High School: US Lacrosse voting completed for at least one section

Three different sections of NorCal have Coaches voting for HS All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, and Coach of the year. At least one of these sections has completed its voting for 2013 AAs.

I inquired of a NorCal Chapter of  US Lacrosse Director as to when the final meeting would take place. My contact believed the meeting would take place this coming Thursday, May 30th. If history is any guide, the press release naming its honorees from the NorCal Chapter will come soon thereafter.

OSU v Lehigh at Kezar – the local story

Will McKee (photo by Doug Ko)

Lehigh defeated the Ohio State University at Kezar Stadium Sunday, 15-13. It's always fun to watch Lacrosse, even Fall Ball games, but for me the story was the return to San Francisco of Lehigh FO/M Will McKee, who plays DI Lacrosse for Lehigh. Will has played in Kezar Stadium many times – in both Football and Lacrosse – but this time had a different vibe. He was a Lehigh MountainHawk and kids in the stands asked for his autograph after the game. San Fran Preps did a story about Will's return, which you can read at: http://www.sanfranpreps.com/2012/10/22/beyond-preps-will-mckees-return-to-kezar-stadium/

Will took a few face-offs, played some midfield, and his team won, so he had a great time at his homecoming. He even got a plateful of his favorite cookies from a fan (Barefoot Contessa Chocolate Chunks for those in the know).

Both Ohio State and Lehigh practiced at St. Ignatius' turf field on Saturday, so that was yet another familiar field for Will. He was a High School All-American at SI and he'll develop into a fine college player. Way to go Will!

SI Alum Alex Capretta scores game winner in 5th OT

Alex Capretta

SI alum Alex Capretta scored the game winner in the 5th OT, as Princeton defeated Yale,10-9. It was the ninety-fourth lacrosse game between these two Ivy League schools.
Including the OT game-winner, he had 3 goals and an assist in the game. It is his second hat trick of the season. You can watch a video of his goal at: http://www.goprincetontigers.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?SPSID=46871&SPID=4265&DB_OEM_ID=10600&id=856926&db_oem_id=10600

and read Princeton's game write-up at:
http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=46871&SPID=4265&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205403155&DB_OEM_ID=10600

Congratulations to this fine NorCal player!

Casey Hock goes 1and 1 versus Catawba

Casey Hock

Queens College, NC

Catawba took on Queen's in a big NCAA DII matchup held at Catawba. Catawba is an historic DII powerhouse. Queen's is an up-and-comer.  Catawba won its home game, 13-12, but Queen's was undaunted. Ranked 14th in DII, Catawba heard footsteps all game long.

Casey Hock, Queen's nasty Frosh Attack and former Monte Vista standout, went 1 and 1 in the game, scoring on his only shot!

Congrats to Casey!
 You can view the Box Score at:
http://www.queensathletics.com/custompages/2012%20MLAX/3-21-12_MLAX_BOX_CATAWBA.htm

Way to go, Casey!

SI alum Rob Emery with 4 points against Mount St Mary's

Rob Emery, one of NorCal's two NCAA DI pre-season All-Americans, had a four point game today against the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers. The goal production was classic Rob – two shots, two shots on cage, and two goals. He added two assists to create his four point game. You can read the game report and see the Box Score at:

http://www.virginiasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=88761&SPID=10601&ATCLID=205388825&DB_OEM_ID=17800

Rob has been a big contributor to the 'Hoos this season!

SI alum Giancarlo Sangiacomo at Providence

Giancarlo Sangiacomo

SI alum and former HS AA, LSM Giancarlo Sangiacomo has played in only one of the Providence Friar's games. Nonetheless, having 1 GB and 2CTs in that game is a strong performance. Go, Giancarlo!
Stats at:
http://www.friars.com/sports/m-lacros/stats/2011-2012/teamcume.html#TEAM.IND

UHS alum Parker Brown – 1G 1A in win over Quinnipiac

Parker Brown

UHS alum Parker Brown, team Captain, last year's team points leader, and two-time Ivy Player of the Week, had a goal and an assist in Brown University's season-opening victory over Quinnipiac.

You can read the story of Brown's victory at:

http://www.brownbears.com/sports/m-lacros/2011-12/releases/20120226vwcxs8

Tim Jacob, another fine NorCal player, played but did not record any statistical events.
Here is the Box Score:
http://www.brownbears.com/sports/m-lacros/2011-12/files/ml022612.htm

SI Alum Alex Capretta – hat trick in assists in Hofstra game

Alex Capretta

Yesterday, in Princeton's season opener, the 19th ranked Tigers prevailed handily – defeating #14 Hofstra, 12-6. Former NorCal and SI great, Alex Capretta, had a hat trick in assists in this game. You can see the box score at:
http://www.goprincetontigers.com/fls/10600/statistics/mlax/mlax12/pu-hof.htm

Way to go, Alex!

Lacrosse Magazine – top teams & players in the Western United States for 2012

Lacrosse Magazine's (LM) March 2012 issue forecasts the top 10 Western High School teams and lists five "Players to Watch." Five California teams made the cut, as did three Colorado teams. One team each, from Washington and Oregon complete the list. Two teams from NorCal are on the list – Saint Ignatius at #3 and Monte Vista at #8. Here's the list of Lacrosse Magazine's top 10 Western teams for 2012:

• Kent Denver CO

• Torrey Pines CA

• St. Ignatius CA

• Coronado CA

• Mercer Island WA

• Regis Jesuit CO

• Foothill - Orange County CA

• Monte Vista - Danville CA

• Lincoln - OR

Cherry Creek - CO

From the NorCal teams listed above,  Lacrosse Magazine cites important contributors to their teams as:

St. Ignatius

Chad Bell

Chad Cohan

Peter Doyle

Matt Emery

Spencer Evans

Charlie Ford

JW McGovern

Jack McGovern

Will McKee

LM lists seven of these players as already committed to NCAA DI programs and expects all nine to play DI lacrosse.

Monte Vista

Gus Gradinger

Sam Langon

Cameron Parsons

Jack Pederson

Austin Richardson

Andrew Simor

Lacrosse Magazine also lists 5 Players to Watch from the West. Four of the 5 are from California and one is from NorCal. The five, in the order LM lists them, are:

JW McGovern A St. Ignatius Yale commit

Zach Fixen, M Palos Verdes Maryland commit

Brendan Gaughan, A La Costa Canyon Michigan commit

Jack Bobzien, A Arapahoe, CO Hartford commit

Sean Doyle, A Torrey Pines Cornell commit

All four California boys played on the Under Armour Underclassmen All-American West team that did so well at the Under Armour tournament this past summer.

Parenthetically, I found it interesting that the three California Attackmen who are mentioned in the LM article first met at Jake Reed's Nike Blue Chip camp in the summer of 2009, just after finishing their Freshmen year. They were the only California Attackmen at that camp. Perhaps Jake Reed's "early-detection" sniffer is better than I thought.

Commenting on the NorCal player, LM quotes McGovern's coach, Chris Packard, as saying, "He is custom-built to play at X." LM goes on to say that McGovern "... has drawn comparisons to Virginia's Steele Stanwick for his ability to dissect defenses." 

Casey Hock - Queen's University season opener 2/18

Casey Hock

Saturday, February 18th, I'll drive about 2 1/2 hours west of my winter home to see Casey Hock and his DII teammates at Queen's University take on the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (another North Carolina DII team) which is currently ranked #9 in the nation. This game will be the season opener for Queens and should provide a good test for the Royals, as it's an away game. I'm told by impeccable sources that Casey will get some field time, so off I go to Hickory, NC to see our NorCal HS AA in his first regular season college game. Should be fun.

Of course, I did see Casey in a fall ball scrimmage at Queen's, so this will be the second time I'll have seen him play in college. You might think that I'm a big Casey fan. You'd be right! I'll let y'all know how he looks.
____________________
Addendum: I drove over to the game between Queens and Lenoir-Rhyne and saw a good game. My sources turned out not to be impeccable. The outcome of the game was not determined until 30 seconds remained in the game and, as a consequence Casey did not see the field. I looked carefully at all the attack who played for Queen's and didn't see any reason why Casey won't get playing time soon. His stick skills and sneakiness are assets too valuable to waste.