High School: Gathering of Outlaws Alumni, Part II

  35 Outlaw alums showed up for the Alumni game, representing 27 NCAA schools, including UVA, UNC, DUKE, PENN STATE, NOTRE DAME, MICHIGAN, YALE, HARVARD, DARTMOUTH, MIDDLEBURY, AMHERST, BUCKNELL, HAVERFORD, COLBY, FAIRFIELD, GEORGETOWN, PROVIDENCE, DENVER, BRYANT, CORNELL, BROWN, ST. MARYS'S, HOLY CROSS, PRINCETON, NAVY, LEHIGH AND KENYON.

Let me put that in perspective. More NCAA Outlaw Alums participated in the Outlaw Alumni game than on any  Lacrosse Field in San Francisco since the 2012 San Francisco Fall Lacrosse Classic, pitting Ohio State vs. Lehigh!

Seen in the crowd

Coach Chris Packard of SI with his son

More Former Outlaws:

Can you name them? Both former SI, both DI bound this Fall. Both terrific players. Prize to the first correct respondent!

Teammates on NCJLA Vail teams, NorCal Braves, and Alcatraz Outlaws: Carson Mead, Jordan LaTendresse, and Jordan Weiss (another Penn State guy)

Joe Lang (SI and future Harvard)

See part I of this article at:

http://norcallacrosse.blogspot.com/2013/06/recruiting-gathering-of-outlaws.html

High School: Under Armour Underclassmen All- American WEST team selected

The Under Armour Corporation, in conjuction with Corrigan Sports, annually hosts the Under Armour Lacrosse All-American games. The All-American game is for graduated Seniors and is televised by ESPN. The UnderArmour Underclassmen games, consist of 10 regional teams selected at open tryouts, play to a Champion over three days. The games will take place at the usual locale, Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Maryland.

The West team has been selected. Here are the WEST selections – from 6 states – as announced by Under Armour and Corrigan Sports;

First Name Year Position School Hometown
Anthony Abbadessa 2014 Attack Desert Vista Phoenix, AZ
Justin Anderson 2014 Mid-Field Centennial Las Vegas, NV
Zack Anderson 2014 Defense Rock Canyon Castle Rock, CO
Liam Bourke 2014 Defense Redwood Ross, CA
Quinton Eissler 2015 Attack Coronado Henderson, NV
Peyton Garrett 2014 Attack San Clemente San Clemente, CA
Jeremy Huber 2014 Defense West Career and Tech Academy Las Vegas, NV
Michael Kay 2014 Mid-Field Cathedral Catholic Temecula, CA
Joe Lang 2014 Attack St Ignatius College Prep Mill Valley, CA
Alex Larson 2014 Goalie Chaparral Scottsdale, AZ
Colin MacIlvennie 2014 Mid-Field Eastside Catholic Maple Valley, WA
Jensen Makarov 2014 Goalie Ralston Valley Arvada, CO
Colton McCaffrey 2014 Attack Chaparral Parker, CO
Connor McCroskey 2015 Attack The Bishop's School San Diego, CA
Spencer Noonan 2014 LSM Skyline Sammamish, WA
Joe Reid 2014 Mid-Field Casa Grande Petaluma, CA
Hayden Ruiz 2014 Mid-Field Santa Margarita Catholic Orange, CA
Jake Seau 2014 Mid-Field The Bishop's School San Diego, CA
Jace Thomas 2014 Face-off Bountiful North Salt Lake, UT
Andrew Tien 2014 Attack The Bishop's School San Diego, CA
Maxwell Tuttle 2015 Mid-Field Castle View Castle Rock, CO
Cade van Raaphorst 2015 Defense Desert Vista Phoenix, AZ
Owen Weselak 2014 Face-off Torrey Pines San Diego, CA
Chase York 2014 Defense Mercer Island Mercer Island, WA

Liam Bourke of Redwood

Joe Lang of St. Ignatius

Joe Reid of Casa Grande

Congratulations to all these fine players, with special acknowledgment to Liam Bourke of Redwood, Joe Lang of St. Ignatius, and Joe Reid of the Casa Grande Club team– the three NorCal rising Seniors who were selected.

You can read more at Inside Lacrosse here. 

Landmark event for California lacrosse

The St. Ignatius College Prep Boy's Lacrosse team will take the field in 2013 with at least eleven NCAA recruits on the roster. I believe this is a high water mark for any team in California Boy's lacrosse history, Only teams like Garden City on Long Island or the best MIAA A Division teams in Baltimore produce numbers like this. Quite an accomplishment for SI.  Northern California's approach to Boy's lacrosse was to create a solid Youth Lacrosse program – the NCJLA – and have the talent "bubble up" to High School programs. This differs from most other non-hotbeds, which put most of their effort into High School programs – taking good athletes and teaching them the basics of lacrosse. I have long contended that the Northern California approach to building a strong Boy's Youth lacrosse infrastructure would prove superior to any other approach. Mission accomplished.

That same Youth lacrosse excellence will allow more High School teams to reach this "every starter an NCAA recruit" landmark. Don't have any idea which team comes next, but I'd be surprised if that team didn't have initials like BCP, DLS, MC, MV or SRV,.

Here's the rundown for SI 2013:

Attack
David Fleming Fairfield 2013 DI
Joe Lang Harvard 2014 DI
Moore Harris Washington & Lee 2013 DIII

Midfield
Chad Bell Boston University 2013 DI
Matt Emery Virginia 2013 DI
Spencer Evans Harvard 2013 DI
Brendan McDermott Trinity College 2013 DIII

Defense
Riley Burke Colby College 2013 DIII
Charlie Ford (LSM) Georgetown 2013 DI
Jack McGovern Holy Cross 2013 DI

Goalie
Cyrus Scott* Colgate 2014 DI
______________________
*I had earlier heard from a goalie on the recruiting trail at the Ivies that Cyrus committed to UPenn, but have subsequently confirmed with the Scotts that Cyrus committed very recently to Colgate. Congratulations to this fine lacrosse player with strong academics!

11/12/2012 UPDATE: A/M Moore Harris Washington & Lee 2013 DIII, has recently committed.

Joe Lang to Harvard

Joe Lang

Joe Lang, SI's rising Junior Attack has committed to the admissions process at Harvard. The flashy lefty – and younger brother of Cornell All-American Roy Lang – also wrestled with offers from Princeton and Duke.

Joe had a wonderful summer on the recruiting circuit. Playing for the Alcatraz Outlaws, he made the All-Star teams at both the Gait Cup and King of the Hill.

I've had the good fortune to watch Joe play most of his regular season games since he was in 6th grade. It was evident then that he was destined to become a special player. He was a key member of the Attack line this past season at St. Ignatius, which line Coach Chris Packard has called "the most productive Attack line in SI history."

And so the NorCal pipeline to the Ivy League continues. There are seven lacrosse playing schools in the Ancient Eight (only Columbia does not field a men's team) and each of the Ivies has at least one NorCal guy on the squad or committed and on the way!

Congratulations, Joe!

2012 Gait Cup: All-Stars

The following Alcatraz Outlaws made the All-Star team at the Gait Cup:

Cam Bowlby San Ramon Valley 2013
Liam Bourke Redwood 2014
Will Ernst University HS 2014
Frankie Hattler Sacred Heart Prep 2014
Joe Lang Saint Ignatius 2014
JJ Ntshaykolo Thacher 2013
Joe Reid Casa Grande 2014
Jerome Rigor Foothil High School 2013
Aran Roberts San Ramon Valley 2014
Josh Wellman Oakridge 2014

Both teams (2013s and 2014s) play in the Quarterfinals tonight.

Semis and Finals take place tomorrow morning. Go Outlaws!

Summer recruiting camp news

Inside Lacrosse on Joe Lang at Jake Reed:
Another guy to watch with a high upside is Joe Lang (St. Ignatius Prep, Calif.), the younger brother of former Cornell standout, Roy. He's effective in 'catch and shoot' situations but is still working on his success rate on 
the run. Pretty special end-to-end player.


Inside Lacrosse on Peter Tagliaferri at Jake Reed:
California native Peter Tagliaferri (San Ramon Valley, Calif.) is also a raw athlete, but can face-off and plays scrappy otherwise.

King of the Hill All-Stars

Here is a list of All-Stars from the King of the Hill tournament:

Class of 2013*:
Jack McGovern  Close D St. Ignatius
Jerome Rigor Attack Foothill

Class of 2014^:
Will Ernst Goalie University
Joe Lang Attack St. Ignatius
Joe Reid Casa Grande
Aran Roberts San Ramon Valley
Patrick Tracey Attack Redwood

*I heard from a Dad that Coach Edwards promoted only those who were uncommitted
^ I believe I am missing one or two All-Stars from the Class of 2014. Please send me a comment if you know the names of the remaining All-Stars from this Class.

Thanks to a commenter, I have added Joe Reid and Aran Roberts to the 2014 All-Stats at King of the Hill. 6/29/2012

Day 1 of the Langkammerer

Here's an incomplete – and sketchy – report on Day 1 of the Langkammerer.

Brophy Prep (AZ)  6 Bellarmine (CCS CA) 3 Either Bellarmine's getting better or Brophy had an off game. This spread is smaller than I expected.

Marin Catholic 14 Serra 6 This IS about what I expected. Marin Catholic is a very nice team that seeks to find the open man on the crease. They are successful in this and that's why they're good on offense. They are energetic and relentless on defense and that creates offensive opportunities. This is a team I have grown to like. I like Serra, too. They are just earlier on the development curve than Marin Catholic.

St, Ignatius (CCS) 13 Monte Vista (NCS) 4. This is about what I had expected. Well, it was 1 goal less differential than I expected, and if the refs had not mistakenly excluded a goal by SI I would have been right on the money. SI's Will McKee continues his amazing performance at the foX, The D unit is superbly coordinated and the midfield produced a few nice goals, including a big rip from 10 yards by Phil Alimam. The SI Attack line is the best I have ever seen, in CA – possibly beyond. They are all interchangeable in skills, feeding, and finishing. What that means is when an opponent puts their top pole on, say, JW MCGovern, Poles 2 & 3 face Attackmen who are functionally equivalent. Here's my premise: There is almost always a hierarchy of talent among any Close D unit and in an Attack unit that is good (and equal in skill) the Attackman covered by the weakest Pole will have a BIG day! If you have not seen this Attack line – Chad Cohan, Joe Lang, JW McGovern –  you are missing something special. You owe it to yourself to see these three this season. In an earlier post, I suggested this might be – in quotes – "an interesting game." The outcome was about as expected. The Mustangs are a well-coached team, with a number of fine players, but – this year – they were not a strong match for the Wildcats.

Corona Del Mar 15 – Menlo School 5. It was 3-0 CDM when I left things didn't get any better for Menlo. CDM is big, fast, smart, and unselfish. Their offensive QB, Mike Keasey, is smart, fast, and versatile. The Sea Kings are a very good team! The kind of team whose smarts, ball movement, and physicality makes them a WOW team to watch. Menlo is a smart team, with nice stick skills. The kind of team you want to do well. Against many teams the attributes of smart and skilled can carry the day. Today they ran into a team that is also smart and skilled, but has additional attributes of size and speed. Menlo rarely underperforms expectation, and they did not underperform today. The computers said they lose by about 10 goals and that's the way it turned out. I'm a fan of Menlo lacrosse and will watch them again this season!

More tomorrow on a VERY entertaining Langkammerer.

SI pounds Rancho Bernardo, 17-6

One of the top teams in Southern California came calling at J. B. Murphy field at St. Ignatius Monday. Rancho Bernardo, sporting a gaudy 96.2 LaxPower rating and a record of 9-1, had lost only to the top team in San Diego, Torrey Pines. In seven of its nine wins, Rancho Bernardo had put up double digit goals. The Broncos are a very good team.

For their part, the St. Ignatius Wildcats entered the contest with an unblemished 9-0 record and notable victories over San Ramon Valley – the top team in the North Coast Section – and Dallas Jesuit – the top team in the State of Texas. I've been looking forward to this game between the Equines and the Felines since the SI schedule was announced!

Both teams have beautiful ball movement and off-ball player movement, with the Broncos primarily running a 1-3-2 and a  2-2-2 bow-tie offense, with lots of picking and re-picking in front of the crease to free up a finisher on the doorstep. The Wildcats have several offensive sets, but the ones I enjoy watching the most involve initiating via a pick and roll below GLE or a pick and roll up top. Very Canadian, eh?

In a flurry of early scoring, the Broncos drew first blood, SI responded with two quick tallies, then the Broncos tied it up at deuces. That would be the last time the game was tied, as all parts of SI's vaunted game were on display, from FO and wing play, to great speed in transition, to wonderful D middie athleticism, to effective EMO play, to a big-time goalie, and a defense that – while not huge – is agile, mobile, and hostile! The Broncos determined early on that they couldn't run with the 'cats and went to a slowdown game in their settled O. Slowed down so much that they were called for stalling in the second quarter when they were down by, I believe, three goals.

Things didn't improve much for the Broncos and, on this day at least, they were no match for the 'cats. I have only a casual grasp on the stats but, by my count, middies Peter Doyle (2G) and Spencer Evans (1G) had the only scores other than SI's starting Attack, which collectively tallied 14G with numerous assists. Assists by middies included beautiful feeds from Matt Emery, Chad Bell, and David Fleming.

Score by quarter:
Team    Q1  Q2  Q3  Q4 Total
RB         2     2     1     1    6
SI          6      1    4      6   17

SI Offensive production:
Player                Pos  G   A  P
Joe Lang             A    6    2   8
Chad Cohan       A    3    3   6
JW McGovern    A    5   0   5
Peter Doyle        M    2   2   4
Matt Emery        M    0   2   2
Chad Bell            M   0   2   2
Spencer Evans  M    1   0   1
David Fleming   M    0   1   1

Totals:                 17 12  29  71% of goals assisted

Great win by the SI boys, but it doesn't get any easier. Archbishop Mitty Wednesday, De La Salle on Thursday, the SI Alumni game on Saturday and the Langkammerer next week, where the 'cats will take on Monte Vista from the North Coast Section, San Clemente from the Southern Section, and Brophy Prep from Arizona.

I encourage all lax fans with flexible schedules to take in some of the matches at the Jerry Langkammerer Invitational on April 12, 13, and 14. High level HS lacrosse for your viewing pleasure!

Question: I'm hearing noises that yet another SI laxer has committed to a DI school. If you can confirm this, add an anonymous comment.

Lax Magazine releases West Boys' Regional Update

Lax Magazine, the official publication of US Lacrosse, released a West Boys' Regional Report yesterday. Their Top 10 Western teams include three from NorCal – SI, SRV, and MV. Coaches Chris Packard of SI and Peter Worstell of SRV are quoted in the article. Players mentioned include: Chad Cohan, Joe Lang, JW McGovern, Michael Tagliaferri, and Patrick Worstell.

You can read the whole thing at:

http://www.laxmagazine.com/high_school/boys/2011-12/news/032812_west_region_report

Saint Ignatius defeats Dallas Jesuit, 7-6

JW McGovern (SI) up against Mike McCarney (DJ)

photos courtesy of Dave Hilbe

I've been looking forward to this game since the schedule was released! Dallas Jesuit is the top team in Texas this year, according to almost all the rating services. SI is, arguably, the top team in California. Intersectional battles don't get any better than this. Both teams have a number of commited DI players and StickStar Lacrosse, a website focusing on Texas High School lacrosse lists Dallas Jesuit as having the #1 Faceoff guy and the #1 close D in the State of Texas.

The SI boys got up at 3:30 AM yesterday, got to SFO at 4:30 AM and took a 4 and a 1/2 hour flight to Houston today. Then, after spending another two hours collecting their bags and bussing to their hotel, they headed off to Strake Jesuit for a game against Dallas Jesuit, the top-rated team in Texas. The game started at 7PM. They defeated a very, very good Dallas Jesuit team, 7-6.

Saint Ignatius was, decisively, the better team in the first half. They led, 5-1 after two quarters. Dallas Jesuit owned the second half, 5-2. Final score: Saint Ignatius 7, Dallas Jesuit 6.  I believe some of that second half was due to SI's travel weariness, but most of the 2H results came about because a very good Dallas Jesuit team fought back from adversity and almost pulled out the victory. Congrats to both teams on a well-played, exciting game!

SI Offense:
JW McGovern 4G 0A 4P
Joe Lang 1G 2A 3P
Chad Cohan 1G 0A 1P
Peter Doyle 0G 1A 1P
Matt Emery 1G 0A 1P

FO: Rare off night at the X for Will McKee. He went up against the top face-off guy in Texas. On any given night, odd things can happen! Will's a tremendous asset for SI lacrosse.

SI Defense:
Jack McGovern with numerous CTs. An outstanding on-ball defender
Cyrus Scott exceptional night in the cage
Cullen Vincellette excellent night at D mid by this high-speed player

More of Dave Hilbes's photos may be seen at:

http://www.pbase.com/dhilbe/12sisfvsdj

2012 SI v SRV game highlight reel

Here is a brief highlight vid of the Saint Ignatius v San Ramon Valley game of March 9th, 2012

http://www.laxratz.com/2012/03/st-ignatius-prep-v-san-ramon-valley-9th-march-2012/