesville-DeWitt (21-0) vs. Section 8s Garden City (18-3), 11 a.m.
Notes:
* Jamesville-DeWitt is 2-1 in state title games. Its last appearance was in 2007, when it upset John Jay 13-11. John Jay was coming off a state semifinal win over No. 1-ranked Huntington, snapping Huntingtons 64-game win streak.
* Garden City has won four state championships (three in Class B).
* Jamesville-DeWitt is coached by former Syracuse standout Jamie Archer.
Key players:
* Stephen Jahelka, defense, Garden City (Harvard)
* Brian Fischer, defense, Garden City (Harvard)
* Tom Gordon, midfield, Garden City (Johns Hopkins)
* Jake Bratek, midfield, JD (Syracuse)
* Cameron Stone, attack, JD (Hobart)
Class C
Section 4s Corning East (17-4) vs. Section 8s Manhasset (19-0), 1:30 p.m.
Notes:
* Manhasset is looking for its fourth state title in school history (two of the three titles have come in Class C).
* Corning East made three straight trips to the finals (2006-2008), losing each year, most recently to Mount Sinai 10-5 in 2008. Corning Easts only state title came in 1990 when it beat Yorktown 13-7.
Key players:
Drew Belinsky, midfield, Manhasset (Penn)
Ricky Buhr, midfield, Manhasset (Syracuse)
Bobby Duvnjak, defense, Manhasset
Tyler White, goalie, Corning East
Devin Grimaldi, attack, Corning East (Towson)
Class A
Section 5s Fairport (19-2) vs. Section 11s West Islip (20-1), 4 p.m.
Notes:
* Fairport, which won its first sectional title since 2002, last appeared in the state title game in 1986 (losing to Garden City) and has never won a championship.
* West Islip is looking for its fourth state title in the last five years.
* West Islip has won 20 straight since dropping its opener in overtime to Sachem North.
* This will be the final varsity game for four-year varsity star Nicky Galasso.
* Fairport has won 11 straight since falling in overtime to defending Class B state champion Canandaigua. The Red Raiders only other loss was to 2010 Class B finalist Jamesville-DeWitt.
* 11 Fairport seniors will be playing lax at the collegiate level.
Key players:
Nicky Galasso, attack, West Islip (North Carolina)
Andrew Hodgson, attack, Towson
Rob Moore, attack, Jacksonville
Brendan Saylor, attack, Fairport (Maryland)
Connecticut state championships
at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk:
Class L
Fairfield Prep (17-5) vs. Cheshire (20-2), 1 p.m.
Notes:
* This is the third meeting of the season between Fairfield Prep and Cheshire, with Cheshire winning both 9-8 and 13-5. Preps only other losses this season were against St. Anthonys, Chaminade and New Fairfield.
* Fairfield Prep escaped with a 9-8 win over Staples in the semifinals.
Key players:
Brendan Rotanz, attack, Fairfield Prep (Dartmouth)
Griff McGoldrick, midfield, Fairfield Prep (Middlebury)
Todd Heritage, attack, Cheshire (Bucknell)
Class M
New Fairfield (19-2) vs. Darien (18-3), 3:30 p.m.
Notes:
* Darien, which has won five straight Class M state titles, is coming off one-goal wins over rivals Wilton and New Canaan.
* New Fairfield has won nine straight since dropping a one-goal game to Weston.
Key players:
Case Matheis, attack, Darien
Andrew West, goalie, Darien (Cornell)
George Benitez, defense, Darien (Stony Brook)
Eric Parnon, defense, Darien (Maryland)
Nick Costabile, goalie, New Fairfield
Class S
St. Joseph-Trumbull (15-6) vs. Weston (19-3), 10:30 a.m.
Notes:
* Rematch of last years final, won by St. Joseph 12-11
* Westons all-time leading scorer Morgan Faller has been hampered by a foot injury.
Key players:
Morgan Faller, attack, Weston (Marist)
Robbie Cordisco, attack, Weston (Providence)
Tom Izzo, goalie, St. Joseph (Franklin Pierce)
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Posted In: Scoreboard Central
We’re at LaValle Stadium on the campus of Stony Brook University. Both Garden City and Jamesville-De1itt have just taken the field for the start of pregame warmups.
St. Joe’s 3, Weston 2 after the first quarter in the CIAC Class S title game, Ed B. reports.
GC goalie Alex Castronovo makes a spectacular stick save on a one-on-one break vs Cam Stone with three minutes left in the first. GC leadfs 2-1.
From Ed B.: Weston 6, St. Joes’s 3 at the half. Weston scores 4 unanwsered in the 2nd quarter. Weston’s Charlie Smith has 2 goals and St. Joe’s Bob Ciotti has 1 goal and 1 assist.
JD leads GC 3-2 after one. A dribbler by Cam Stone with 1/ seconds left snapped a 1-1 tie. GC goals by Kevin Dachille and Dan Losardo. GC has a 5-1 edge in FOs.
JD has gone ahead 6-3 with 3:21 left in the first. Especially impressive since JD is minus Syracuse University-bound senior middie Jake Bratek, who suffered a broken collarbone in practice.
when in practice yesterday
7-3 JD they are good , GC needs to care for the ball more
JD leads 7-3 at HT. A bit of a surprise especially considering GC allows an average of just over 4 goals per game.
From Ed B. : Weston 6, St. Joe’s 4 after three quarters.
Joe….What’s the crowd size look like at this point?
Joe~
With the exception of a couple of bloggers sending in individual team lists, has HV – Section 1 Lacrosse released their list of All-Section and All-League ?
7-6 weston 5 min
JD now leads 9-3 midway through the third. JD has seven different goal scorers. Goalie Dan DiStefano has played well for the Red Rams as has senior defenseman Mac Feiner.
Duke coach John Danowski is on hand wearing an “I Love NY” T-shirt.
7-6 weston final
JD outscores GC 3-0 in the third and now leads 10-3.
There’s a good-sized crowd here. Hard toi estimate since this is a pretty big football stadium.
Big lift for Weston today having Morgan Faller back in the linep. He had missed a couple of games with a foot injury.
Weston’s Charles Smith and Morgan Faller finish with 2 goals . Mike Marini and Pat Corcoran score twice each for St. Joe’s.
Good job by Weston today over St. Joe, congrats to Coach Mathews and all players and staff.
Final: JD 11, GC 5. JD wins its second state title in four years.
Interesting note as Manhasset prepares to play Coirning East. Next year, Corning East and Corning West will combine to form one high school – Corning High School. The school will use the nickname “Hawks.” The high school itself will be located at what is now Corning East. Corning West will become a middle school.
Quick Note off that Joe,
Will there be a JJ Corning game like the annual JJ Corning-East game?
Update on the CIAC Class L final from Ed B.at Brien McMahon:
Cheshire 3, Fairfield Prep 2 after one quarter.
Purple Pride –
That will be interesting. It has not been officially announced that East coach Bob Streeten, who has more than 500 wins, will coach the combined team. Also, I’m now told the plan to have the one combined high school and have West be a middle school may be scraped. The two high schools would remain as is
But the two High schools would still com$bine as one for all varsity sports. This means it. Will play at the Class A level.
Manhasset has scored three unanswered goals and leads 5-2 after one. A goal by Drew Belinsky snapped a 2-2 tie. Quinn Moroney has two goals for the Indians.
Sett 6 CE 3 2nd 8:30
Cheshire 5, Fairfield Prep 3 at the half. Fairfield Prep has a huge edge in shots but can’t find the back of the net. Cheshire’s Michael Jordan has 2 goals and FP’s John McGoldrick has 2.
Manhasset has stretched the lead to 8-3 late in the second. Six players have scored for Set. Moroney and Belinsky each have two goals.
Since beating Yorktown 13-7 in the 1990 Class B state title game, Corning East is 0-10 in state title-game appearances.
Sett 9 CE 3 Half
CHS 9 FP 5
Just had a nice talk with the winningest coach in HS lax history, Joe Cuozzo, up in the press box. Joe is retiring this year after an amazing career at Ward Melville and most recently Mount Sinai.
9-5 cheshire end of 3rd
From Ed B. in Norwalk: Cheshire 9, Fairfield Prep 5 after 3 quarters.
9-6 chs 9 min
9-6 6 min
9-6 4 min
9-6 2 min
9-7 chs less than 1 min
9-8 25 seconds
9-8 final
Cheshire 9, Fairfield Prep 8 final. Michael Jordan and Nicholas Carisio each score 3 times for Cheshire. Brendan Rotanz and John McGoldrich each had 3 goals for FP.
Final: Manhasset 19, Corning East 6
The Indians finish the season 20-0 and win their second straight state title.
Offensive MVP – Drew Belinsky
Defensive MVP – Bobby Duvnjak
Also of note, Buhr continued his outstanding play in the faceoff X.
Duvnjak, of course, is just a junior and maybe be rated the nation’s No. 1 rising junior. He’s that good. In fact, he’s one of the best HS defenders I’ve seen in a while. He just told me his college options are open, but he’s considering several Ivy League schools as well as the usual suspects: UVa, Hopkins and Syracuse.
As noted in our “Key players” listing above in this post, Belinsky is bound for Penn and Buhr is headed to Cuse.
One final note as West Islip and Fairport prepare for the start of the Class A final here at Stony Brook.
This marks the first time in its long and tradition-rich history that Manhasset has won back-to-back state titles. It’s the Indians’ fourth state title in school history.
From Ed B : Darien 6, New Fairfield 2 after one quarter. Darien’s Case Matheis has 4 goals in the period.
West Islip 4, Fairport 1 after one.
Rob Moore has two goals for the Lions. Drew Federico and Mike Sagl have the other goals.
Fairport has gone on a 3-0 run and rallied to tie it at 4-4 with four minutes left in the second quarter.
Darien 9, New Fairfield 3 at the half. Darien is dominating possession and NF cannot stop Darien’s Case Matheis who already has 7 goals. Constabile, Mall
After Matt Gebhardt put WI ahead 5-4, Fairport tied it on a spectacular wraparound shot by Maryland-bound attackman Brendan Sayler. It’s 5-5 at the half.
Back-to-back goals by Sagl and Joe Finnegan give 1- a 7-5 lead with 2ight minutes left in the third quarter. Nicky Galasso has been held to 0-2 and Andrew Hodgson 0-1. Sagl’s latest goal was on an EMO opportunity 2:10 inyto the quarter and snapped a 5-5 tiue
Darien 10, New Fairfield 3 after 3 quarters. Matheis scores again for Darien and now has 8 in the game.
Galasso scores a behind-the-back goal. Sagl then gets his third. WI now leads 9-5.
Thought JD would win but they totally dominated GC in all phases of the game. #8 attack Dejong was very impressive and they were not playing with their #1 attack kid going to Cuse! GC’s D which has been their strong suit was porous all over the field and JD’s smallish attack kids were doing damage vs GC’s 2 big D kids.
Sett. Well, not much to say except their SETT!!
12-5 ESPN Highlights in this Game
A 7-0 third-quarter run gives WI a 12-5 lead after three.
Nicky Galasso now has 1-4 and has 500 points for his HS career, which is tops in LI lax history.
Joe,
At the semi finals a guy from WI told me Wi had big third Q’s this season which has turned out to be the case.
The previous LI scoring record of 498 was held by 1977 Elmont grad Jim Zaffuto, who led Elmont to the state title in 1977.
West Islip wins its fourth state title in five years.
Final: West Islip 13, Fairport 5
Darien 17, NF 5 final. Case breaks Darien school record with 9 goals. He also had 3 assists. Teammate Brian Gleason adds 3 goals and 3 assists.
13-5 Final I have Gallaso 1 and 7
WI makes it 4 out of 5.
Joe, it would seem we have two sophomores worthy of the #1 rising junior rank. Duvnjak held Matheis to (1,0) in their matchup this year, although Case did find several guys open with time and room who just weren’t hitting the target. Look forward to seeing that matchup for the next two years.
Who names their kid Michael with the last name Jordan???
500 points is insane on LI with all those defenses geared to stop him. Hats off to that kid.
Manhasset should be National Champs. They totally dominated a CE team that was pretty good but made to look awful. They saved their best for last. Duvnjak,Lawler and Coleman are easily the best defense in the state and they proved it all season long. The middies play great d as well and we all know about Belinsky. Kucarchyk is underrated and Moroney can snipe. The attack with Cook, Tompkins and the younger Moroney share the ball beautifully and ride like they are hungry. Buhr is an animal. Gavin played a strong LSM all season. Hats off to coach Cherry and his staff, this team outworked every team they played all year. They played a schedule that included a stae runnerup, a section champ, a catholic runnerup and a state champ not to mention CSH who lost twice, both to Set. Great, great team and deserving of the honor.
Gotta give props to Lindsay being able to put up 10 on WI the other night when everyone else could barely muster 5.
As for Corning East and West merging, I spoke with a teacher from East today they will only merge in Sports. The interesting thing was the students have their choice of which school they want to enroll in, most of the better Lacrosse players are already at East so after the merger acording to him the team will not be much stronger than now and will have to move up to A which sounds like a problem, also West is the larger School..
Watching Gallasso today was a thing of beauty, his vision and passing ability is second to none. The last player that was that good was Tim Nelson from Yorktown.. Great day today for Lax.
Luv to see a tournament between the best 3 LI teams vs best in the MIAA!!!
Someone’s got to organize this at some point!!!!!!
slacrosse- would settle for a Set-WI game this Thurs at Hofstra, all proceeds go to charity. I’ve got Set
Hey laxified
That game will never happen, but
WI is bigger, stronger & faster.
WI 8 Set 6
PS
WI got Nicky
laxified,
Absolutely. What a game! Got to go with WI!! BUT maybe you’re right with the tipping point being Buhr giving Sett more possession out of FO??
This should be settled!!
Where is the all-section lists? Only a name or two trickled out, no stories anywhere.
NYmike –
I feel like a broken record, but I’ll post the all-section list as soon as I receive it.
I can’t imagine it won’t be ready at some point this week.
sory Joe, wasn’t getting on you, didn’t see previous posts – just odd how that is trickling out, always that way?
No worries,
m
No problem, Mike. Understood. The selections were made last Monday. Since then each coach has had to verify spellings and then the list is typewritten. It took a little over a week to get the complete list last week.
Joe,
Are the state title games going to be on MSG varsity? would love to get a look at the games.
Purple Pride –
You can catch highlights, interviews and analysis of the games on Monday at 7 p.m. and again at 10 p.m. on “Sports Desk.”
Joe,
In this day and age–TYPE WRITTEN lists–please!!!
But understand nothing you can do about!!
What does an All Section mean anyway? Aren’t there just a number and the coaches decide how many they get and give them out that way. I get bothered in our society when we talk up such miniscule things. If your kid is that upset about seeing the list or whatever it might be, the wrong things are important to him. It seems some parents want to know who beat out their kid for All Section. Ask anyone if ten years from now you will have your Section 1 All Section Plaque. I would honestly hope not. All these All Leagues and All Sections are to pacify the parents who clamor for little Johnny to get an award. I hope the list is lost for good.
Big Easy-All Section is a significant acknowledgment. This year the number of candidates was cut –significantly – (80 to 50??) -and the coaches put up the names of their players –not merely the number wanted. They did away with the process you mentioned when they did away with the power league.After the names were posted they voted–so I am told. The names should be available through Section/BOCEs and the HS. Some of the HS’s have already posted the names on their sites. Congrats to the All Section honorees.
bigeasy ?–sounds like someone’s kid may not have made the list.
Life is made up of a collections of experiences and memories, so why would they not remember it down the line. Let the folks who get the recognition enjoy it with out the negativity
To be named All Section in a State and region that is know as a top area for future college talent is a big deal. Just as the National Honor Society pegs a student as top notch academically and puts him/her on top college’s radars, athletic honors such as this do the same thing for athletes, expecially Juniors or Sophomores – and given Section 1 is up there with Long Island and Eastern Maryland, it is an honor that no doubt gets notice among college coaches all over the country. BigEasy surely knows all this – soggy cherios or something.
The names are not voted on. Joe can clarify this, just the number. Then coaches decide.
Many people see my stuff pop up and it is usually to give some props or counter someone’s negative. I have followed Joe for many years , from when he was at the paper. I still do not understand why anyone would want to come on and diminish a young adults real accomplishments. I am not talking about the “hey kid good game when it wasn’t” we are talking about league recognition, making sectional , regional , or a state semi’s run. When a player that’s overlooked puts up a big game Vs. one one the big names in the game. Why ?
Why when a team wins a game ya come on and say stuff like crushed , destroyed etc…. Come on and acknowledge the positives leave all those nonsense adjectives alone. All these H.S. athletes that work their butts off deserve the credit they get …
Anyone think a case can be made that Nicky Galasso is the greatest high school player in New York State history? Love to hear some thoughts on this.
Cuse
I think a case might be able to be made, but I am not sure it will ever be answered. There have been so many Great players, Nicky has the numbers and Championship 4, eventhought the first one he was brought up at the end of yr and did see sometime, even in the game that they won their first one. The only Attackmen that I have seen that is his rival in skill is Tim Nelson from Yorktown. I think it will be eaiser to answer after his College career, but you are not asking that, of course the Powells are going to come into play, and a host of others. The one surething he is special.
Bigeasy: the names are put up with the number so that the coaches know why a team is seeking a number. I guess the coaches could change their mind afterward(why?) but the names are stated with the number. Essentially a vote for a number is based upon the names that were put up. Bottom line: quite an accomplishment.
Cuse
Ever see Art Monk run track?
… or the Mt. Vernon basketball teams with Gus and Ray Williams or Scooter and Rodney McRay?
etc. etc. etc.
Ultimately though, whether you meant just lacrosse or all sports, think it still come back to:
Brown, Jim – Manhasset
Old Coach –
It’s funny. Right after the West Islip-Fairport game on Saturday, I mentioned to Nicky Galasso how the list of great Long Island players starts with Jim Brown. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to go by other than word of mouth for those of us who have never seen him play. If anyone out there has, please weigh in with your thoughts.
In the meantime, I did find this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gHcnPAhXWY
were’nt the rules little different back then.
Joe and Old Coach, Well we may have your answer then, When the NCAA came out with their 25 Anniversary Team Jim Brown was asked who he thought was the Greatest Lacrosse player of Alltime? His answer I believe was Tim Nelson.
Full AA list from Suffolk (official)
AA:
Nicky Galasso- A- WI- North Carolina
Kieran McArdle-A- Connetquot- St. John’s
Andrew Hodgson- M- WI- Towson
Zach Losco- M – Hauppauge- Penn
Alex Zomerfield- M- Comsewogue – Bryant
Tom Cleary- M- Comsewogue- Dowling
Dan Mellynchuk- M- Sayville- Brown
Jimmy Ryan- M- WM- Colgate
Maxx Meyer- D/LSM- Hills East- Penn
HMAA:
Mike Rooney- A- EI- Stony Brook
Myles Jones- M- Whitman- Duke (Junior)
Matt Kunkel- D- WM- Duke
Tom Freshour- D/LSM- Smithtown East- Cornell
Academic AA:
Tyler Brenneman- M- East Hampton- Notre Dame
Adam Hull- A- Smithtown East- Dartmouth
Evan Bloom- D- Sachem North- Dartmouth
Peter Vivonetto- A/M- Rocky Point- Brown
I’m not sure what I like most about the Jim Brown highlights…The short shorts, wooden sticks, tall socks or leather-looking hats!
What about the Catholic schools? Schreiber from St. Anthony’s has to be on the team and maybe Muzio?
Catholic schools get 3 AAs, I would assume Schreiber, someone else from St. A’s and someone from Chaminade will get them but I don’t know when they are released
Congrats to all the CT and LI kids!!
As Joe still is waiting for those “type-written” lists that need to checked for spelling before being published (All-Section, League).
Fitting ends to the season for WI and Set the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the country.
Thank you for another fantastic blog.