LaxPower Back-Up Stick

Great win for Taft over Culver. Soooooo much talent on this team, lost a few vs other great teams where they did t put it together. Also showing Culver would annually be just among the mix of the top 4-5 West-1 teams.

pcowlax wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 2:16 pm Great win for Taft over Culver. Soooooo much talent on this team, lost a few vs other great teams where they did t put it together. Also showing Culver would annually be just among the mix of the top 4-5 West-1 teams.

More likely the top 2-3 annually in NEW-1. This is an abnormally strong year for NEW-1 with a transcendent group of '21s.

pcowlax wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 2:16 pm Great win for Taft over Culver. Soooooo much talent on this team, lost a few vs other great teams where they did t put it together. Also showing Culver would annually be just among the mix of the top 4-5 West-1 teams.

I wonder if Culver is already starting to feel the effects of Jon Posner leaving. There were a few years there where Culver and Hill seemed to be on a different level than the rest of the rest of the top 20. Interested to see how beastly Lawrenceville becomes in the next few years with Posner at the helm and Joe Tsai backing the program.

Laxxal22 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 4:46 pm

pcowlax wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 2:16 pm Great win for Taft over Culver. Soooooo much talent on this team, lost a few vs other great teams where they did t put it together. Also showing Culver would annually be just among the mix of the top 4-5 West-1 teams.

I wonder if Culver is already starting to feel the effects of Jon Posner leaving. There were a few years there where Culver and Hill seemed to be on a different level than the rest of the rest of the top 20. Interested to see how beastly Lawrenceville becomes in the next few years with Posner at the helm and Joe Tsai backing the program.

That is a great point and very interesting. Culver is not IMG or Hill but it sure as hell isn’t Choate either. Lawrenceville is a much better school, not sure he can just role in 5-7 guys a year as lax players through admissions. Maybe is Tsai makes admissions an offer they can’t refuse. Will be fascinating to see, at a minimum they will very certainly improve.

NE Lax Journal out with their all-New England team

ATTACK
Coulter Mackesy (Bronxville, N.Y.), sr., Brunswick (Princeton)
Chad Palumbo (Newton, Mass.), jr., Noble and Greenough (Princeton)
Jeffery Ricciardelli (New Canaan, Conn.,), sr., Taft (Notre Dame)

The attack is spearheaded by Brunswick School senior Coulter Mackesy, who can count an OT game-winner against Darien on his resume as he heads to Princeton in the fall.

Junior Chad Palumbo was outstanding for Nobles this season and will join Mackesy at Princeton in two autumns.
Senior Jeffery Ricciardelli had an explosive end to his season as well with the Rhinos, and will follow a Taft pipeline to South Bend.

MIDFIELD
Griffin Schutz (Trumbull, Conn.), sr., Deerfield (Virginia)
Cole Van Meter (Medfield, Mass.), sr., Noble and Greenough (Boston University)
Aidan Maguire (Hingham, Mass.), jr., St. Sebastian’s (Duke)

The midfield has swingman Griffin Schutz at the forefront. At times, Schutz was just unguardable for unbeaten Deerfield, the top-ranked team in the region, but his pick play is what made him stand out whenever he was off the ball.

Duke recruit Aidan Maguire and Cole Van Meter each led their respective teams on offense as they chased the pace set by presumptive Independent School League winner Belmont Hill.

FACEOFF
Dash Sachs (Westport, Conn.), sr., Taft (Brown)

The face-off spot was difficult to pick as Brunswick’s draw man Blake Burchill (Bucknell) was also strongly considered, but ultimately Sachs’ performance in the GEICO Lacrosse High School Nationals put him over the top.

SSDM
Casey Reynolds (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.), sr., Deerfield

Usually, the short-stick defensive midfield slot is tough to pick, but Deerfield’s Casey Reynolds made it easy with his hustle and nonstop energy. He’ll head to Army-West Point to continue his football career.

DEFENSE
Colin Mulshine (Riverside, Conn.), sr., Brunswick (Princeton)
Grant Litchfield (Sudbury, Mass.), sr., Belmont Hill (Lehigh)
Jimmy Freehill (Chestnut Hill, Mass.), sr., St. Sebastian’s (Denver)

The defense spots were picked with pure stopping power in mind, and leading the pack in that category was Jimmy Freehill. Freehill is rated as a five-star defensive recruit and no attackman wanted to line up against him.

Colin Mulshine, another top-rated recruit, was also a marauding presence in front of the cage for Brunswick all season long. Grant Litchfield led the back end for the ISL’s best team.

GOALIE
Thomas Ricciardelli (New Canaan, Conn.), jr., Taft (Notre Dame)

The defense was backstopped by Thomas Ricciardelli who, despite being a junior, had the strongest finish to the 2021 campaign. Yes, this spot could easily go to Deerfield’s Michael Scharfenberger (Georgetown) and some would argue that he should get the nod for seniority.

Deerfield Lacrosse
@Deerfield_Lax
We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our own! Graham Harden, class of ‘87 has passed after a battle with ALS. Graham was a man of character and will be missed by all! Graham was back on campus in 2017 with @GForce_GameON. Thoughts and prayers for his family!
https://twitter.com/Deerfield_Lax/statu ... 9731703808

Anyone know why the NE West doesnt show up in the US Lacrosse All-American lists?

https://www.usalacrosse.com/news-media- ... ool-awards

NE West is always either terribly late or just not in there. Is it some kind of petty revolt until they can get more awards to hand out?

Granted, it's nutty that Kentucky, Idaho and Wisconsin (to name a few) get more AAs than NE West, but still.

Ox77 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 14, 2021 3:54 pm Anyone know why the NE West doesnt show up in the US Lacrosse All-American lists?

https://www.usalacrosse.com/news-media- ... ool-awards

NE West is always either terribly late or just not in there. Is it some kind of petty revolt until they can get more awards to hand out?

Granted, it's nutty that Kentucky, Idaho and Wisconsin (to name a few) get more AAs than NE West, but still.

They didn't have official league play last spring, all games were just exhibition I believe, so the coaches didn't vote on awards like All League, AA, POY, etc.

3rdPersonPlural wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2019 4:11 pm Has anybody figured out who is all league for 2019????

(This is an inside joke for the true believer. If you don't get it, stick around. You will.....)

As I have every year since I joined the prior mother ship as WhichCoast in 2004, I stubbornly predict that my beloved Taft Rhinos will take the Founders League and the NEW I League with an undefeated season. I have rarely been right on either prediction, to be honest.

However I suspect the following will be true:

* 'wick and 'bury will be in the conversation when 'best team in the nation' is discussed
* Deerfield will beat one of these teams. Knowing smirks all around. Deerfield will be ranked everywhere as a top 1% team. Nationally.
* If Nasty's kid hasn't graduated yet, we'll get optimistic pre-season reports on the Pride, and only slightly biased first-hand reports on their games.
* Choate will surprise. Westminster will win a game no one thought they would. Loomis will overachieve. The Hoggers will meet expectations.
* Live Streams will only be live. Replays verboten. Someone will post a link to a free app that records live streams. (OK, that's me being hopeful..)
* 'wick will show up in a GEICO event.
* Someone will get a PG that makes all pre-season predictions moot.

It's always intriguing to watch what PGs and transferring sophomores and juniors are brought in. AOF should have a good year, in my opinion. They bring back a large number of starters (Goalie, FOGO, 2 attack and a number of middies). They'll have to replace a strong Close D core, but if they add a couple crucial guys, they may be in contention for the league's top spot.

What are we thinking about this "Prep Nationals" thing?
https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... ield/58555

Is this because the NE West teams wouldnt commit to a post-season tourney? Anyone have color? Where's Avon? No thought of ISL? I'm not sure I get it.

Ox77 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 2:12 pm What are we thinking about this "Prep Nationals" thing?

It's no more the "Prep Nationals" than the Jr. Olympics are the "Jr. Olympics". Just four teams playing lacrosse at the end of the season. Possibly four good teams. Possibly.

As always, I think everyone would love to see end of season tiered NEPSAC tourneys like the ones that exist for soccer, hockey, hoops, etc. but the realities of the short spring season and so many boarding schools make it kind of impossible.

The individual leagues have taken it into their own hands in recent years; I believe the Lakes Region league has had its own year-end tournament for awhile, and the ISL and the Founder's League were set to starting having their own tournaments in 2020 before Covid hit. With those tournaments set to resume in 2022, Wick, Deerfield, Salisbury, and Lville found themselves without dance partners so they're throwing a dance of their own.

I do find it a little extra that they named/branded it and put out a press release, but these schools are never shy in letting the rest of the world know how important they are so it's not that surprising.

Is that right? Founders league and ISL were planning a year end tourney without Deerfield, Salisbury and Wick?

Separate. One for the ISL which was meant to begin in the 2020, and one for the Founders League which was supposed to start in 2021.

It can be very confusing but Deerfield, Wick and Salisbury are not members of Founders League (which can be thought of as a subset of West-1, though it’s isn’t really that as it contains 2 girls schools and one (K-O) that is in West-2). Every year a team is crowned West-1 champ (well, except when there are the annoying ties) and one Founders champ, which may or may not be the same teams as Deerfield, Wick and Bury are usually up top.

Unfortunately, there has been a growing tension between some of the Founders League schools (AOF, Taft, Loomis, Choate, TP) and Deerfield, Salisbury and Wick. This tension has been quite evident in any of the negotiations over a NE West tournament and centers on the fact that a single weekend tournament would likely limit the field to only 4 teams. Almost all have agreed that a single weekend tournament could be possible with some rescheduling (as seems to be evident with the new announcements). Based on recent success, it would be quite likely that the Founders League would be limited to only one team in the broader NE West format and as a result they have decided, for marketing, recruiting or whatever reasons, to have their own tournament going forward. This new tournament is the party of 4's response.

Hopefully this will lead to a more unified, inclusive NE West tournament over time.

On a separate note Deerfield and Wick will meet this Saturday in the Mike Silipo NEPSAC Bowl. Let's hope a lax game breaks out....