ISL Lacrosse 2020

[Laxxal22]

Pretty open ended, which given the state of the world is probably how February statements about April & May events should be worded.

It will be interesting to see which schools sit it out - based on who played hockey games against other schools most of the typical title contenders will play this spring. It's too bad there won't be champs, all-league, and all of the traditional stuff. The "We will, however, continue to consider ways to create highlight moments for our students this spring season" statement makes me thinks we could see some sort of tournament to end the season that crowns a champ on the field for the teams that played even if it doesn't get entered in the archives. With all of the club experience in the ISL coaching ranks they could definitely figure out a creative way to run something like that.

I'm feeling optimistic. Despite the gloom and doom of variants there should be about 150 million vaccine shots dished out by 4/16, and hopefully transmission has slowed to a trickle. Hopefully there can be fans on the sideline or at the very least livestreams like West 1 has done for years.

[Laxxal22]

https://twitter.com/lxcminutemen/status ... 32679?s=21

St. Seb’s wins the Laxachusetts indoor league. Feels worth mentioning since it might be the only official title handed out in MA this year.

[Laxxal22]

Starting to see "Day 1" tweets from some teams as they get back out there for tryouts and the start of the season. Hope the positive momentum keeps building.

Also saw that Belmont Hill and St. Seb's are both scheduled to host Brunswick School this spring. Could be rough outcomes, asa program Brunswick is basically Belmont Hill on steroids imo, but good to see some high-level games set to be played.

[Can Opener]

Belmont Hill won the indoor box league championship nine days ago when they beat RL 7-6 in OT in the finals. Adam Figler, the league's second leading scorer, netted the game winner. Bobby O'Grady of RL (Marquette commit) wound up leading the league in scoring with 50 goals to Figler's 33.

[Laxxal22]

Belmont Hill won the indoor box league championship nine days ago when they beat RL 7-6 in OT in the finals. Adam Figler, the league's second leading scorer, netted the game winner. Bobby O'Grady of RL (Marquette commit) wound up leading the league in scoring with 50 goals to Figler's 33.

Was that the 3D league? No surprise that Seb's and BH won the two big box leagues.

Over the next couple of weekends I'm gonna spend a few hours condensing the random notes I've accumulated over the past year into a bit of a preview (a 30,000 foot overview of all 16 teams, and highlighting a few players to watch from each). Please message me any info that you think I should include. I'm really light on Brooks, Milton, and St. G's so any thoughts on those teams would be greatly appreciated.

[Can Opener]

Belmont Hill won the indoor box league championship nine days ago when they beat RL 7-6 in OT in the finals. Adam Figler, the league's second leading scorer, netted the game winner. Bobby O'Grady of RL (Marquette commit) wound up leading the league in scoring with 50 goals to Figler's 33.

Was that the 3D league? No surprise that Seb's and BH won the two big box leagues.

Over the next couple of weekends I'm gonna spend a few hours condensing the random notes I've accumulated over the past year into a bit of a preview (a 30,000 foot overview of all 16 teams, and highlighting a few players to watch from each). Please message me any info that you think I should include. I'm really light on Brooks, Milton, and St. G's so any thoughts on those teams would be greatly appreciated.

Laxxal- I tried to send you my first career PM with some insights on those three schools. Let me know if it went through. If not, maybe you could PM me and I’ll respond. Signed, Grandpa With His First iPhone

[Laxxal22]

I got it and I "think" I responded, but I also have never been great at navigating this site's PMs. Thanks for the info. Really great stuff.

[Can Opener]

Belmont Hill is practicing 3 hours per day all five days this week. Most of the other ISL teams are not convening until after break. I think we will see some very wide disparities in the first few "scrimmages" of the season. This is particularly true because it's been 22 months since these guys have played together as a team. It's one thing to keep improving your individual game through club lacrosse, but there is no substitute for time on the field with your teammates.

[Laxxal22]

Belmont Hill is practicing 3 hours per day all five days this week. Most of the other ISL teams are not convening until after break. I think we will see some very wide disparities in the first few "scrimmages" of the season. This is particularly true because it's been 22 months since these guys have played together as a team. It's one thing to keep improving your individual game through club lacrosse, but there is no substitute for time on the field with your teammates.

They're scheduled to play Brunswick a week from Friday so they'll certainly need the practice. Seb's been practicing a bunch, and appear to be scrimmaging Nobles tomorrow. Tabor's gotten some work and looks to have traveled and scrimmaged. Those three plus BH are four of the strongest rosters in the league. Though the gulf between the top and bottom isn't what it was even three years ago, the extra work could be a difference maker.

[Laxxal22]

Link for Seb's-Nobles scrimmage at 2 today: https://iframe.dacast.com/b/18331/c/422946

I don't have much expectation in terms of the quality of the stream or play on the field in late March, but exciting to see the ISL joining the rest of the NEPSAC in streaming games.

[Laxxal22]

5-0 Seb's after one, 10-3 at the half. Looks like March lacrosse but still very nice to see it. 80 second shot clock for the ISL this year.

Tough to tell who people are in just pinnies but Rideout was dominant at the dot for the Arrows—the change to standing neutral grip makes a quick guy like that even more valuable. Nobles may have the best attack line in the league but they didn't touch the ball until about five seconds left in the first quarter. Primary Lsm for Seb's (I think it's the fourth Frisoli brother) has been good; small but a scrappy playmaker. #10 on Nobles (I'm guessing that's Palumbo) has been able to get to the middle of the field and get his hands free the few times he's had the ball.

Not a big gap in these other than the specialist positions, but at least for today that gap looks pretty huge.
+++++++++++
18-6 after four, then a 5th that looked like the back half of the roster/JV though a lot of guys played throughout for both squads. Tough to get a full picture, I get the feeling that Nobles didn't have the full complement of players. Overall impressive for Seb's and a good showing for an offense that I worried might be too Aidan Maguire dependent but that wasn't the case at all.

[Can Opener]

Saw the game in person and it didn't seem as close as the 18-6 score. Seb's is going to be really hard to stop this year. Just a complete roster that plays well together. I would agree that Nobles looked to be in March form (and will improve), but Seb's looked as if they had been doing captain's practices for a month. Even details like running the substitution box looked smooth. Rides and clears were not perfect, but overall they looked confident and comfortable on those transition plays. You are right, Laxxal, that #2 is the last of the Frisoli's. Confident and athletic LSM with a good stick. Rideout at the FO X was absolutely dominant. He may go 80%+ in the league this year. The Middlesex FO guy will give him a contest, but Rideout is a major asset for Seb's. Hard to get in too much trouble when you have 80% of the possessions.

Nobles has some excellent athletes who looked rusty today. Palumbo (#10) finally got some touches as the game went on and dodged hard to score almost every time. Not a lot of passing for him today, but that was really the only hand Nobles had to play. He is strong and talented. Even given the limited possessions, I was surprised that Van Meter (BU) didn't get more touches. He was one of the best athletes on the field and will be a real threat in transition and dodging from up top. Not many short sticks will slow him down. Tully looked good in the cage for Nobles. Hard to say that when your team gives up 18 goals, but it easily could have been 5 or 6 more for Seb's without some doorstep saves.

[Laxxal22]

Did you see if Jacobs and/or Gaskill played for Nobles today?

McConnaughey from Thayer (Providence) is right up there for the top faceoff guy as well. I think it could be a position of strength for Govs, Lawrence, and Tabor too. Scrimmage got me fired up to finish up the season preview write up this weekend.

[Can Opener]

Gaskill didn't play. Jacobs played well despite having played nothing but hockey for the past 9 months. There is also a Nobles football player on the roster who supposedly runs a 4.5 40 and could progress over the next three months. Nobles has some athletes, for sure, but they just looked really rusty. It didn't appear that they had any settled offensive plays in place. It was really just pass around the horn a little and then let Palumbo dodge. Based on what I saw today, I would say that Seb's is a clear #1 preseason favorite while Nobles may emerge as a #4 or #5 as the season develops. We will learn more when Bel Hill plays a "scrimmage" with Taft soon.

[Laxxal22]

More in-depth looks into the teams to come but my general thoughts on how the league stack up are... Belmont Hill and Seb's pretty much look like a coin flip for the top two spots on paper but I like Middlesex and Thayer rounding out the top four in the first tier of teams. The second tier (Govs, Groton, Nobles, Rivers, Tabor) all have some real good pieces and strong enough first units to beat any ISL team on any given day, but lack the clear depth of the top four. RL and St. Mark's peaked last year while BB&N and Lawrence should peak next year; I have those four as the third tier. St. George's and Milton will struggle but maybe are showing signs of life for the future. Brooks looks to have slid back from the where the program got to in the 2016-2019 years.

[Laxxal22]

Belmont Hill hosting Taft for a scrimmage today that will be streamed. https://twitter.com/BelmontHillLax/stat ... 4659500033

BH looks really strong but talent wise Taft probably has a top ten roster in the country so interested to see how well BH can hang.

[Laxxal22]

7-5 Belmont Hill at the half. Taft is noticeably bigger. Belmont Hill is noticeably faster.

[Can Opener]

BHS hung on for the win over the #1 team in the country according to Inside Lacrosse. https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/redir/57559

It was played like a full-on game through three quarters before the subs took over in the 4th. Yes, it's a scrimmage and yes, it's early season, and yes it was at home, but that was an impressive outing by Bel Hill. Those waterbugs -- Cave, Figler and Travaglini -- are fun to watch. Travs is a deadly feeder. #44 will rack up some penalty minutes this year, but he brings attitude and intimidation on D. Wow.

Hard to handicap Seb's vs. Bel Hill. I would give the edge to Seb's at FO and goalie, but maybe an edge to Bel Hill on close D. Offense is s toss-up with some impressive weapons on both squads. Intangibles are about even, with both programs bringing huge passion and intensity. These guys clearly sacrificed the super spreader spring break trips to Florida and stayed in Boston to grind for the past two weeks. Good for them. If I had to bet 50 cents, I think I would go with Seb's based on possessions and a key save or two more per game.

[MA Lax Fan]

Is Brunswick still coming up? After watching Bel Hill scrimmage Taft - I am very intrigued to see how Sebs does against a team that is equally loaded as Taft.

[Laxxal22]

Seb’s with a similar result with Taft that BH did yesterday. Taft is apparently without some guys for their spring break trip.

I agree with CO’s assessment of Seb’s and BH. Very close. Arrows a with the advantage at the specialist positions and have probably the best overall player in Maguire. Sextants with the some advantages at other spots.