Connecticut 2023

[Typical Lax Dad]

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).

Won't be down long is my guess. Best of luck to Coach B.

[pcowlax]

Nope. Lots of great talent coming down the pipe but even for Darien it is harder to hold everyone in town for all 4 yearss

[BlueWarrior]

If Darien doesn’t have their best stuff this year it’s going to be rough sledding. Look at the schedules - NOBODY outside of the private school space has a tougher road than Darien. Great testimony to that program and how they do everything they can to be the best they can be. They’ve ascended to the top for any number of reasons, some of them based upon a perfect storm of socio-economics and geography - but they never stop testing themselves in order to better themselves and, in the process, prove themselves.

[Kismet]

Quite right - I'm sure they are looking to get over the last two years of losses in state tournament - they have not won a title since 2019 which is a LONG stretch for them.

If they have a young squad as mentioned a tough schedule will get them ready for a title in 2023.

BTW - Hand schedule at CIAC does not show the Tigers playing scrimmage this weekend in Darien. As much as one would love to see them , I don't think they are remotely in that class. They may give the Cheshire Rams a run for the money in Class M and they are playing Ridgefield which will tell us where they are this year overall.

[Blue White]

If Darien doesn’t have their best stuff this year it’s going to be rough sledding. Look at the schedules - NOBODY outside of the private school space has a tougher road than Darien. Great testimony to that program and how they do everything they can to be the best they can be. They’ve ascended to the top for any number of reasons, some of them based upon a perfect storm of socio-economics and geography - but they never stop testing themselves in order to better themselves and, in the process, prove themselves.

Not buying this Darien is down chatter. Have lots of knowns at attack, D and I'm sure the staff will get the unknowns running downhill at middie. Still the favorite in FCIACs and while Class L has become a gauntlet it would not surprise me in the least if they are the ones in a pile come June.

Yeah OOC is a murderers row, but it will have them ready for that gauntlet.

Best of luck to all the boys, coaches and parents on the coming season.

[random observer]

If Darien doesn’t have their best stuff this year it’s going to be rough sledding. Look at the schedules - NOBODY outside of the private school space has a tougher road than Darien. Great testimony to that program and how they do everything they can to be the best they can be. They’ve ascended to the top for any number of reasons, some of them based upon a perfect storm of socio-economics and geography - but they never stop testing themselves in order to better themselves and, in the process, prove themselves.

Not buying this Darien is down chatter. Have lots of knowns at attack, D and I'm sure the staff will get the unknowns running downhill at middie. Still the favorite in FCIACs and while Class L has become a gauntlet it would not surprise me in the least if they are the ones in a pile come June.

Yeah OOC is a murderers row, but it will have them ready for that gauntlet.

Best of luck to all the boys, coaches and parents on the coming season.

This is definitely the worst Darien team in a decade, albeit with some talented pieces. The attack unit will be solid (but not vintage) with Pokorny and Barnett returning. Defense definitely has some players (and depth), but so did last year's team and I'd classify the 2022 Darien defense as inconsistent. They do have also have a fairly good goalie who IMO should have started last year. But the Face-off position is going to regress considerably, and the midfield is thin. They only really ran 4 middies in their big games last year and they all graduated. The next two guys in line both re-classed this year and are at GP and Brunswick respectively. With a weak senior class (only one college commit on offense, a middle going to St. Lawrence) I don't expect Darien to be able to just plug new guys in as in years past. And then of course there is the question of Coach Brameier's health; that definitely had an impact on the team last year.

Bottom line I don't see them as anything other than firmly in the pack with Wilton, New Canaan, and Staples in what should be a down year for the FCIAC. And Fairfield Prep has significantly more depth and senior leadership for Class L. I think the Brunswick game (which is much earlier in the season this year) could be ugly.

[FC_YAK]

you might be right but I have seen this movie before when everyone counts Darien out and 6 studs show up that just happened to play behind better kids. It may be a 4-5 team fight in the FCIAC and for my money, that would be great. NC has a lot back, Wilton lost the best goalie in the state and some D1 talent, Staples lost the best FOGO in the state and some D1 talent....the list goes on. Every year there are surprises and that's what makes the FCIAC the best in the state.

Excited for a fun year where there are 4-5 teams that could win it.

As for Fairfield Prep, in paper they are the best in the state. Some felt that way heading into last year too and they couldn't beat the public school FCIAC teams. Lost to Ridgefield, WIlton and Darien and beat NC by 1.

They open up Saturday with Darien so we will see where both teams stand pretty quickly.

[fritz44]

Agree that the Darien doom and gloom seems a little exaggerated. This senior class for Darien has notably underachieved relative to Darien's standards in Football and Hockey this school year, but they do still have a lot of talent on this team. In 2013 Darien didn't have any players at the level of Brady Pokorny or some of the seniors on this team like Jake Wilson or Mac McGahren. They will have to find some new faces but if you look at Dariens inside lacrosse team page https://www.insidelacrosse.com/recruiti ... ive_id=862 they have a stable full of kids playing on Eclipse, Primetime, Express North, etc. It may not be the best Darien team in a while but when compared to other CIAC teams I can't see any other team that has more on paper talent then them except maybe Prep, who has depth but only has a handful of high level D1 guys and a litany of D3 and low level D1 guys. IF this Darien team does struggle I would predict that face-offs will be a persistent problem for them against high-level competition. They may struggle against the Brunswick's and St.Anthony's but so would every CIAC team this year. It may be one of the worst Darien teams in a while, but even if that is true that still means they will be a top 3 team in the state. They may not be at the level of 2016 or 2017 Darien but post millennium Darien has always pretty darn good, seems like wishful thinking to believe this year will be any different.

On the other end the Prep flag waving seems premature. They have a ton of players with 3 years of varsity experience, and a few that would have had 4 years of varsity experience had it not been for Covid. But looking over this groups record, outside of a 2 game playoff stretch where they beat Wilton and Darien by wide margins of victory they haven't achieved much. Also, when looking at those 2 games against Darien and Wilton it is relevant to remember that both goalies for Darien and Wilton had what was I believe the worst statistical goaltending performance of both of those players entire HS careers. That may have been due to good shooting, or it may have just been an anomaly, but whatever it was it did not carry on into the next season. Prep is obviously talented this year and deserves to be in the conversation of the #1 team in state going into the season, but I would still put Darien in the #1 spot with a larger gap between them and anyone else than what people have been saying. Also, from what I have seen Cheshire looks better then expected and could be a legitimate threat to Preps in-conference dominance. I also believe Preps in-conference schedule does have a subtle negative effect on their performance. Beating North Haven and Shelton doesn't make you better, I would actually say it probably makes teams slightly sloppier and allows them to get away with bad habits that will be punished against better teams. This effect will be even more pronounced with the changes that the FCIAC has made for their top teams to get rid of their lopsided in-conference matchups. Prep will be good, Grandolfo, the Firmender brothers, Maddux Little, Tyler Fox, the Shannehan brothers, and a few other players are all very talented. But this teams achievements up to this point largely comeback to people saying "wow this team has a lot of underclassmen starting" over the past 2 seasons, while losing to top FCIAC teams. If they beat Darien that will obviously change but I'm not ready to call this team elite just yet.

Outside of these 2 things become a lot more muddled.

Going off of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djSYv42UCMo

Wilton did very poorly in a scrimmage against Cheshire being down 8-1 at one point. They made it closer near the end but Cheshire won 9-6. It looked like Wilton was playing without Spencer Liston and Cheshire dominated face-offs as a result. Not sure if he will be healthy for tonights game but faceoff's could be a problem area if not. Its not wise to read into scrimmages too much and obviously the video is literally a highlight reel made just for the Cheshire team. So its difficult to get too much info out of this, but this score line does not inspire confidence for Wilton. Big questions for this team will still be goaltending and filling in the vacancy left by Jake Sommer defensively.

Still really have little info on Staples and Ridgefield. Both teams lost a lot and their success will likely be determined by how well new comers perform this season. I think Staples is in better shape than Ridge and could be a top 3 team if they play well. For Ridge this could be tough season, they have some elite talent but depth is a concern and they still don't have any solution for a faceoff problem that has plagued them for a few years now.

Similarly NC may struggle this season. There seems to be a consensus that NC returns a lot from last season but watching some of their games from last year unless I'm mistaken they lost a majority of their starters and really don't seem to have the wealth of returning experience that some have pointed to on this board. I expect them to stay competitive with everyone except maybe Prep and Darien and should fall somewhere in the 4-8 spots in the state. Here is a link for their game against Mamaroneck, they've looked good so far: https://events.locallive.tv/events/106956 .

Not sure about Greenwich either. They have produced a couple good upsets and few near monumental upsets over the past few years. Hopefully they can stay competitive with top teams this season, just makes the state and FCIAC more entertaining with an extra team or two that are legitimate contenders.

As mentioned before Cheshire looks better then expected, but it is an admittedly minuscule sample size to go off of. I know Matt Jeffrey was on a lot of peoples radar near the end of last season but I don't think anyone thought of him as even a top 10 recruit in his class, never-mind the #1 recruit in the nation. Not sure if he has gotten noticeably better in the off season but I can't remember a non FCIAC or non Prep based player being this good since Mike Hawkins for Glastonbury in 2017. Charles Curtz has also looked good and between some other returning underclassmen and role players they should have a potent offense. A retuning goalie and FOGO should contribute to this team being a very real threat to Prep in conference. As of now they are a heavy favorite for class M. Whether or not this team can beat the big boys will likely be determined by how well their defense can play against high-level competition. If this team plays fully up to their potential they may be the one team in state that everyone would have preferred to see in the class L tournament at the end of the season.

Can't really give any comments on other teams without just blindly assuming they will be at similar levels to what they were at last season. But I think the top 10 will break down something like...

1. Darien
2. Fairfield Prep
3. Wilton
4. Staples
5. New Canaan
6. Cheshire
7. Ridgefield
8. Greenwich
9. Ludlowe
10. Daniel Hand

[random observer]

Not going to write off Darien, but when you look at the rosters Prep has the better squad and it's not particularly close. Yes, Darien has Pokorny. But beyond him, how many players deep do you have to go on Prep's offense before you find someone you'd rather have Darien's second best offensive player over? I'd argue it's at least 6 (Firmender, Grandolfo, Shannehan, Fox, Mullahy, Shannehan). Yes,it's not as simple as pointing out that this squad is by and large the same exact team that took it to Darien and Wilton in states two years ago. But it's also an exaggeration to say that they've accomplished nothing else since then. They started slow last year, but by season's end they were a dangerous team, and gave Darien a tough battle in the state semis last year.

The vast majority of that Darien team is gone. And beyond talent, senior leadership matters. The Wave don't have the same wealth of experience that Prep has. Maybe the 2013 Darien team didn't have a Pokorny level talent (I'd only agree if you're talking upperclassmen; Mark Evanchick was the #1 pole on that team as a freshman, and I'd argue he is the most decorated player in program history at the high school level), but that team had a very deep junior class that spearheaded an undefeated season the next year. I just find it hard to believe that a Darien squad that graduated so much talent and experience is the team to beat against a Fairfield Prep squad that gave them a tough battle and returns everybody.

While I wouldn't be stunned if Darien has a great season, history (particularly 2013/2014) suggests to me that they are a year away; shallow senior class, deep junior class, average sophomore class, and potentially a top tier freshman class by Darien standards.

As for other squads, I think Staples is now here to stay. They will fall back from last year, but I think defensively they are in good shape anchored by Marcus, and offensively Clark, Burmeister, Sequenzia, and Rothenberger is a good core to build around. Don't know as much about their underclassmen, but their JV team has been solid the last couple of seasons so I would expect they are in a position to reload rather than rebuild.

New Canaan lost some guys, but nobody that I would deem irreplaceable. Returning Crowell and Connelly at attack, Stephens and Tamasco at defense, and their FOGO duo gives them a good spine to build around, and I think they have good depth in the sophomore and junior classes to anchor the backline. at minimum they are going to be a tough matchup based on a combination of stingy defense and possession dominance.

Wilton returns a decent core of players, but depth is always a question with them; they never seem to have the same depth of players as Darien or New Canaan. Got worked a bit by Cheshire in a scrimmage so clearly they have some kinks to work out.

Cheshire is going to be a factor this year based on the trio of Kurtz, Jeffery, and Grevelding on offense. It appears they also have a quality FOGO to feed possessions. As always, the question is if they can build enough depth to consistently challenge the other power programs in the state; in the past couple of years they've had games where they've gone toe-to-toe with Prep and the FCIAC, and games where they got roughed up a bit.

[pcowlax]

Well, score one for the machine. Behind 18 saves from Hagen, Darien over Prep, 9-8. Much of the game in the rain. These two may well meet again. Staples over Iona Prep 10-5 in a very strong start to their title defense.

[random observer]

Well, score one for the machine. Behind 18 saves from Hagen, Darien over Prep, 9-8. Much of the game in the rain. These two may well meet again. Staples over Iona Prep 10-5 in a very strong start to their title defense.

Big win on the road with a lot of new faces. Hagen definitely the difference maker. On balance I would still bet on Prep if they were the roll the balls out and play again right now, but I have to imagine that Darien has a lot more room for improvement as the season goes on. Only 3 seniors in the starting lineup, and 2 freshmen are already seeing major minutes.

All in all an encouraging start to OOC play for CT:

Really nice win by Staples over an Iona Prep program that has been on the upswing the last few years. I expect that the drop off from their title winning squad will not be dramatic.

New Canaan handled Mamaroneck again to kick of the 2023 campaign. Just for another data point, they played a very even scrimmage with Niskayuna last week. Nisky just handled defending NY Class A state champ Baldwinsville (not sure how hard Baldwinsville was hit by graduations).

Wilton and Cheshire had dominant wins over Somers and LaSalle Academy respectively. LaSalle is typically a solid program and they beat Cheshire last year.

For the losses, Ridgefield dropped a close one to Archbishop Stepinac (another Westchester private school that is making big strides in lacrosse); they will play spoiler for sure but don't think they're a serious threat to win the FCIAC or Class L title this year with all that they lost. Elsewhere, Greenwich and Ludlowe got roughed up a bit by Pleasantville and Kellenberg respectively.

[SlingtheRock7]

Hagen had one of the better goalie performances I've seen in recent memory, particularly in the 1st half of that game. Prep was getting quality looks and was not necessarily struggling to win 1v1 matchups. Hagen just shut the door on a number of good-to-great shot opportunities. Agree with Random Observer that I would take Prep if they were to play again today. However, this young Darien deserves a ton of credit for beating such an experienced Prep team.

A few additional observations. Darien doesn't seem to have any really big or explosive dodgers out of the midfield. A number of young/inexperienced guys are getting time and managed to produce enough to get the W tonight. I do question their ability to win their matchups from up top consistently. As other commentators have said, this is a young team, so they may very well grow in confidence and skill as the season progresses. In my opinion, the most exciting aspect of this game for Darien fans should be that they managed to get the win despite Pokorny (Notre Dame) and Barnett (Bucknell) not playing/shooting well. Pokorny was getting a ton of quality looks, and Prep didn't seem to have a pole that matched up well on him. He had 2 or 3 goals last night but could have had WAY more had he shot better. Barnett also wasn't shooting well and had some uncharacteristic turnovers. Prep fans can argue that they would have won the game had Hagen not played so well. However, it's important to keep in mind that Darien's top 2 offensive threats had very inefficient shooting days.

Faceoffs seemed pretty even to me, and the Prep goalie had a solid day. Great game to watch, and I hope that these two teams meet again in the postseason. I still have Prep as my favorite to take home the State title but very positive result for the young Darien team.

On a separate note, another solid opening day win for New Canaan against Mamaroneck. New Canaan returns most of their top players from last season, but Caretr Connors was a big loss. I thought he was their best initiator on O last year. Crowell is an elite shooter and finisher. However, dodging wasn't really his primary strength last year, at least in my opinion. Curious to see if he's the main initiator this season or if someone else takes that role.

The Ludlowe loss is disappointing, but this team has graduated a ton over the past two seasons. Their only real quality returning player is Junior John Kleinbeck (Air Force) in the midfield. They are starting freshmen/sophomores everywhere else on the field, so this team will take a step back in terms of competitiveness this year. I think they'll return to where they've been in 21/22 next season and the following. Just going to be a rebuilding year this season.

[fritz44]

Good game between Prep and Darien. Darien was similar to what people expected, lots of underclassmen and a noticeable lack of seniors on the offensive side of the ball. Defense and goalie looked good but both teams were a little sloppy at times with dropped passes and mental mistakes, the weather seemed to have an impact on this.

Prep also looked good but did struggle with shooting. I think both of these teams could be susceptible to a dominant FOGO in the future. Prep seemed to have a better offense but Darien had a better defense.

Looking forward we should have a much better idea of who's the real deal by the end of next week.

Darien v. Brunswick and Manhasset

NC v. Cheshire

Wilton v. JJ and Fairfield Prep

Staples v. Rye

Darien may have a tough time with Brunswick, but should be competitive with Manhasset. NC and Cheshire is intriguing. Offensively Cheshire looks better but I think NC will be able to push an advantage on faceoffs and dominate possession time if they are smart with the ball. Wilton looked good against Somers and should beat JJ but their matchup with Prep will be more interesting. Similar to NC unless Wilton can dominate possession time Prep will likely win this one but I expect it to stay competitive regardless.

It's tempting to write off Ridgefield already but Archbishop Stepinac looks like they have a much better team than usual. I don't expect them to beat top teams in state but they should be able to keep it competitive with all CIAC teams this year.

Overall this looks like its one of the most balanced years in a while. Feels like 1-6 could beat each other on any given day depending on how teams play.

[Kismet]

Perhaps. Ridgefield getting 7 wins to qualify for the state tournament seems like it is not a done deal - I only see four comfortable wins -St Joes, Somers, Danbury and McMahon. Hand and Mahopac might make 6. They are going to need to beat one more of top team to even qualify from Briarcliff, Manhasset, New Canaan, Yorktown, Darien, Wilton, Greenwich, Rye and Staples - not a slam dunk.

[pcowlax]

New Canaan hold of Cheshire 7-6
Wilton over John Jay 11-6

[pcowlax]

Who’s got two thumbs and seems to have been a fool to doubt Darien this year? This guy. Wave up 8-3 on Brunswick at half. Even if they don’t hold on, team has come together much quicker than I thought, young guys doing great. There are some serious classes coming down the pipe too. If this is their dip year, heads up.

[fordmaddoxford]

Someone forgot to tell Darien they’re down this year. 12-11 over Brunswick.

[LI13]

Congrats to Darien! What a goal by Pokorny to win it! Love to see a public school beat a top prep school. Amazing win.

[NEWestFan]

Seems like the refs wanted to see it too! What an embarrassingly bad call at 50 seconds left. Too bad for the refs that the game was taped with replay. Showed the replay at least 3 times and Anderson wasn't within 18" of the crease. Even the Darien announcers were befuddled. Count that goal, when the faceoff and game over in the other direction.

[SlingtheRock7]

Correct that it should've been a goal. Hoffman had a great chance to score right before that as well. I am positive that Brunswick's goalie will want that last shot from Pokorny back as well, didn't look like it was moving too fast. Still, an unbelievable effort by the Blue Wave, and they'll get the W on their resume! Congrats to Coach Brameier and the team on a well-played game; they were close the past 2 seasons against Brunswick but weren't able to get the win. Hagen is a stud.