New England West-1 2019

[beastboyz99]

End of 3rd Wick 8 - AOF 5

Bit of a turn of momentum after a few nice saves by AOF and some good FO win that let AOF go on a 4 goal run.

[grelch]

Salisbury's up 7-4 at the half. They annoyingly listed the wrong time for game time on their twitter acct., so missed the 1st half.

[pcowlax]

After 1st: Wick 1 - AOF 1

AOF goalie looks really good. Wick has done a good job locking down AOF's Leo Johnson. Good game thus far.

As a fan of CT lax and West-1, I reallllly hope Johnson grows. At this size, best case is Sessa for Yale who is insanely quick and a wonderful player but just can’t really contribute much vs the size athletes he is up against in college. Just a few more I chest and 20 lb of muscle and Johnson will be Mathias (Case, not Simon).

[beastboyz99]

FINFAl: Wick 9 - AOF 8

If any of you didn't watch those last few minutes, it was intense. AOF creeped back the entire 2nd half and got it to 8-7 with just about 3 minutes left. Looked like Brunswick came out pretty flat in the 2nd half but got the job done. Impressive game by AOF. You could tell they wanted that one. Maybe Brunswick overlooked AOF or AOF came out extra-hard today or maybe even both especially after the score at half-time. All in all, great game by both sides.

[pcowlax]

Wow, tremendous display of D from AOF, holding Wick to 1goal in 35 minute, final is 9-8 Bruins. How the hell did that team only beat Hotchkiss by 1 and Kent, Kent!, by 3. Brunswick’s 3rds team would beat Kent by more than that. Goes to show the vagaries of high school sports and why they play the games.

[beastboyz99]

Johnson is indeed a special player. You can tell he runs that attack for AOF. He possesses that "give me the ball" confidence and was a large reason why AOF brought it all the way back today against Wick. He's only a sophomore...

[random observer]

I don't see the Sessa comparison, as Johnson is definitely more skilled and a better shooter than Joey (Sessa is perfectly fine at his size by the way, as he is short, but solidly built). Let's not forget that Johnson is still just a sophomore -- Pat Spencer grew tremendously between his sophomore and senior years). And even if he doesn't grow, the Case comp still feels attainable: it's not like Case was ever the biggest/strongest guy during his days at Darien.

[grelch]

Salisbury squeaked by Taft 12-11

[RumorMill]

Went to the AOF - Wick game. Wow! Fun to watch! AOF definitely stepped it up. First, both Goalies played phenomenal! AOF goalie and the entire close D helped lead the come back in the 2nd.... but if the Wick goalie didn't come up with a few huge saves as well it's a different result. AOF D was strong. Even in the 2nd quarter where they seemed to fall asleep, the D was forcing turnovers, then AOF couldn't clear the ball and Wick was able to drive it right back at them.
2nd half speaks for itself! 7-1 AOF. And definitely a shout out to the AOF fogo, battled hard. I think he won the last 2 faceoffs and got called for a violation because the ball got stuck in the back of his head... 30+ seconds left, down by one, AOF fogo comes out with the ball and it gets stuck... ouch! Awesome game. Good luck to Wick on Friday and AOF on Saturday. Two more huge games!

[pcowlax]

I don't see the Sessa comparison, as Johnson is definitely more skilled and a better shooter than Joey (Sessa is perfectly fine at his size by the way, as he is short, but solidly built). Let's not forget that Johnson is still just a sophomore -- Pat Spencer grew tremendously between his sophomore and senior years). And even if he doesn't grow, the Case comp still feels attainable: it's not like Case was ever the biggest/strongest guy during his days at Darien.

Tomorrow.

[TopShelf585]

The Gauntlet is underway for Bury.
Not pretty but 1 down 4 more to go.
Still healthy going into Wick game.

[RumorMill]

The Gauntlet is underway for Bury.
Not pretty but 1 down 4 more to go.
Still healthy going into Wick game.

Yes, and definitely not to look ahead, as Friday is a big spotlight... but Choate is no gimme for their last game. Watching them (Choate) play, they are as athletic and physical as any NEW-1 team, just need to put some technical pieces together and watch out!

[QuickStick1]

An update on Loomis and why they have had a season not matching the hype they had at the start of the season when they were 5-0. They have two injuries to key components of their offense. A really dynamic PG midfielder which might explain why their clearing game has been poor and their lack of scoring, possessing the ball. I mentioned in an earlier post about a bad injury in the Nobles game and it was a knee injury. The other injury is a great attackman who was a good scorer. Also tough to see a closer than expected score against Williston yesterday. Think it was 14-10.
Overall sad to see this, seems like this always happens to Loomis when they get rolling- an injury to a key player with lack of depth.

[NElaxtalent]

If you are aware of each team's rosters, other than 2-3 schools everyone else is razor-thin at most key positions. Almost every "other" competive team has lost guys this year they simply can't replace and the drop-off is performance altering.

[Bystanders]

I don't see the Sessa comparison, as Johnson is definitely more skilled and a better shooter than Joey (Sessa is perfectly fine at his size by the way, as he is short, but solidly built). Let's not forget that Johnson is still just a sophomore -- Pat Spencer grew tremendously between his sophomore and senior years). And even if he doesn't grow, the Case comp still feels attainable: it's not like Case was ever the biggest/strongest guy during his days at Darien.

Let's not compare a Soph in High School with 1 goal and 1 assist in a league loss at home to Case, Spencer or Sessa just yet! Seems a bit pre-mature.

[PrepLax1142]

Anyone else hear Bury kids on live stream vs. Taft yesterday? I hope the Wick boys did and can use it a motivation for tomorrows game.

[random observer]

I don't see the Sessa comparison, as Johnson is definitely more skilled and a better shooter than Joey (Sessa is perfectly fine at his size by the way, as he is short, but solidly built). Let's not forget that Johnson is still just a sophomore -- Pat Spencer grew tremendously between his sophomore and senior years). And even if he doesn't grow, the Case comp still feels attainable: it's not like Case was ever the biggest/strongest guy during his days at Darien.

Let's not compare a Soph in High School with 1 goal and 1 assist in a league loss at home to Case, Spencer or Sessa just yet! Seems a bit pre-mature.

He set the CT state freshman scoring record last year, as well as Greenwich High School's single season scoring record. And he was the leading scorer at the UA tournament last year. I don't think the hype is exactly unwarranted.

[beastboyz99]

Anyone else hear Bury kids on live stream vs. Taft yesterday? I hope the Wick boys did and can use it a motivation for tomorrows game.

PrepLax, I was only able to watch a bit of the 4th quarter, but from what I did watch, yes I also thought it was not the place for a live-stream.

[grelch]

I watched it and genuinely have no idea what you could be referring to. They're Salisbury students who broadcast mostly to a handful of parents, alum and a few interested people like me. They said they were thrilled to have 80 people watching yesterday and normally get a fraction of that. The only thing that they said that I can think of that might have annoyed you is when they replied to someone who gave advice on camera work and they said something like, 'we're students just learning how to use the equipment. We don't hire professional broadcasters for 6 figures to livestream our games. We're doing the best we can.' Apart from that they were specifically very respectful to the Wick program. You said the other day that Bury was cocky. Not sure why you're looking to create a narrative that isn't there. I'm fairly certain that Salisbury is fully aware of what they're walking into on Friday and I would be incredulous if they thought that game was going to be a walk in the park.

[3rdPersonPlural]

Salisbury squeaked by Taft 12-11

Well, shoot! I wish I'd have deferred stuff and sat that one through. Taft has the attack to put up numbers, but their D has looked outclassed both on the rope and on the clear (through the games I saw).

Holding 'bury to 12 while scoring 11 means that their D has stiffened and the manage to clear well enough to get the ball to that splendid Attack.

I guess. I didn't see the game.

Any color you can throw up for us, Grelch?