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!              

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.

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!

Rosters for Under Armour Senior Lacrosse All-America teams announced

Rosters for the Under Armour Senior All-America teams have been announced and can be scrutinized at:
http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2012/05/16/2012-under-armour-all-america-lacrosse-senior-teams-announced#comment-542865

As announced here earlier, Michael Tagliaferri was named to the UA North team. Other Western players making the Under Armour Senior All-America team are:

Brendan Gaughan A La Costa Canyon Michigan
Matt Florence M Kent Denver Virginia
Tanner Scales D Regis Jesuit Virginia

Neither Michael Tagliaferri nor Matt Florence will be able to play in the UA AA game, as they are both members of the USA U19 team and have conflicting schedules as part of the USA TEAM.

Congrats to all these fine Western players!

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

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!

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." 

2012 Under Armour Underclassmen games - West Team

Tryouts for the 2012 Under Armour Underclassmen All-American games were held in Southern California. Shortly afterward, the team was announced and can be seen at:

http://www.underarmourlacrosse.com/content/team-bios/index.cfm?typeId=3

Of the 24 players on the squad,  1 is from Arizona, 1 is from Washington, 2 are from Nevada, 5 are from Colorado, and 15 are from California. Breaking down California, 1 player is from greater Los Angeles, while seven apiece come from San Diego and NorCal. Breaking down our NorCal guys, five are from SI, one is from Menlo School and one is from Davis. I believe all seven of the NorCal players have committed to play DI Lacrosse, though not all the players have made their selections public.

The five players to make the West team from Saint Ignatius is a high water mark for players from a single school selected by the West team. Interestingly, the prior high for players from a single school was three in 2011 and those three also came from Saint Ignatius.

Matt Emery becomes only the second player from NorCal to have participated on two Under Armour Underclassmen teams – JW McGovern being the first.

Rob Emery's game-winner at Drexel

Rob Emery fired in the game winning goal with 4:48 remaining in UVA's contest with Drexel. The final score was 9-8. You can read a bit more about the game at:

http://www.lacrosseplayground.com/virginias-rob-emery-rips-game-winner-over-drexel/

2 NorCal laxers make NCAA DI Pre-season AA

Two NorCal laxers have been named as Pre-Season All Americans by Inside Lacrosse. Senior Roy Lang of Cornell and Sophomore Rob Emery of Virginia are the first-ever duo of NorCal guys to be nominated for this honor.

Both Roy and Rob played at Saint Ignatius (and played as teammates for two years) continuing a long line of SI players who have represented NorCal well at the NCAA DI level.

See the list of pre-season AAs at:
http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2011/12/06/2012-face-yearbook-division-i-preseason-all-americans