New England West 2023

[B10KeepsGrowing]

Pumped for the 2023 Season!

Does anyone have intel on the PGs & transfer additions for any of the NE West squads?

Cant speak to exact details but there are quite a few. Deerfield as always has a couple including a double reclass/PG from Hotchkiss. Taft and Salisbury have a couple each (maybe even 3) going to some of the top colleges for lax. Avon has one but he is not playing lacrosse in college (playing football) although excellent lax player. Westy has a PG fogo and Choate has one or two. Btw, I am also referring to a senior reclass bc their respective college that they are attending asked them to spend one more year in HS. I am sure many others on this board have a lot more detailed info.

[b1w7o9y7h]

Pumped for the 2023 Season!

Does anyone have intel on the PGs & transfer additions for any of the NE West squads?

Cant speak to exact details but there are quite a few. Deerfield as always has a couple including a double reclass/PG from Hotchkiss. Taft and Salisbury have a couple each (maybe even 3) going to some of the top colleges for lax. Avon has one but he is not playing lacrosse in college (playing football) although excellent lax player. Westy has a PG fogo and Choate has one or two. Btw, I am also referring to a senior reclass bc their respective college that they are attending asked them to spend one more year in HS. I am sure many others on this board have a lot more detailed info.

Double Reclass PG? Not sure what that even means. Does he bring his wife and kids along?

[Farfromgeneva]

If you guys include the other programs in this discussion I’m curious about a Rochester ny area kid going to Andover named Kenneth Edwards who’s going to try and play FB and lacrosse at Hobart.

https://blaxfive.net/19_players/players ... yerid=9031

https://www.hudl.com/profile/13298794/Kenneth-Edwards

http://gohobart.blogspot.com/2023/02/an ... s.html?m=1

[pcowlax]

Pumped for the 2023 Season!

Does anyone have intel on the PGs & transfer additions for any of the NE West squads?

Cant speak to exact details but there are quite a few. Deerfield as always has a couple including a double reclass/PG from Hotchkiss. Taft and Salisbury have a couple each (maybe even 3) going to some of the top colleges for lax. Avon has one but he is not playing lacrosse in college (playing football) although excellent lax player. Westy has a PG fogo and Choate has one or two. Btw, I am also referring to a senior reclass bc their respective college that they are attending asked them to spend one more year in HS. I am sure many others on this board have a lot more detailed info.

Some info from IL. They have capsules on their top 10 teams which features 3 from WEST-1 (#1 Wick, #6 Salisbury, #9 Taft). As for PGs, they mention:

Salisbury:

"This spring, they’re joined by another proven commodity in Radnor (Pa.) graduate Ryan Goldstein, an artful dodger headed to Cornell who has an excellent body of work.

Fellow PG's Luke Winkler (Lehigh), Luke Pisani (Virginia), Vern Cooke (Johns Hopkins) and Jaxon Smart (Cornell) will bring diverse skill sets to an offense that lost a number of contributors at midfield."

Personally, I think 5 is really pushing it, I don't like to see more than 3 but that's just me. No rules as to max number.

Taft:

"This year’s PG group is headlined by attack/midfield threats Oliver Bligh (Brown) and Alec Levy (UNC), as well as defenseman Max McCarthy (Johns Hopkins), natives of California, North Carolina and Long Island, respectively."

Obviously none for Wick.

[grelch]

Was just having a look on IL schedule and noticed that Berkshire is playing some school from Arizona. Would have thought that to be a scrimmage but I don't think they list scrimmages on IL schedule. Seems early for a NEW1 school to be playing a game.

[Sportin' Life]

Was just having a look on IL schedule and noticed that Berkshire is playing some school from Arizona. Would have thought that to be a scrimmage but I don't think they list scrimmages on IL schedule. Seems early for a NEW1 school to be playing a game.

Berkshire is in AZ for pre-season. According to the school's website, the team's first game isn't until 4/1 so I'm sure Berkshire considers it a scrimmage, even if the AZ school doesn't.

[pcowlax]

Looks like Brophy Prep in AZ was counting it as a game and Berkshire as a scrimmage. Regardless, looks like 14-3 final for Berkshire. Of random note in trying to find the score, I found that Brophy has Varsity teams in 2 forms of rugby, mountain biking, archery and no fewer than 5 eSports, which I consider one of the clearest signs of the Apocalypse

[grelch]

Loomis and Deerfield took turns beating Highland Park according to IL. Must be one of those pre season round robin scrimmage jamboree dealies.

[PhishFall97]

Nice to see my Big Green open up their "Season" with a win. Big tilt with Nobles on Sunday, 3/26. Does anyone know the last time these two teams played each other?

Loomis and Deerfield took turns beating Highland Park according to IL. Must be one of those pre season round robin scrimmage jamboree dealies.

[Sportin' Life]

NE Lax Journal's look at the pre-season top ten prep teams includes seven NEW1 schools. Lot's of talent all around but 'wick, AOF, Salisbury and Taft are especially deep. DA appears to have less star power than in recent years although the list of its key players below omits PGs Andrew Preis (UNC) and Brian Delduchetto (Gettysburg) and new senior Quinn Cepiel (Brown). Don't sleep on Loomis as second year head coach Bill Ball has the program on the rise and the Pelicans may surprise a few folks. Looking forward to some epic battles this spring!

https://www.laxjournal.com/prep-power-r ... in-top-10/ (paywall)

https://www.laxjournal.com/prep-power-r ... oys-teams/ (paywall)

Prep power rankings, Part 1 (& 2): Who starts season in Top 10?

The region’s prep school teams are on the verge of starting new seasons. Teams in NE West, the Independent School League, the Lakes Region League and more are annually talented and competitive. But which ones are the best of the best? This week and next, we’ll unveil our Top 10s for boys and girls preps, including a capsule preview for each team.

10. THAYER
Coach: Bill Daye
2022 record: 8-5

College committed players: Beau Chouinard, sr., A (Holy Cross); Brady Monturio, sr., M (Denison); Brody McDonald, sr., M (Endicott); Scott Lowe, sr., D (RPI); Tucker Chanenchuk, sr., D/LSM (Stony Brook); Connor Foley, sr., G (Brown); Jack Snyder, sr., M (Roanoke); Nate Austin-Johnstone, jr., A (Rutgers); Jackson Henehan, jr., FO (Boston University); Chris Cabral, jr., D (Rutgers)

Other key players: Gus Beaudry, soph., M; Teddy Lally, soph., A; Ty Chouinard, soph., A; Conrad Langenhagen, jr., M; Thomas Stapleton, sr., M

Outlook: After showing what they were capable of in last year’s ISL playoffs, reaching the semifinals, the Tigers head into battle with a new coach but a load of returning talent. A big senior class helps give them depth at every position, and Foley gives them one of the league’s best last lines of defense. “We need to take one game at a time and focus on our opponent that day/week, and our goal is to get better every time we step on the field,” said Daye, who previously coached the Boston Cannons to a Major League Lacrosse championship in 2011 and played collegiately at North Carolina.
Read more: Q&A: New Thayer coach Bill Daye on goals, communication.

9. LOOMIS CHAFFEE
Coach: Bill Ball
2022 record: 8-9

College committed players: Joost de Koning, sr., LSM (Harvard); Colin Sim, sr., LSM/D (Marquette); Anthony Koehler, sr., M (Brown); Matt Shepard, sr., G (Bucknell); Joe Hobot, jr., FO (Johns Hopkins); Nate Cobery, jr., A (Harvard); Kaleb Griffith, jr., D (Richmond); Ezekiel Christian, jr., A (Mercer)

Other key players: Anthony Rodriguez, jr., A; Brendan Johnson, jr., A; Milki Conway-Reppert, fr. A; Emmett Heissan, jr., M; Nick Sofer, jr., M

Outlook: A team that emerged as a threat in the NE West is optimistic about its chances in 2023 because of so many returning top players. A pair of talented LSMs, de Koning and Sim, not only are major players on defense but in transition as well. They’ll be bringing plenty of groundballs to an offense with an intriguing mix of experiences – such as three-year starter Christian – and newcomers, such as Rodriguez and Conway-Reppert. Ball said there was further optimism when the Loomis team won the Connecticut 3D box championship for the first time, beating a Deerfield team that had won seven consecutive years.

8. CHOATE
Coach: Ethan McDonnell
2022 record: 6-9

College committed players: Ben Wable, sr., A (Air Force); Daniel Mahoney, sr., A (St. Lawrence); Adam Carroll, sr., D (Holy Cross); Grant Masterson, sr., M (Army); Colin Sullivan, sr., M (Trinity); Matt Harding, sr., M (Yale); Zephyr Simus, sr., FO (Air Force); Owen Tunney, jr., A/M (Holy Cross); Alex Krusko, jr., A (Army)

Other key players: Harrison Keith, sr., M; Jon Marvan, sr. D; Seth Sweitzer, sr., LSM; Oliver Nappi, soph., A/M; Gordie Leary, soph., M; Tommy Greenhaw, jr., M

Outlook: Despite a below-.500 season in 2022, the Wild Boars have plenty of reason to be optimistic about their chances in ‘23. An inexperienced roster held its own last year, losing by two or fewer goals to Deerfield, Loomis and Trinity-Pawling (in overtime). The roster flips from only five seniors in 2022 to 16 seniors in ‘23. The defense is battle-tested behind Carroll and Marvan, who was an All-League last year and is a football commit to Williams. Now, they add Sweitzer, a post-graduate student who was an All-State selection last year. If the offense, behind Wable and Mahoney, can take its game to a new level – the team scored double-digits in goals just six times last season – the team has a chance to challenge some of the traditional powers.

7. BELMONT HILL
Coach: Tim Sullivan
2022 record: 13-3

College committed players: Eli Goldstein, sr., M (Dartmouth); Charlie Hazard, sr., D/LSM (Johns Hopkins); Matthew Torrey, sr., G (Air Force); Ben Wood, sr., D/LSM (Georgetown); Luke Theberge, sr., M (Tufts); Peyton “Finn” Fox, jr., D/LSM (Princeton); Will Stewart, jr., A (Villanova)

Other key players: Christian Brunner, sr., SSDM; Ben DiBattista, jr., A; Jack Schneider, jr., M; Cal Peterson, jr., SSDM; Declan Reilly, jr., D; Lindan Verville, soph., M; Preston Evans, soph., A; Eli Friedman, soph., FO

Outlook: Belmont Hill graduated a huge chunk of the production from a team that finished first in the ISL during the regular season but got upset by Governor’s in the quarterfinals of the championship tournament, but is built to win low-scoring games thanks in part to defensive players who are among the very best at their positions: Torrey, Fox, Wood and Hazard. “Every season we count on players to step up and into larger roles and this year is no different,” said Sullivan. Torrey stopped nearly 60 percent of the shots he faced last season and Friedman was one of the ISL’s most impactful freshmen, winning 157 of his 256 faceoffs (61 percent).

6. AVON OLD FARMS
Coach: Henry “Skip” Flanagan
2022 record: 10-7

College committed players: Tommy Baldini, sr., M (Dickinson); Benn Johnston, sr., M (Duke); Teddy Gabrielian, sr., M (North Carolina); Seamus Rooney, sr., M (Babson); Ben Johnson, sr., G (Penn State); William Russler, sr., M (High Point); Brian Mullen, sr., M (Lehigh); Ben Wong, sr., M (Trinity); Patrick Walsh, sr., A (Bryant); Ryan Hornyak, jr., M (Michigan); Zach Hepworth, sr., FO (Ohio State); Tyler Cavo, sr., M (Hobart); Jake Furtado, jr., D (Jacksonville); Ellis McDonald, sr., D (Ohio State); Kaleb Borg, sr., LSM (Lewis)

Other key players: Bennett DellaValle, jr., D; Patrick Welch, soph., D; Francis Hagood, sr., M; Jake Baumoel, jr., M; Nate Hoffman, jr., A; Max Tomak, jr., M

Outlook: A season after losing in the championship game of the Founders League tournament, a familiar face returns to the sideline hoping to return a championship to the school. Flanagan was named the interim head coach for the year, having previously coached multiple stints at the school, the last coming from 2010-18. Director of lacrosse programs Kyle Jackson said the team is excited to see what it can do this year under new leadership, especially with a long list of returning impact players, led by Johnston, a five-star recruit and No. 6-ranked recruit in his class, and four-star recruits Hepworth, Johnson and Mullen.

5. NOBLE AND GREENOUGH
Coach: Matt Rowley
2022 record: 14-4, won ISL championship tournament

College committed players: Christian Grosso, jr., FO (Virginia); Grayson McClements, sr., A (Penn); Matty Tully, sr., G (Cornell); Brody Upton, sr., A/M (Princeton); Bruno Batty, sr., D/M (Babson)
Other key players: Thatcher Bernstein, soph., A; Colin Kenney, soph., A; Pete Nizolek, jr., D; Tommy Schwartz, sr., D; Henry Tweedy, jr., M; Ben Walsh, soph., D

Outlook: The Bulldogs lose Chad Palumbo and Roman Tacelli from an elite attack, but there’s another wave of players ready to step up and support stars McClements (63-31-94) and Upton (29-16-45), younger guys like Bernstein and Kenney, plus Tweedy, who missed most of last season with a thumb injury. The defense returns largely intact and should be an asset, guys like Batty, Nizolek, senior captain Schwartz and sophomore Walsh playing in front of one of the nation’s best goalies in Tully. The addition of Grosso solves a faceoff dilemma.

4. DEERFIELD
Coach: Chip Davis
2022 record: 12-3

College committed players: Owen Bunten, sr., A/M (Army); Felix Rockefeller, sr. A/M (Brown); Tommy Augustine, jr., A (Michigan); Julian Navab, jr., M (Dartmouth); Quinn Stankovits, jr., M (Dartmouth)

Other key players: R.J. Radonis, soph., FO; Sam Whitehurst, jr., A; Ryan Bullock, jr., M/A; Jack Gammage, sr., D; Ryan Bullock, jr., M; Alexander Sotirhos, jr., M; Alex Fontecchio, jr., D

Outlook: The Big Green are looking to get back into the national conversation with a stacked roster full of commits. Coming into the season they have several players on the All-America watch list, including Augustine and Gammage. A pair of junior midfielders, Navab and Stankovits, are both earmarked for Dartmouth, and the attack is full of goal-scorers. The defense will be challenged by the sheer firepower of the other teams in and around NE West. Watch out for sophomore face-off specialist Radonis, who looks more like a college senior at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds than he does a second-year high school player.

3. SALISBURY
Coach: Tom Spinella
2022 record: 13-4, won GEICO High School Nationals

College committed players: Brock Behrman, sr., A (Notre Dame); Trey Deere, sr., A (Syracuse); Ryan Goldstein, sr., A (Cornell); Luke Winkler, sr., A (Lehigh); Beau Westphal, sr., M (Marquette); Duncan Rider, sr., M (High Point); Luke Pisani, sr., M (Virginia); Jaxon Smart, sr., M (Cornell); Vern Cooke, sr., M (Johns Hopkins); JP Meyo, sr., M (Gettysburg); Brady O’Sullivan, sr., D (Brown); Cooper Growney, sr., LSM (Connecticut College); Justin DeLucia, sr., LSM (Middlebury); Matt Nemsick, sr., D (Colgate); John Moore, sr., D (North Carolina); Marco Wimmershoff, sr., G (Rutgers); Brady Wambach, sr., FO (North Carolina), Brooks Rhine, sr., D (Hobart)

Other key players: Jackson Monte, jr., A; Chris Alexis, soph., M; Jayden Kittelberger, soph., M

Outlook: It’s title defense time for Salisbury, which beat in-state rival Taft for some national silverware last spring. The strength of this edition will be the senior class, which is ripe with college commits and boasts standout specialists in faceoff guy Wambach and goalie Wimmershoff. Attackmen like Behrman and Deere are also highly-regarded, creating mentorship and leadership that knows what it takes to be successful.

2. TAFT
Coach: Nic Bell
2022 record: 16-3, won Founders League tournament

College committed players: Peter Moynihan, sr., A (Yale); Bo Page, sr., A (Trinity); Ethan Rubenstein, sr., A (Brown); Oliver Bligh, sr., M (Brown); Paul Korian, sr., LSM (Holy Cross); Bennett Raphalian, jr., M (Rutgers); Jack Old, jr., G (Colgate); Quinn Whipple, jr., A (Penn); Alec Levy, sr., A (North Carolina); Sam Lovell, jr., A (Air Force); Harry Attell, jr., FO (Holy Cross); Ben Friedman, jr., G (Yale); Brayden Stroh, sr., M (Army); Tristan Bach, jr., D (Colgate); Max McCarthy, sr., D (Johns Hopkins); Matt Surin, jr., D (Johns Hopkins); Colin McLane, sr., M (Duke); Jack Elliot, jr., D (Michigan); Nick Lancaster, sr., D (Colgate)

Other key players: Josh Kitt, jr., M; Luke Sheppard, soph., A

Outlook: Not only did the Rhinos win the Founders League championship, they also were finalists in the Geico Nationals and finished in the top 10 nationally. The team scored double-digit goals in 15 contests and at least 15 goals on eight occasions. The highly-touted Moynihan headlines an impressive list of college commits; Bell said the future Yale attackman is one of the most athletic players, and many have applauded his hands and stickwork. The team also has a number of big, strong midfielders headed to Division 1 programs; McLane, Raphalian, and Stroh are all over 6 feet tall.

1. BRUNSWICK
Coach: David Bruce
2022 record: 15-1, won Prep Nationals

College committed players: Will Coale, sr., A (Georgetown); Thomas Delgado, sr., M (Duke); Andrew Donovan, sr., M, (Notre Dame); Will Erdmann, sr., M (Virginia); Andrew Greenspan, sr., FO (Notre Dame); Leo Hoffman, sr., M, (Penn); Luke Michalik, sr., D/LSM (Yale); Patrick Mullen, sr., M (Bucknell); Hunter Spiess, sr., D (Princeton); Jackson Wolfram, sr., A/M (Brown); Payton Anderson, jr., M (Syracuse); Hudson Hausmann, jr., M (Brown); Luke Hublitz, jr., D, (Virginia); Kyle Pagnani, jr., M (Holy Cross); Robert Plath, jr., D (Georgetown); Casey Quinson, jr., A (Colgate); Max Warden, jr., A (Brown); Tucker Williams, jr., G (Brown)

Other key players: N/A

Outlook: After finishing last season ranked No. 2 in the nation, Brunswick will once again be a contender not just in the hyper-competitive NE West, but the nation again. Hoffman is currently the third-ranked recruit in the 2023 class and will be the top offensive weapon on a loaded midfield line with Delgado. Anderson has off-the-charts athleticism and can move between midfield and attack. Hausmann can also flex between multiple spots on the field on offense. Spiess is a threat in transition from the defensive end. Williams takes the goalie reins from Luke Schlank and will backstop a rangy, physical defense.

[b1w7o9y7h]

Great info. Based on the sheer number commits I think the season should just be cancelled, and Brunswick awarded the Blue Ribbon. Why play the games? Nothing out of the ordinary ever happens in West I.

P.S. Where's Lawrenceville in this mix?

Should be a fun season! I wish DA would schedule Brunswick later in the season somehow. The Wick kids have a distinct advantage because they, like, don't have to sleep in dorm rooms, and they have personal chefs making them protein omelets every morning, and limo drivers, and, yeah, all that early season advantage stuff that living in Xanadu confers. Okay...maybe I need to get back on my meds. It just SEEMS like the past half decade Wick has been hitting the track at full speed the second the season starts. Just my imagination, I'm sure - though the recent W-L bears this out vis-a-vis the DA/Wick results.

[Laxxal22]

I think it's fine to summarize NELJ content or share the rankings 1-10. Cutting and pasting the entirety of paywalled articles feels a bit dirty though.

[grelch]

With the number of games Lawrenceville plays against NEW1 you'd think they were actually a New England team. Have to give them credit for the difficulty of their schedule. They have raised their profile very quickly. Speaking of schedules, I'm a little surprised that Salisbury is getting ranked so high. They're OOC schedule is very light. They play Albany, Nobles and Lawrenceville OOC which seems lighter than usual, especially compared to the other perennial programs, and I think Albany is a scrimmage. Brunswick have, St. Sebs, Malvern, Darien, St. Johns, Darien, Hill Academy and Lawrenceville. Taft play St. Sebs, Darien, USNA, USMA, Andover, Hill Academy before they even face their first NEW team. Deerfield scrimmage Staples and play Nobles, Exeter, Lawrenceville and Andover. I guess rankings are based on squad strength and pg recruitment. In the end if Salisbury beat all these teams and run their schedukle then ok, ranking earned. On paper at the onset seems a little weird to me.

[pcowlax]

I'm not sure Salisbury is any lighter than Deerfield in terms of quality, those less in quantity. I certainly understand the history with Exeter and Andover and they aren't dropping those games but those teams these days are not national level opponents. I do think most years Salisbury could do more with their OOC, the issue often is that they just play fewer OOC games that most West-1 teams. Brunswick's schedule is, as always, insane. The issues with USNA and USMA have been hashed out on this board many times. Tremendous respect for the kids there, very hard for them to get games, not at all high schools, very hard to know what to make of results and use up slots that could have been other very exciting cross-sectional matchups. If team like Taft do not play them however no one will, NY publics aren't allowed, MIAA won't, CT publics won't use a game slot, not sure about ISL but they have so few OOC games.

[Can Opener]

I think it's fine to summarize NELJ content or share the rankings 1-10. Cutting and pasting the entirety of paywalled articles feels a bit dirty though.

+1
They are good folks who do a lot for the sport.

[pcowlax]

Don’t know much about TP this year but they just opened with what sounds to have been a wild 16-15 OT win over IMG. Some big games coming up in next few days.

[PhishFall97]

Final from Deerfield:
DA 11
Nobles 7. Kind of a slug fest with a decent amount of sloppiness due to weather and early season rust... HIGHLY impressed with both goalies.

[justanotherperson]

Way too Early Division 1-23 rankings

Disclaimer: I don't have any inside information; just trying to consolidate some sort of ranking for all 3 NE-West Divisions as I tried to do last year. Feel free to disagree as you are probably more correct than me.

No records are listed yet because I am assuming many of these were scrimmages - difficult to tell. It will flesh out as the season goes on

Current Last Week School Record Comments
Division 1
1 Brunswick Win vs St Sebastian (14-6)
2 Taft
3 Salisbury
4 Avon Old Farms Beat U of Tampa JV
5 Deerfield Win vs highland park, TX (11-7) and Nobles (11-7)
6 Trinity Pawling Win vs IMG
7 Loomis Win vs highland park, TX (6-5)
8 Hotchkiss
9 Choate
10 Westminster
11 Berkshire Beat Brophy Prep, AZ 14-3
12 Northfield Mount Hermon
13 Kent


Division 2
1 Wilbraham & Monson
2 Canterbury
3 Gunnery
4 Millbrook Win vs GFA (12-3)
5 Albany Academies
6 Williston
7 Cheshire Academy
8 Greens Farms Academy Loss to Millbrook (3-12)
9 King School
9 Greenwich Country Day
10 Brunswick B (not JV)
12 St Lukes
13 Suffield Academy
14 Rye Country Day
15 Hopkins School
16 Hamden Hall
17 Kingswood Oxford

Division 3
1 Williams School
2 Wooster
3 Hoosac
4 Harvey
5 Marvelwood
6 Masters
7 Forman
8 Darrow
9 Storm King
10 South kent
11 Woodhall

[blue angels]

Final from Deerfield:
DA 11
Nobles 7. Kind of a slug fest with a decent amount of sloppiness due to weather and early season rust... HIGHLY impressed with both goalies.

How was the Face off guy from Nobles headed to Virginia?

[PhishFall97]

Very impressive! He won the majority of the FOs and had a really good technique.

How was the Face off guy from Nobles headed to Virginia?