College: Rob Emery lightin' it up for the Cavaliers

Five games into the season, Rob Emery – unsurprisingly called the California Cannon – has been a terrific weapon for UVA this year. The Face Off Yearbook/Inside Lacrosse preseason All-American has 9 G 2A and 11P in his first five games of the season. Here's the breakdown:

Opponent           G   A   P
Drexel                1    0    1
VMI                   2    1    3
Stony Brook      0   0    0
Mt. Sat. Mary's  2   0   2
Syracuse            2   0   2

Totals:               9   2   11

The two-time HS All-American SI alum is doing NorCal proud!              

NCAA Player Impact Ratings

In an earlier post, I covered a mathematical system, developed by Dr. Martin Feldman, for assessing the impact lacrosse players have on the game. My earlier post can be seen here.

In this post, I list the NorCal NCAA players in DI and DII who performed in the top bracket created by Dr. Feldman, the author of "Player Impact Ratings". To make Dr. Feldman's list, DI players had to participate in at least ten games. Players whose Impact Rating number would have made this list, but who did not participate in ten games are not included. To give just one example, Giancarlo Sangiacomo's Impact Rating would easily have made the top defender list, but he did not play in the requisite ten games.

NCAA DI:
Attack: Parker Brown (Brown), Alex Capretta (Princeton), Billy Mattimore (Bucknell)
Midfield: Rob Emery (UVA), Roy Lang (Cornell), John Glesener (Army)*
Defense: none in top 200
Goalie: none in top 200

NCAA DII:
Attack: Austin Pridham (Colo. Mesa), Casey Hock (Queens), Gabe Garcia (Colo. Mesa)
Midfield: none in top 200
Defense: Brian Raaka (Dominican U)
Goalie: none in top 40

NCAA DIII:
Attack: Jack Bodine Haverford)
Midfield: Nick Alimam (Kenyon), David Lee (Williams)
Defense: none in top group
Goalie: Nick Massa Kenyon

You can find the rankings for all NCAA players whose complete stats were reported by the respective colleges here.

Taking all positions into account, NorCal's highest rated NCAA DI Impact Player was Parker Brown of Brown University. For NCAA DII, Brian Raaka of Dominican University was NorCal's highest rated Impact Player, and for NCAA DIII, Nick Aliman of Kenyon College.

Congrats to the players who repped NorCal Lacrosse so well!
________________________
* John Glesener played his Youth Lacrosse for the Scorpions and played his Freshman year at De La Salle, before moving to West Genesee, New York.

Alcatraz Outlaws Alumni game

Each year, the Alcatraz Outlaws bring together the current team(s) and the alumni to have a little pickup game. It's great fun, and as you'll see, it's a great event for players,  parents, siblings, and coaches. Here are a few pictures of today's event:

Alumni:

Alex Capretta - Princeton grad

Connor Hunt - Cornell Undergrad

Carson Mead - news pending

Food:

Food by the truckload!

GOOD food, by the way!

The squad:

This year's players listen to Alums' advice
Speakers: Parker Brown, Jack Bodine, Alex Capretta, Rob Emery, Bobby Gray

The Outlaws with Alcatraz in the background

Players after the scrimmage

Parents, Fans & Future Outlaws:

Future Outlaw 

Parents and other fans

More of the crowd

From what I hear, a great time was had by all. Go Outlaws!

You can see the complete rosters of both Alcatraz Outlaw teams at:

http://norcallacrosse.blogspot.com/2012/03/alcatraz-outlaws-announce-2-rosters.html

2012 season stats for NorCal NCAA DI players

Here is a compilation of season statistics for all NorCal NCAA DI players for the 2012 season. If I have forgotten any DI players from NorCal, please send a comment.

Please note that I have included John Glesener, who played his Youth Lacrosse with the Diablo Scopions (and played for DLS as a Freshman). I also include Billy Baird, who played his Youth Lacrosse with the Lamorinda Lightning. Nineteen NorCal guys playing DI Lacrosse. A very few years ago, who'd have believed it!

NorCal DI category leaders are:
Goals: Rob Emery, 24, Alex Capretta 23, Parker Brown 20
Assists: Parker Brown 20, John Glesener 17, Alex Capretta 11
Points: Parker Brown 40, Alex Capretta 34, John Glesener 33
Ground Balls: Rob Emery 27, Roy Lang 23, Parker Brown 21
Caused Turnovers: Kevin Downs 8, Billy Baird 6, Giancarlo Sangiacomo 3

Emery & Lang named 2012 DI NCAA All-American

The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA), whose members are NCAA college coaches, annually names NCAA All-American Lacrosse players. They recently released their 2012 teams. Northern California had the following players named:

DI:
Roy Lang 3rd team MF Cornell, attended St. Ignatius
Rob Emery HM MF Virginia, attended St. Ignatius

This is the first time ever that two NorCal guys have been named to the USILA All-American. Congrats to Roy and Rob!

You can see all the All-Americans in all three Divisions at:

http://www.usila.org/AllAmericanPDFs/2012-DivI-AA.pdf

Rob Emery's head and stringing analyzed

When you can shoot 104 MPH, people want to know how you do it. I recently published a post from All West Lacrosse wherein Dan Nourse was the commentator on a video while Rob Emery ripped a few. You can see the video here:

http://norcallacrosse.blogspot.com/2012/05/rob-emery-demonstrates-his-time-room.html

Now, there's a thread on The Lacrosse Forums in which a poster claims to have one of Rob's backup sticks. The poster has photos up of the stringing and answers question about the stick from numerous inquirers. Wanna read it? Here's the link:

http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showthread.php?t=238307

Can Rob really shoot it 104 MPH? Well, I've never put a radar gun on one of his shots, but I can say this: Of all the lacrosse games I've ever watched in person (maybe 1,000) and watched on television (maybe 400), I have seen only 2 players blow a hole in the net as the ball went straight on through. Rob was one of them and the game took place at the Adrenaline Challenge in San Diego. I even have a video of it which I'll try and find. If it surfaces, I'll post it here. NorCal laxers – blowing up nets since 2010!

Addendum: I found the video of Rob blowing a hole in the net: View it at:

Rob Emery – the "hole" truth!

Rob Emery demonstrates his Time & Room shot

Here's a cool video of UVA star and former 2x HS AA from St. Ignatius, Rob Emery – at an All West Lacrosse Camp – giving you the tips and techniques to rip a Time & Room shot:

http://laxx.tv/link/8081/

At an Adrenaline Challenge in San Diego, several years ago, I saw one of Rob's shots blow a hole in the net. Amazing! He shoots it 104 MPH.

Michael Tagliaferri named to Under Armour All-American game

Today I learned that Michael Tagliaferri, San Ramon Valley Senior, Junior Year HS All-American and University of North Carolina commit, was named to play in the Under Armour All-American game in Baltimore this summer.

Only 44 graduated High School Seniors participate in this annual event – 22 on the North team and 22 on the South team. As has been the case in the past, this game will be nationally televised by one of the ESPN channels.

Corrigan Enterprises manages this event and here's what they have to say about it:

" The Top 44 senior boys and girls are selected by a committee made up of the nation's most knowledgeable figures in high school lacrosse. Only true seniors in good academic standing are considered for participation. The players will compete in separate boys' and girls' North vs. South All-Star Games during the event.

The 2012 Under Armour All-America rosters are selected byINSIDE LACROSSE and the selection committee."

Michael becomes the sixth Californian to participate in the Under Armour All-America game, joining three other NorCal guys and two from San Diego. The earlier Under Armour All-Americans are:

Casey Hingtgen 2006 La Costa Canyon Dartmouth 

Will Yeatman 2006 Rancho Bernardo Maryland 

Alex Capretta 2008 St. Ignatius Princeton 

Roy Lang 2008 St. Ignatius Cornell 

Rob Emery 2010 St. Ignatius Virginia

Congratulations to Michael, who is definitely one of the finest High School players in the United States. I look forward to watching him in this game and in games when he's wearing Carolina Blue!

Rob Emery nets 2 in UVA win over Maryland

SI alum – and two-time HS All American – Rob Emery netted 2 goals yesterday in the Cavaliers 12-8 victory over the Maryland Terrapins. Emery, older brother of current SI midfielder, Matt, is a crucial contributor to Virginia lacrosse. Known by his nickname, the "California Cannon" ranks 4th on the team in points and second in goals. He was a pre-season NCAA DI All-American and has lived up to that expectation.

Doin' NorCal proud, Mr. Emery!

SI alums Lang & Emery score as UVA defeats Cornell in OT

Roy Lang

Rob Emery

Former SI alums Roy Lang and Rob Emery, opposing middies in an OT victory by UVA over Cornell, scored one goal and two, respectively, as the Wahoos won in a 9-8 OT thriller. You can read a write-up at: http://games.insidelacrosse.com/game/recap/6403/2012-03-10/cornell-big-red--virginia-cavaliers

SI alum Rob Emery scores 2 in victory over Sycracuse

Si alum Rob Emery scored two goals in today's victory by the #1 Virginia Cavaliers over #3 Syracuse. The final score was 14-10. You can read the game report at:
http://www.virginiasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17800&ATCLID=205391750