Connecticut 2019

HS Boys Lacrosse
JBFortunato
Posts: 279
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2019 7:38 pm

Re: Connecticut 2019

Post by JBFortunato »

PrimeTime21 wrote: Sun Jun 16, 2019 3:43 am
BlueWarrior wrote: Tue Jun 11, 2019 2:29 pm
pcowlax wrote: Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:08 pm Wonderful. Back in my day, Wilton was the best public school team in the country. They will never get back there and started 1-7 vs murders row but man, how they have fought through that, the D amazing, down 3-0 early and then shut the gates vs the thing that is not like another in CT publics. Well done Warriors, well done.
Not 100% sure when "your day" was but there's absolutely no way that Wilton was the "best public school team in the country" in the 70's or 80's...anmd probably not the '90's, either. They were a top team, to be sure. But not to that level.
Doesn't matter. Public school lax is an ersatz product. But of that substandard pool, Darien has the best talent base and is poised best for future success. I heard they're going to start getting heavily poached. We will finally see how good Coach B really is when his best players are at Wick, AOF, Bury and FP
It's not a "product", it's kids playing lacrosse. And public school kids in Connecticut play it with as much passion as anyone on the planet.
Moreover, I wouldn't think the jury is still out on whether Coach B is really that good. When you've been on top this long, it's not a debate, it's a fact. He's the king, no one else is even close.
I only thought I was cynical. :lol:
Voyuer
Posts: 104
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Connecticut 2019

Post by Voyuer »

I asked a D1 lax player at a very good academic school, if any of the players were struggling in school. His reply was priceless: "The only kids who are struggling are a few from "Prep" schools where they were BMOC and just allowed to slide along. The kids from good schools, like Darien and New Canaan, have no problems adjusting to college. " I always wondered how the parents paying 50K would fell about that quote!! If you live in Darien or NC why in the world would you send your kid to prep school if he wanted to play college lax??? Trust me most Darien or NC parents are not going to decide to send their kids to Wick or Bury unless there is family history,or a compelling reason which would be advantageous for that particular kid.
Laxxal22
Posts: 1213
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2018 4:58 pm

Re: Connecticut 2019

Post by Laxxal22 »

A single anecdote isn't worth very much. My experience was that the kids who showed up from boarding school were definitely better prepared for college life than public school kids or those who went to jocky day schools (like myself), and many found the coursework less challenging than prep school. I do agree with the points that Darien/NC won't suddenly just wilt away because West 1 coaches want demand the best players from those towns enroll. Town pride is a big deal in some places, and those high schools offer great academics and athletics. Why leave?
Mike75
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 10:20 am

Re: Connecticut 2019

Post by Mike75 »

Laxxal22 wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2019 12:32 pm A single anecdote isn't worth very much. My experience was that the kids who showed up from boarding school were definitely better prepared for college life than public school kids or those who went to jocky day schools (like myself), and many found the coursework less challenging than prep school. I do agree with the points that Darien/NC won't suddenly just wilt away because West 1 coaches want demand the best players from those towns enroll. Town pride is a big deal in some places, and those high schools offer great academics and athletics. Why leave?
I agree. And its not like kids in the FCIAC need to go West-1 to raise their profile. I mean maybe if a kid has his sights set on an Ivy and he needs a prep school to improve his chances academically, I could see that. But with the price tag at $50k+/year now, its not as compelling a trade as it used to be.
pcowlax
Posts: 1638
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2018 9:16 am

Re: Connecticut 2019

Post by pcowlax »

It is a very good and real question as to whether, academically, it is worth 50k a year to go to Deerfield rather than Darien. But to even talk about them as comparable academically or to suggest you are better prepared for college academically coming from New Canaan High School than Choate is just insane. BMOC?? That is what you are as a lacrosse star at Darien, not at Hotchkiss. Do NC and Darien offer great academics? Yes! For a public high school. And if you brought up the high school lax champ of Ohio or Oregon would they be great lax teams? Yes! For Ohio or Oregon. If you are trying to compare a public high school to a Deerfield or Exeter academically you don’t have much experience across the two.
Voyuer
Posts: 104
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Connecticut 2019

Post by Voyuer »

I never said I believed the young d1 lax player was correct in his assessment, I just posted his quote, and said it would drive some people crazy. I said don't expect the # of Darien and NC players that leave town to attend a prep school to change in the near future. There are usually 3-5 really good Darien players per class who choose to go to a Prep school. That has been the case going back to the 1990's . Some classes may be a few more, some less.
random observer
Posts: 477
Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2019 10:31 am

Re: Connecticut 2019

Post by random observer »

CONNY UA teams just came out. Here are the CT players:

Highlight ('20/'21):
Darien:
Jackson Peters (M, '20)
Colin Ruppenstein (M, '20)
Sam Cragin (D, '20)
Andy Demopoulos (G, '21)

New Canaan:
Liam Griffiths (A, '20)
Justin Weitfeldt (FO, '20)

Command ('22/'23)
Ridgefield:
Ryan Colsey (A, '22)
Luke Winkler (A, '22)
Josiah Degrasse (M, '22)
Kai Prohaszka (LSM, '22)
Robbie Liesegang (D, '22)

Darien:
Matthew Minicus (A, '22)
Finn Pokorny (M, '22)
Jeremiah Stafford (LSM, '22)
David Evanchick (D, '22)

New Canaan:
Carter Connors (A, '22)

Staples:
Charlie Howard (A, '22)

Wilton:
Jake Sommer (D, '22)

There are several more players from in and outside of the FCIAC on the teams who are now playing in NEW-1. Looks like Fairfield Prep's terrific sophomore LSM Sean Fox is transferring to Taft. The rich get richer.
fritz44
Posts: 43
Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2019 7:28 pm

Re: Connecticut 2019

Post by fritz44 »

Wish I had realized there was a backup forum for laxpower earlier in the season...

Looking forward to next season to predict which teams could rise and fall the most.

Teams largest hit by graduation.

New Fairfield - There's no way around it the senior class of 19' was a very special one for New Fairfield and likely won't be replicated in the next decade or so. They lose talent at nearly every position and will be surrounded by teams hungry to avenge some beatdowns from the past 2 seasons. Not sure what to predict since I really don't know of any players from New Fairfield who were not part of this past senior class. Class M will surely be much more competitive next year as a result of the drop off experienced by the Rebels.

Wilton- The graduation of Calabrese, Schriber, Previte, and some other key senior defenders will gut the defense that was the lifeblood of this team all season. Despite graduating their top scorer in Dinnano the offense may be slightly improved next season with a lot of juniors and underclassmen who were mostly role players last year who should grow into threats that could initiate more offense next season. Reilly Sullivan emerged as a force in the playoff run and will be the leader of the offense next season. Underclassmen like Josh White, Sam & Jack Rosen, Ben Calabrese, & Will Hughes played significant minutes last season but were not putting up big numbers. If Wilton is able to overcome the loss of their defense these players and some returning juniors will have to step up and create a more potent offense than was seen this past season. Defensively John Dirocco and the freshman LSM Jake Sommer return but other than that there are question marks all over that unit and large shoes to fill in net.

Fairfield Prep- The lose of Grandolfo, Reale, Kavanaugh, Boyle, their talented sophomore pole Sean Fox, and their starting goalie leaves a lot of open positions for the Jesuits. Their offensive production will likely go down significantly and I wonder who will be able to step up and give them a chance to initiate any offense against their FCIAC and OOC opponents. They are still the clear favorites in their conference, as they almost always are but there's no getting around that they could have a big dropoff from last season.

Teams that should improve the most.

Ridgefield- Any time I watched Ridgefield this year I was always impressed by the number of freshmen who were not only seeing varsity minutes but were often some of the best players on the field. The class of 22' for Ridgefield seems like a special one that could make a lot of noise in the years to come. Replacing Parson in net will be tough but they have a lot returning on the offensive side of the field and seem to have a lot of youth ready to step up and replace any vacancies left by this departing senior class. This team will likely build towards the spring of 2022 but for the next 3 seasons, they will assuredly be in the mix for FCIAC and state titles.

Darien- Despite winning a state title in convincing fashion most would agree that this was the least impressive Darien team since 2013. However, the future looks very bright for a team that graduated some leaders but has juniors and some underclassmen poised to pick up the load left by any seniors and likely carry the team further than they went this past season. I don't predict an undefeated season mainly because of the absolute juggernaut that St.A's will be next season but Darien is again the clear favorite in state. On offense, Jackson Peters, Michael Minicus, and Holt Matheis should lead a unit that will likely improve from last season and Demopolis and Sam Craigin should also help to improve on their defense from last season. Darien always graduates a lot of seniors but they always have talent in the pipeline ready to step up and play at a high level, next season should be no different.

Don't have much insight into NC or Staples but both should remain at a similar level of play next season with the Rams returning perhaps the best fogo in the state, Liam Griffiths and Cannet and Staples having a couple of Freshmen and talented juniors making big impacts last season.

Also not as familiar with the northern programs, hopefully, someone can give some insight into Glastonbury, Simsbury, Weston, Somers, Etc.
JBFortunato
Posts: 279
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2019 7:38 pm

Re: Connecticut 2019

Post by JBFortunato »

fritz44 wrote: Sat Jun 22, 2019 2:15 pm Wish I had realized there was a backup forum for laxpower earlier in the season...

Looking forward to next season to predict which teams could rise and fall the most.

Teams largest hit by graduation.

New Fairfield - There's no way around it the senior class of 19' was a very special one for New Fairfield and likely won't be replicated in the next decade or so. They lose talent at nearly every position and will be surrounded by teams hungry to avenge some beatdowns from the past 2 seasons. Not sure what to predict since I really don't know of any players from New Fairfield who were not part of this past senior class. Class M will surely be much more competitive next year as a result of the drop off experienced by the Rebels.

Wilton- The graduation of Calabrese, Schriber, Previte, and some other key senior defenders will gut the defense that was the lifeblood of this team all season. Despite graduating their top scorer in Dinnano the offense may be slightly improved next season with a lot of juniors and underclassmen who were mostly role players last year who should grow into threats that could initiate more offense next season. Reilly Sullivan emerged as a force in the playoff run and will be the leader of the offense next season. Underclassmen like Josh White, Sam & Jack Rosen, Ben Calabrese, & Will Hughes played significant minutes last season but were not putting up big numbers. If Wilton is able to overcome the loss of their defense these players and some returning juniors will have to step up and create a more potent offense than was seen this past season. Defensively John Dirocco and the freshman LSM Jake Sommer return but other than that there are question marks all over that unit and large shoes to fill in net.

Fairfield Prep- The lose of Grandolfo, Reale, Kavanaugh, Boyle, their talented sophomore pole Sean Fox, and their starting goalie leaves a lot of open positions for the Jesuits. Their offensive production will likely go down significantly and I wonder who will be able to step up and give them a chance to initiate any offense against their FCIAC and OOC opponents. They are still the clear favorites in their conference, as they almost always are but there's no getting around that they could have a big dropoff from last season.

Teams that should improve the most.

Ridgefield- Any time I watched Ridgefield this year I was always impressed by the number of freshmen who were not only seeing varsity minutes but were often some of the best players on the field. The class of 22' for Ridgefield seems like a special one that could make a lot of noise in the years to come. Replacing Parson in net will be tough but they have a lot returning on the offensive side of the field and seem to have a lot of youth ready to step up and replace any vacancies left by this departing senior class. This team will likely build towards the spring of 2022 but for the next 3 seasons, they will assuredly be in the mix for FCIAC and state titles.

Darien- Despite winning a state title in convincing fashion most would agree that this was the least impressive Darien team since 2013. However, the future looks very bright for a team that graduated some leaders but has juniors and some underclassmen poised to pick up the load left by any seniors and likely carry the team further than they went this past season. I don't predict an undefeated season mainly because of the absolute juggernaut that St.A's will be next season but Darien is again the clear favorite in state. On offense, Jackson Peters, Michael Minicus, and Holt Matheis should lead a unit that will likely improve from last season and Demopolis and Sam Craigin should also help to improve on their defense from last season. Darien always graduates a lot of seniors but they always have talent in the pipeline ready to step up and play at a high level, next season should be no different.

Don't have much insight into NC or Staples but both should remain at a similar level of play next season with the Rams returning perhaps the best fogo in the state, Liam Griffiths and Cannet and Staples having a couple of Freshmen and talented juniors making big impacts last season.

Also not as familiar with the northern programs, hopefully, someone can give some insight into Glastonbury, Simsbury, Weston, Somers, Etc.
Well done sir!
The SCC and Class M will be as wide open as they have been in many years, although New Canaan dropped back into L for football, I wouldn’t be surprised to see NC back in M for lacrosse next year.
laxfan91
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2019 3:05 pm

Re: Connecticut 2019

Post by laxfan91 »

In 2019,Darien had the toughest schedule since 2013. They played Wilton three times, only losing to them once, by one goal, after the the return of Wilton's two star defensemen. Unfortunately, that loss eliminated them from the FCIAC playoffs. All things considered, this was an impressive team, winning the state title and they may have been one of Coach B's best coaching achievements. The emergence of Colin Ruberstein in addition to the 2022 players bodes well for winning both championships next year.
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