Looking ahead for CT 2023
Who Lost the Most
Ridgefield - Many people, myself included had the spring of 22' circled for Ridgefield ever since this years Senior class saw a significant amount of varsity playing time as Freshman. I think it's safe to say this season was a bit of a disappointment compared to the expectations going in. No deep playoff run in either the FCIAC or the state tournament and really no signature win that jumps off the page. Untimely injuries and upset losses seemed to end the season for Ridgefield before it felt like things really began. Going forward they will graduate a ton of talent. Between Ryan Colsey, Prohaszka, Laurentani, Brynes, Mcgerald, Degrasse, and other contributing seniors Ridgefield losses a senior class that was that most talented in the state, on-paper. Despite the large losses there are some bright spots going into the future. Kyle Colsey should compete for being the best offensive player in the state over the next two seasons and players like Luke Winkler, Matt Shepard, and Chris Reinhardt will be solid and will provide varsity experience. Their major concerns next season will be filling in open vacancies and figuring out face-offs.
Staples - This was a special senior class and a special season for Staples that changed what could realistically be expected of a Staples team. But looking forward most of the big workhorses from this past season will be playing college lacrosse next spring. Losing Howard, Dodge, Thompson, Best, Sale, most of their defense, and quite a few role players won't be easy to recover from. They do have some noticeable returnees going into next season though. Michael Nealon, Tyler Clark, Gavin Rothenberg, Max Fleisch, Leo Sequenzia, and a freshman goalie who was able to hold his own last season indicate a cupboard that is not entirely bare. I have not seen him play, but they have a FOGO Cisco Celotto listed as playing on the Eclipse 2024 summer team, which is usually a good indication of some talent. I expected them to take a slight step back next season but with returning talent and a good coaching staff, Staples should be in the mix with the top of the FCIAC and state next season.
Mostly a Wash
Darien - Just about every season in Darien ends with most of their starters graduating, but every spring a new crop of faces steps up and keeps them as the number 1 or 2 team in the state. But looking forward there are not as many D-1 commits on the roster compared to previous years. That may be due to the new recruiting rules that has made a lot of players wait to commit until late in their Junior or Senior seasons. Mac McGahren and Grafton Ely played well defensively, and Brady Pokorny will likely compete with Kyle Colsey for the title of the states best attackmen. Overall, this years team was a bit all over the place. They were very fortunate to walk away with a victory against ST.Anthony's and they had a very bad habit of playing down to the level of their competition in games that they barely survived in against Greenwich and Yorktown. Of course this habit bit them in the butt in the state title game and against New Canaan, whose victory over the Wave was an enormous bright spot in an otherwise forgettable season. Darien is still without a doubt the gold standard of CT public school lacrosse but they haven't been as dominant over the past couple seasons as they are used to and they have an aging legend of a coach that likely will have to hang things up sometime in the near future. Ask around NC and Wilton on how hard it is to replace any programs version of Howard Benedict or Guy Whitten and you will know that it's damn near impossible. Darien is still the king until someone else can consistently beat them rather then having single one-off upsets, but that doesn't feel like such a far off fantasy as it did 5 or so years ago.
Wilton - Wilton put together what was arguably their best season in over a decade this past spring. Being in Class M did result in a somewhat anti-climactic state title run for them though. Ignoring what was a near disastrous upset against Daniel Hand that would have left a storm cloud over the memory of this entire season had it not been avoided. Wilton lost a very talented but top heavy senior class and will definitely miss Calabrese, Sommer, Masterson, and Lenskold next year. Spencer Liston will benefit from no longer having to face-off against Henry Dodge and Tighe Cummiskey next year and will likely be the best FOGO in the FCIAC and state next year. Charlie Johnson, Michael Wall, the Rath twins, and a couple of other returning role players should provide a core group that will maintain similar levels of offensive production to last season and will benefit from better faceoff play particularly within conference. Defensively, Andre Wiest, Nate Rath, and Connor Flanagan provide returning starters with a lot of experience. Owen Rosen and Liam Pearsall also will provide some returning varsity experience. Wilton's defense returns a lot of experience but losses by far their best player in Jake Sommer who always guarded the opposing teams best player. Andre Wiest played well the last 2 years and both Nate Rath and Connor Flanagan match up well against shorter, shiftier offensive players but figuring out who their #1 lockdown guy is will be the biggest question for this unit next season. Evan Blankenship will likely be the starting goalie next year and has shown promise in summer ball but replacing Lenskold will be difficult. Wilton could have a similarly successful season next year and may even be better but that will largely be determined by how well the defense and goaltending unit play next season.
New Canaan - By New Canaan's standards this past season was a down year. Despite this New Canaan was not an overwhelmingly young team, they had quite a few seniors contribute across all positions groups. Carter Connors, Vincent Cognetta, Dylan Murray, and Michael Norton have all graduated and left roles to fill. They did still have a lot of young players contribute and a lot of their best players like Dillon Stephens and Doster Cromwell were underclassmen. A returning Goalie, FOGO, and a solid group of returning role players and a few stars should hopefully make next season better than the last for New Canaan but I do still see them in 4th or 5th spot in the FCIAC rankings next season. With high school kids you never know, and a goal here or there can make the difference between a win and a loss but I wouldn't say I have next season circled on the calendar for the Rams.
Who Returns the Most
Fairfield Prep - Similar to Ridgefield this past spring many have had the class of 2023 circled for Fairfield Prep for a couple years now. Despite having a very impressive state playoff run in 2021 that included surprisingly lopsided wins over both Darien and Wilton, the Jesuits did not continue this momentum into this season despite returning just about every starter. Prep still returns the large majority of their starters and will have a lot of players with 3 years of varsity experience. Between Marco Fiermender, his younger brother Palmer, Peter Grandolfo, a returning goalie and FOGO, and just about everyone else Prep should be much better next season. They are certainly the favorite in their conference again but are definitely not a shoe-in against a Cheshire team that pushed them to the limit in the regular season and also returns a lot of their best players. I think next season will be defined by whether or not Prep is able to get over the hump of beating some of the top 4 FCIAC teams. They were able to beat NC this year but did not really push Ridgefield, Wilton, or Darien, and did not play Staples. They return a lot again but did not play up to the expectations that many set on them for this past season, they may benefit from playing like they have something to prove next year. Often with senior heavy rosters that have a lot of varsity experience you see teams get hot in the state tournament but it doesn't always happen that way. See what happened to Ridgefield this year for a good example of promise quickly disappearing like a fart in the wind.
I'm not as familiar with other programs and can't give as much insight. But looking forward Cheshire seems to return a lot of their best players and had a healthy rotation of sophomores and a couple freshman who contributed big minutes last season. They will try to get past Prep and will be a favorite in class M if Wilton gets moved back to class L but that does not look likely as far as I know. Will Hand, Simsbury, or Glastonbury emerge stronger from what were solid but not outstanding seasons? Will Fairfield Ludlowe continue knocking on the door of and maybe even join the FCIAC elite in the years to come? Will I find any other sports to fill in the boredom of the summer months? Who knows...
Connecticut 2023
Re: Connecticut 2023
Just an FYI - Ridgefield’s Winkler and Shepard are seniors and are doing PG years at Salisbury and Loomis Chaffee, respectively.
-
random observer
- Posts: 526
- Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2019 10:31 am
Re: Connecticut 2023
Congratulations to Matt Jeffery (Cheshire), Kyle Colsey (Ridgefield), and Brady Pokorny (Darien) for being ranked in the top 10 of IL's inaugural 2024 class rankings. Always great to see public school representation in a landscape increasingly ruled by private/prep school factories and holdbacks. The class of 2024 is very strong overall in the CIAC, in my opinion, but the 2023 class is rather weak. So after a banner 2022 where the top 5-6 teams in the state all belonged in the national conversation, I expect next year to be a rather down year.
1. Fairfield Prep -- The clear favorite for 2023 and I think everyone has anticipated as such since a freshman and sophomore laden squad took down Darien convincingly in the 2021 Class L tournament. Offensively they are loaded with Marco Fiermender (Penn), Peter Grandolfo (Georgetown), Tyler Fox (BU), Maddux Little, and Luke Lombardo (Colby) as the senior leaders. Brothers Tim (Jr) and Luke (So) Shannehan are both surefire D1 recruits on attack, and Brendan Mullahy (So) is one of the most heralded midfielders in the 2025 class. Overall they really didn't have anybody on offense this past year who was a senior. Likewise, the defensive side of the ball is also intact, with juniors Palmer Fiermender, Gavin McCarthy, and Cooper Callahan all having started since their freshman year. They also have a strong goalie in the freshman class. This is the only team that I think has potential to be a part of the national conversation, and anything other than a state championship would be a disappointment. I really hope they put together a beefy out of state schedule to test themselves.
I think there's a not insignificant gap after FP, with the next 4-5 teams being closely packed together.
2. New Canaan -- The Rams really overachieved early before coming back to earth in 2022, but I think on the whole it was still a very strong season based on expectations, and the fact that they were not reliant on seniors. The offense is losing Carter Conners but returns the majority of its scorers, led by Doster Crowell (Jr) and Ryan Connelly (F&M). The defense likewise should be in good hands anchored by juniors Dillon Stephens and Gray Tamasco, and a strong group of sophomores. Stephens in particular has impressed me as a guy who consistently played very tough defense on Darien's Matt Minicus as an underclassman, and with a bit more consistency I think he could end up being one of the better defenders in the class nationally. John Totaro (Denver) at FOGO gives them an edge against most teams at the X as usual. Something to look out for not in 2023 but in the years beyond is that at the youth ranks, the current 8th graders for New Canaan have never been beaten as far as I know, and only once or twice has anybody even gotten within 6 goals of them in a game; if they can hold off the prep schools the 2027s could be a class for the ages for NC.
3. Wilton -- I considered putting Wilton above New Canaan but for now felt that Wilton will have to contend with more graduations so there is more uncertainty. They lose a really strong senior class led by Jake Sommer and Collin Lenskold on defense, and Army bound Masterson and Calabrese on offense. Still, the spine of the team is strong led by a good senior class. They return Charlie Johnson (Gettysburg), who was a revelation this year, along with Michael Wall (Union) at attack, and have the Rath brothers (RPI) at midfield, where it seems like they've been harassing teams forever. Spencer Liston (Providence) will contend for the title of best FOGO in the state. I really like the defense of Andre Wiest (Hobart), and juniors Nathaniel Rath and Connor Flanagan. The question will be how well the Warriors fill in the rest of the lineup with depth, but I've felt that so far in his tenure Coach Piersall has done a really good job of getting the most out of his team.
4. Staples -- I'll give myself a brief pat on the back for predicting throughout the pre-season and spring that Staples was a real threat to Darien's reign, but even I could not have foreseen that dominant, story book ending for the 2022 class. The Wreckers get hit hard by graduation, but Koshansky has started to build a program that will reload rather than rebuild. They will certainly take a step back in 2023, but the cupboard isn't bare, as they return a few key players and should back fill from a strong JV squad. Tyler Clark (Army), Leo Sequenzia (Providence), and Gavin Rothenberg (Colby) are the returning headliners, but juniors Ben Burmeister and Tyler DiMaio should also help lead the line along with a few others. Defensively they will be in decent shape led by Michael Nealon (sr), Max Fleisch (Colby), and Tristan Keefe (jr), backstopped by super sophomore keeper Josh Marcus. I also have heard good things about the heir apparent at FOGO, junior Cisco Celotto.
5. Darien -- This should be the weakest Darien team in quite some time, as the senior class is probably the worst they've had since that 2013 team that lost 8 games and didn't win a single title. On attack, the end of the Minicus reign has finally arrived, although they will still be potent with returning junior starters Brady Pokorny and Porter Barnett; I think Pokorny sometimes was wasted as an off ball player this year, so I'm interested to see what he does as the alpha. The midfield is a big question mark, as they really only ran four guys and they all graduated. They have a few juniors who should develop nicely and a really strong sophomore who got a little bit of time last year as a freshman, but will they be ready to lead the line? I think this is the rare year where we won't see a few seniors come out of nowhere to take the league by storm, but there is potential in the junior class. Defense is the one area where they will have senior experience, with Jake Wilson (Loyola) and Mac McGahren (Bucknell) leading the line. They have a really strong sophomore class on the defensive side so it will be interesting to see if any of them break into the lineup. Goalie play should be strong with the highly regarded Carter Hagen (Jr) taking over, but FOGO is back to being a huge question mark after a few years of relative strength with Cummiskey. One little nugget of interest is that the incoming freshman class went undefeated in CONNYs this year; the only other Darien class to do this as 8th graders was the legendary 2016 class. My bold prediction is that you will see at least one, and possibly two freshmen get serious playing time next year.
6. Cheshire -- depth may be a question but Cheshire boasts arguably the best 1-2 punch in the state between Charles Kurtz (Sr, UMass) and Matt Jeffery (recently named the #1 2024 nationally by NLF, and #2 by IL). Another name to watch out for is Sean Grevelding in the sophomore class, who put up big numbers this past year as a freshman. They lost some good seniors like Jason Raba, Max Manware, Ben Thopmson, and Andrew Benjamin, but I think there's enough star power to keep them legitimately in the conversation for best team in the state after Fairfield Prep in a down year for CT.
These are the main contenders as I see it now, although I am sure there are others that will challenge as the season goes on. Ridgefield, Greenwich, and Ludlowe come to mind, but they all lost a ton of senior leadership and I don't presently know enough about who will be filling those shoes to confidently say more about them; I do suspect that they may all be a rung below #s 2-6. Daniel Hand is another team that always seems to be in the mix that I admittedly don't know enough about to comment extensively.
1. Fairfield Prep -- The clear favorite for 2023 and I think everyone has anticipated as such since a freshman and sophomore laden squad took down Darien convincingly in the 2021 Class L tournament. Offensively they are loaded with Marco Fiermender (Penn), Peter Grandolfo (Georgetown), Tyler Fox (BU), Maddux Little, and Luke Lombardo (Colby) as the senior leaders. Brothers Tim (Jr) and Luke (So) Shannehan are both surefire D1 recruits on attack, and Brendan Mullahy (So) is one of the most heralded midfielders in the 2025 class. Overall they really didn't have anybody on offense this past year who was a senior. Likewise, the defensive side of the ball is also intact, with juniors Palmer Fiermender, Gavin McCarthy, and Cooper Callahan all having started since their freshman year. They also have a strong goalie in the freshman class. This is the only team that I think has potential to be a part of the national conversation, and anything other than a state championship would be a disappointment. I really hope they put together a beefy out of state schedule to test themselves.
I think there's a not insignificant gap after FP, with the next 4-5 teams being closely packed together.
2. New Canaan -- The Rams really overachieved early before coming back to earth in 2022, but I think on the whole it was still a very strong season based on expectations, and the fact that they were not reliant on seniors. The offense is losing Carter Conners but returns the majority of its scorers, led by Doster Crowell (Jr) and Ryan Connelly (F&M). The defense likewise should be in good hands anchored by juniors Dillon Stephens and Gray Tamasco, and a strong group of sophomores. Stephens in particular has impressed me as a guy who consistently played very tough defense on Darien's Matt Minicus as an underclassman, and with a bit more consistency I think he could end up being one of the better defenders in the class nationally. John Totaro (Denver) at FOGO gives them an edge against most teams at the X as usual. Something to look out for not in 2023 but in the years beyond is that at the youth ranks, the current 8th graders for New Canaan have never been beaten as far as I know, and only once or twice has anybody even gotten within 6 goals of them in a game; if they can hold off the prep schools the 2027s could be a class for the ages for NC.
3. Wilton -- I considered putting Wilton above New Canaan but for now felt that Wilton will have to contend with more graduations so there is more uncertainty. They lose a really strong senior class led by Jake Sommer and Collin Lenskold on defense, and Army bound Masterson and Calabrese on offense. Still, the spine of the team is strong led by a good senior class. They return Charlie Johnson (Gettysburg), who was a revelation this year, along with Michael Wall (Union) at attack, and have the Rath brothers (RPI) at midfield, where it seems like they've been harassing teams forever. Spencer Liston (Providence) will contend for the title of best FOGO in the state. I really like the defense of Andre Wiest (Hobart), and juniors Nathaniel Rath and Connor Flanagan. The question will be how well the Warriors fill in the rest of the lineup with depth, but I've felt that so far in his tenure Coach Piersall has done a really good job of getting the most out of his team.
4. Staples -- I'll give myself a brief pat on the back for predicting throughout the pre-season and spring that Staples was a real threat to Darien's reign, but even I could not have foreseen that dominant, story book ending for the 2022 class. The Wreckers get hit hard by graduation, but Koshansky has started to build a program that will reload rather than rebuild. They will certainly take a step back in 2023, but the cupboard isn't bare, as they return a few key players and should back fill from a strong JV squad. Tyler Clark (Army), Leo Sequenzia (Providence), and Gavin Rothenberg (Colby) are the returning headliners, but juniors Ben Burmeister and Tyler DiMaio should also help lead the line along with a few others. Defensively they will be in decent shape led by Michael Nealon (sr), Max Fleisch (Colby), and Tristan Keefe (jr), backstopped by super sophomore keeper Josh Marcus. I also have heard good things about the heir apparent at FOGO, junior Cisco Celotto.
5. Darien -- This should be the weakest Darien team in quite some time, as the senior class is probably the worst they've had since that 2013 team that lost 8 games and didn't win a single title. On attack, the end of the Minicus reign has finally arrived, although they will still be potent with returning junior starters Brady Pokorny and Porter Barnett; I think Pokorny sometimes was wasted as an off ball player this year, so I'm interested to see what he does as the alpha. The midfield is a big question mark, as they really only ran four guys and they all graduated. They have a few juniors who should develop nicely and a really strong sophomore who got a little bit of time last year as a freshman, but will they be ready to lead the line? I think this is the rare year where we won't see a few seniors come out of nowhere to take the league by storm, but there is potential in the junior class. Defense is the one area where they will have senior experience, with Jake Wilson (Loyola) and Mac McGahren (Bucknell) leading the line. They have a really strong sophomore class on the defensive side so it will be interesting to see if any of them break into the lineup. Goalie play should be strong with the highly regarded Carter Hagen (Jr) taking over, but FOGO is back to being a huge question mark after a few years of relative strength with Cummiskey. One little nugget of interest is that the incoming freshman class went undefeated in CONNYs this year; the only other Darien class to do this as 8th graders was the legendary 2016 class. My bold prediction is that you will see at least one, and possibly two freshmen get serious playing time next year.
6. Cheshire -- depth may be a question but Cheshire boasts arguably the best 1-2 punch in the state between Charles Kurtz (Sr, UMass) and Matt Jeffery (recently named the #1 2024 nationally by NLF, and #2 by IL). Another name to watch out for is Sean Grevelding in the sophomore class, who put up big numbers this past year as a freshman. They lost some good seniors like Jason Raba, Max Manware, Ben Thopmson, and Andrew Benjamin, but I think there's enough star power to keep them legitimately in the conversation for best team in the state after Fairfield Prep in a down year for CT.
These are the main contenders as I see it now, although I am sure there are others that will challenge as the season goes on. Ridgefield, Greenwich, and Ludlowe come to mind, but they all lost a ton of senior leadership and I don't presently know enough about who will be filling those shoes to confidently say more about them; I do suspect that they may all be a rung below #s 2-6. Daniel Hand is another team that always seems to be in the mix that I admittedly don't know enough about to comment extensively.
-
random observer
- Posts: 526
- Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2019 10:31 am
Re: Connecticut 2023
https://www.ctinsider.com/gametimect/bo ... 453861.php
Big news for the FCIAC. Definitely better for competitive balance, and it opens up 3 extra non-league games for the tier 1 teams.
Big news for the FCIAC. Definitely better for competitive balance, and it opens up 3 extra non-league games for the tier 1 teams.
-
FCCTlaxFan
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2020 12:59 pm
Re: Connecticut 2023
It is good for everyone. I assume there is room to move. It seems like Ludlowe is improving.random observer wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 9:27 am https://www.ctinsider.com/gametimect/bo ... 453861.php
Big news for the FCIAC. Definitely better for competitive balance, and it opens up 3 extra non-league games for the tier 1 teams.
Re: Connecticut 2023
For some teams its +4 for non-league games.random observer wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 9:27 am https://www.ctinsider.com/gametimect/bo ... 453861.php
Big news for the FCIAC. Definitely better for competitive balance, and it opens up 3 extra non-league games for the tier 1 teams.
Re: Connecticut 2023
Big news indeed. It will make for a tough meat grinder for some of the top teams but I have to think they will prefer that to having 5 or 6 guaranteed thrashings on the schedule. As an aside, a very belated and very large thanks to fritz and RO for two wonderful, informative and thoughtful previews of the coming season. Sounds like the Darien 9th graders vs New Canaan 8th graders might be the game of the century! Hopefully both programs will retain the kids and we can see some great battles in the coming years.
Re: Connecticut 2023
Also some chatter about potentially changing criteria for classification away from enrollment as well as possibilities for changing playoff seeding process. No details yet. Next meeting of the lacrosse committee is usually in October
Re: Connecticut 2023
Support our troops? Let's talk...
Every year Sticks for Soldiers hosts a high school lacrosse jamboree here in CT to raise money for severely wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Our mission is simple — to provide support and give thanks to the service men and women who put their lives on the line and sacrificed for our country, while raising awareness among high school athletes to the sacrifices being made by people just a few years older than they are.
This special event and the fund-raising efforts from the participating high school lacrosse teams has now raised over $1 million since 2006 for our veteran honorees. What makes Sticks for Soldiers special is that we work with veteran support groups to identify an honoree (or multiple) for each year's tournament. Their courageous, emotional, and inspiring stories are shared with the young athletes and their families in order to remind us all not only about the sacrifices they've made for us, but the struggles these courageous men and women continue to live with. All of the money raised goes to the honorees and their family tax free, no strings attached. They served us, they sacrificed for us, it's our turn to serve them.
I am reaching out to you, the CT lacrosse community, because your support in the important work we do would be a huge step forward for the lacrosse community to lead the way in supporting our nation's heroes.
Below is a link to a short 5 minute clip from a recent Zoom summit we held with this year's athletes & coaches, Sticks for Soldiers founders, a former PLL athlete turned active duty Navy sailor, and our 2017 Honoree: U.S. Army SSG (Ret.) William "Bill" Kleinedler. The short video is Bill sharing the impact Sticks for Soldiers and the efforts of the young athletes had on him and his family. All I am asking is that you take 5 minutes out of your day to listen to Bill, hear his story, and ask yourself if this is a cause you want to support.
Please DM me with your ideas for supporting our cause, or if you would like to get involved. I look forward to speaking about how we can work together to serve our heroes through lacrosse.
"What you have given me is...life." – U.S. Army SSG (Ret.) Kleinedler
Watch the video clip here: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CjdaZp8A2jW/
This year's boys event registration is filling up, only five team slots left.
Brookfield High School
Southington Knights
Guilford
Bethel High School Boys
Guardians (Glastonbury)
Warde Mustangs
Staples HS
Jesuits
Fairfield Ludlowe HS
Joel Barlow
Haddam Killingworth
Greenwich Country Day School
Wilton
Every year Sticks for Soldiers hosts a high school lacrosse jamboree here in CT to raise money for severely wounded veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Our mission is simple — to provide support and give thanks to the service men and women who put their lives on the line and sacrificed for our country, while raising awareness among high school athletes to the sacrifices being made by people just a few years older than they are.
This special event and the fund-raising efforts from the participating high school lacrosse teams has now raised over $1 million since 2006 for our veteran honorees. What makes Sticks for Soldiers special is that we work with veteran support groups to identify an honoree (or multiple) for each year's tournament. Their courageous, emotional, and inspiring stories are shared with the young athletes and their families in order to remind us all not only about the sacrifices they've made for us, but the struggles these courageous men and women continue to live with. All of the money raised goes to the honorees and their family tax free, no strings attached. They served us, they sacrificed for us, it's our turn to serve them.
I am reaching out to you, the CT lacrosse community, because your support in the important work we do would be a huge step forward for the lacrosse community to lead the way in supporting our nation's heroes.
Below is a link to a short 5 minute clip from a recent Zoom summit we held with this year's athletes & coaches, Sticks for Soldiers founders, a former PLL athlete turned active duty Navy sailor, and our 2017 Honoree: U.S. Army SSG (Ret.) William "Bill" Kleinedler. The short video is Bill sharing the impact Sticks for Soldiers and the efforts of the young athletes had on him and his family. All I am asking is that you take 5 minutes out of your day to listen to Bill, hear his story, and ask yourself if this is a cause you want to support.
Please DM me with your ideas for supporting our cause, or if you would like to get involved. I look forward to speaking about how we can work together to serve our heroes through lacrosse.
"What you have given me is...life." – U.S. Army SSG (Ret.) Kleinedler
Watch the video clip here: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CjdaZp8A2jW/
This year's boys event registration is filling up, only five team slots left.
Brookfield High School
Southington Knights
Guilford
Bethel High School Boys
Guardians (Glastonbury)
Warde Mustangs
Staples HS
Jesuits
Fairfield Ludlowe HS
Joel Barlow
Haddam Killingworth
Greenwich Country Day School
Wilton
Re: Connecticut 2023
Class assignments are out for 2023 - no new teams for 2023
http://ciacsports.com/site/?page_id=938
St Joe back to S after a year in M ; Wilton opts up to L (which is loaded with all of the top teams)
http://ciacsports.com/site/?page_id=938
St Joe back to S after a year in M ; Wilton opts up to L (which is loaded with all of the top teams)
Re: Connecticut 2023
Gotta respect New Canaan and Wilton for opting up to Class L, they would have been the 2 favorites in M.
Should be a good season, there is quite a bit of parity this year. I still think Darien is the team to beat, they have the most depth every year and that depth matters a ton in the 4th quarter. I still see them as the top team with NC, Ridgefield, Staples, Wilton (in no order) all in that group that can certainly beat Darien and will probably all beat each other.
Did they change the seeding criteria for the state tournament? I know there was some talk about that.
Should be a good season, there is quite a bit of parity this year. I still think Darien is the team to beat, they have the most depth every year and that depth matters a ton in the 4th quarter. I still see them as the top team with NC, Ridgefield, Staples, Wilton (in no order) all in that group that can certainly beat Darien and will probably all beat each other.
Did they change the seeding criteria for the state tournament? I know there was some talk about that.
Re: Connecticut 2023
New Canaan did not opt up to L - They were already there. Only Wilton opted up.FC_YAK wrote: ↑Tue Mar 14, 2023 7:03 pm Gotta respect New Canaan and Wilton for opting up to Class L, they would have been the 2 favorites in M.
Should be a good season, there is quite a bit of parity this year. I still think Darien is the team to beat, they have the most depth every year and that depth matters a ton in the 4th quarter. I still see them as the top team with NC, Ridgefield, Staples, Wilton (in no order) all in that group that can certainly beat Darien and will probably all beat each other.
Did they change the seeding criteria for the state tournament? I know there was some talk about that.
Word is they intend to use LaxNumbers ratings to seed the tournaments - W-L % of 40^ still required to ualify
Re: Connecticut 2023
New Canaan has the "&" next to their name denoting that they moved up on the CIAC site. NC and Wilton are always on the M/L border. Either way, should be a good year.
-
ISL Laxin'
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sun Mar 17, 2019 1:32 pm
Re: Connecticut 2023
Looks like Boys L enrollment minimum this year is 661
New Canaan has 651 boys 9-12 and they opted up to L from M. Wilton has 578 boys 9-12 and opted up as well. Both are undoubtedly the right move given the quality of the programs.
Historically the only way a team could opt up was if they won their State Class Tournament. Hence why Wilton was in M last year (Lost in L quarters in '21 and then fell below L enrollment minimum for '22).
After losing to Darien in the FCIAC Title last year, Wilton was open about the frustration with being in M and how they had no control over it. That's why Wilton winning M had even that much more importance than just hoisting a trophy since it meant they could opt up this year but perhaps that policy changed given NC was able to move up without being a 2022 state champion.
All in all, the best teams are all in the same state class this year which is always the way it should be.
New Canaan has 651 boys 9-12 and they opted up to L from M. Wilton has 578 boys 9-12 and opted up as well. Both are undoubtedly the right move given the quality of the programs.
Historically the only way a team could opt up was if they won their State Class Tournament. Hence why Wilton was in M last year (Lost in L quarters in '21 and then fell below L enrollment minimum for '22).
After losing to Darien in the FCIAC Title last year, Wilton was open about the frustration with being in M and how they had no control over it. That's why Wilton winning M had even that much more importance than just hoisting a trophy since it meant they could opt up this year but perhaps that policy changed given NC was able to move up without being a 2022 state champion.
All in all, the best teams are all in the same state class this year which is always the way it should be.
Re: Connecticut 2023
All changed now - any team can now move up to L by request from any other class. Moving down is not allowed by request. Hence CIAC moved St Joes back to S from M. They had previously been moved up after consecutive championships in S. That was the only case of CIAC ever moving a team in that fashion. It wasn't their idea. They lost to Hand in the quarters in M last year and thus earned the demotion not having made the semis (as East Catholic did and thus remains in M) .
Details here
https://www.ctinsider.com/gametimect/ar ... 846371.php
Details here
https://www.ctinsider.com/gametimect/ar ... 846371.php
Last edited by Kismet on Tue Mar 21, 2023 1:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Connecticut 2023
anyone know why we have such a late start in CT for lacrosse. The westchester schools seem to have started last week and the prep schools well before that. Just seeing some scrimmages pop up on calendars for CT teams that will have had a roster (finished tryouts) for a whole 2 days.
Re: Connecticut 2023
Well the official reason is that practice was only allowed to start 3/18 and I imagine they want at least a few days after tryouts before scrimmaging see CIAC handbook (https://www.casciac.org/pdfs/ciachandbook_2223.pdf). As to why the spring season starts so late, that is a source of long controversy and fighting between different sports (from fall through spring) and their organizations. See below for edited rules from handbook for 2023.
BOYS 2022-2023 CIAC GAME LIMITATIONS AND PRACTICE DATES
First Date of Practice / First Games/ Max game season/ Max games per week/ Last date to count tourney/ Tentative tourney dates
Lacrosse Mar. 18 Apr. 1 16 2 * May 24 Begin May 30; Finals June 10, 11
BOYS 2022-2023 CIAC GAME LIMITATIONS AND PRACTICE DATES
First Date of Practice / First Games/ Max game season/ Max games per week/ Last date to count tourney/ Tentative tourney dates
Lacrosse Mar. 18 Apr. 1 16 2 * May 24 Begin May 30; Finals June 10, 11
Re: Connecticut 2023
New for CT lacrosse. Seeding for CIAC tournament will now be done by LaxNumber rankings, avoiding some of the stupidity where several of the actual and obvious best teams are forced to play in the early rounds. Also, teams are able to opt up in Class for 2 year periods, no longer only for previous year’s tourney winners. Good changes.
Re: Connecticut 2023
Apparently Darien played Taft this morning in what I assume was a scrimmage. Anyone see it?
Re: Connecticut 2023
Not I but sounds like a great event with Darien, Staples, Hand, Taft, AOF, Delbarton, Thayer and Belmont Hill. Darien does not look to be a vintage version this year, wouldn’t be surprised if they struggled today (which means that reports will say they trounced everyone they played).