SI alum Roy Lang scores in Cornell victory over Army

SI alum Roy Lang scored a goal yesterday in Cornell's victory over Army. The Big Red overwhelmed Army 18-7. You can read the article at:
http://www.cornellbigred.com/news/2012/3/3/MLAX_0303121517.aspx

Dominican defeats Westminster, 11-3

I headed off to San Rafael yesterday, to take in the Dominican game against Westminster College of Utah. I wanted to watch Brian Raaka, who had developed into a very nice player at Miramonte and is now plying his trade as an LSM for Dominican University, the rapidly improving NCAA DII team in our backyard. I liked what I saw – of both the Penguins and Brian!

First, a little background on Westminster. The Griffins are a highly ranked MCLA DII team (6th in the current poll) , which made a swing through NorCal, playing St, Mary's of Moraga, another highly-ranked MCLA DII team (11th in the current poll) and then Dominican. The Griffins handled St. Mary's 10-3 and then headed up to Marin to take on a rapidly improving Dominican team. The Griffins have ambitions to go NCAA DII and this game would give them a feel for changes in competitive level between MCLA DII and NCAA DII. Was there a difference? Um, yes! The Penguins scored early and often, prevailing by a score of 11-3. Still, the Griffins are an enthusiastic squad who have high expectations for themselves. Personally, I'd like to see them move into NCAA DII.

The Penguins were bigger, faster, and more skilled than their opponents today and it showed in the score. I saw some nice players from issaquah, Washington, a nice LSM from Novato, former EBAL standouts, and other solid players, including Brian Raaka, whom I had the pleasure of coaching... long, long, ago.

Dominican's field is a little jewel box, set in a glade with an amazing view of Mt. Tam. The Penguins are under construction with a new field, adjacent to the existing field. I hope it can maintain the intimacy of the existing facility, which is near magical.

The Penguins coaching staff is excellent. Really, it is surprisingly good, and you can read about the staff at:
http://www.dominicanathletics.com/sports/2010/4/28/LAX_0428100549.aspx?path=mlax

Finally, on to Brian, the reason I attended. He looked good and looks like he'll get better. I had him with a CT and 2GBs, though the Box Score disagrees with me. I've never let the Box Score intimidate me, since it often does not get validated with film review. So, here's a picture of Brian, armored up

and one more – the obligatory picture of Mother and Son. It's been my experience that Mothers never look happier – or more beautiful – than when they are watching their sons compete. Certainly true in this case!

I enjoyed the whole experience at Dominican – team, parents, and ambience. Go Penguins!

West Side Lax ranks NorCal teams and players

West Side Lax has produced its annual boys'  lax projections for NorCal. Here are the highlights:

Pre-Season Top NorCal teams:

1. St. Ignatius Prep

2. San Ramon Valley

3. De La Salle

4. Monte Vista Danville

5. Bellarmine

6. Berkeley

7. Acalanes

8. Foothill-Pleasanton

9. Amador Valley

10. Piedmont

Pre-Season Top NorCal Players:

1. Michael Tagliaferri, San Ramon Valley (2013) M: UNC
Senior midfielder who has been selected to play for the U-19 National team. Great dodger who can score from almost anywhere.

2. Matt Emery, St. Ignatius (2013) M: Virginia
Younger brother of UVA standout Rob Emery. Matt is a midfielder with great speed and athleticism with a fast shot. A 2 time Under Armour all American.

3. Mike Schlosser, Davis (2013) M: Michigan
Selected to play on the Under Armour All-American underclass team. Great midfielder who can dodge and finish with both hands.

4. Patrick Worstell, St. Ignatius (2012) A/M: Syracuse
Senior midfielder/attackman was an All American last season who is comfortable initiating from all over the field.

5. Wiley Osborne, Menlo (2013) A: Dartmouth
Crafty attackman who isn’t afraid to turn the corner and bury shots.

6. Charlie Ford, St. Ignatius (2013) D: Georgetown
Junior long stick midfielder who makes his living shutting down the opposition’s key players.

7. Spencer Evans, St. Ignatius (2013) M: Harvard
Great dodging midfielder with a powerful shot on the run.

8. Jack McCormick, De la Salle (2013) A: Dartmouth
Crafty left handed attack man. Jack is a great feeder and finisher.

9. Michael Hernandez, Piedmont (2012) M: Michigan
Tall, athletic midfielder with great clearing ability and good vision.

10. JW McGovern, St. Ignatius (2013) M: Yale
Athletic midfielder who is a key part of Saint Ignatius' strong offense.

Other Players to Watch:

Chad Cohan (St. Ignatius), Griffin Goudreau (Bellarmine Prep), Chad Bell (St. Ignatius), Joe Lang (St. Ignatius), Cyrus Scott (St. Ignatius), Gus Gradinger (Monte Vista Danville), Will Ernst (University), Will McKee (St. Ignatius),

So far, so good. WSL is offering up opinions, and opinions are subjective. All eighteen players on the list are fine  players and WSL can slice and dice them any way they please. We can all have opinions, but as I have said before with regard to WSL, "EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO THEIR OWN OPINIONS, BUT THEY ARE NOT ENTITLED TO THEIR OWN FACTS." Here's the issue: WSL doesn't really know anything about  NorCal lax. They don't know the players, they don't know their positions, they don't know their grade levels, they don't know their bios,  they don't know what schools they attend or whom to believe and that's why their write-ups always seem so goofy.

A few examples should suffice:

• In the body of WSL's NorCal write-up they assert: "San Ramon Valley possesses the most talented individual in the WSL coverage area in senor[sic] Michael Tagliafrerri. Tagliaferri, the UNC commit and US Under-19 team member, is undoubtedly on[sic] of the top players in the country." Michael is a fine player. He MAY be the best player in the WSL area, but Matt Florence, a Senior Midfielder from Kent Denver in Colorado (a UVA commit) is also a member of the National U19 team. Last time I checked, Colorado was in the WSL coverage area.

• Michael Tags and JW McGovern are listed as Class of 2013, when they are Class of 2012

• Patrick Worstell, a wonderful player, is not an A/M. In SRV's offensive scheme he often "rests" at Attack, but he is a Midfielder through and through.

• Similarly, JW McGovern is an Attack through and through - not a midfielder as WSL lists him.
• Patrick Worstell plays for San Ramon Valley, not St. Ignatius as WSL writes.

I'll leave it at that – though I could easily go on.

Every one of the players listed is a fine lacrosse player and they deserve all the accolades they receive. One just wishes for a more knowledgable and reliable commenter than West Side Lax.

But read the entire article yourself at:
http://www.westsidelax.com/wsl-presents-2012-california-boys-preview-north-central-coast

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!

Former Bellamarine standout has hat trick in season opener for DII Colorado Mesa University

Austin Pridham

Austin Pridham, former standout Attackman for Bellarmine Prep has made the transition to NCAA DII look easy, In his first game for Colorado Mesa University, he had 3 goals in a CMU victory over Adams State. He was the team's leading scorer. You can read the game write-up at:
http://cmumavericks.com/news/2012/2/25/MLAX_0225122833.aspx

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." 

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.

NYIT tops Dominican 11-8

NYIT travelled to NorCal to do battle with the Dominican Penguins. Pretty even game, so it seems, with Dominican winning the ground ball battle, 34-29, but losing the game, 11-8. A personal favorite of mine, Brian Raaka was a starter on D and scooped up 3 of those 34 GBs and plenty of NorCal guys played well.
Box score available at:
http://www.dominicanathletics.com/custompages/stats/lax/2012/ducm01.htm

and game write-up can be read at:
http://www.dominicanathletics.com/news/2012/2/19/LAX_0219125227.aspx?path=mlax

Go Penquins!

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

The Langkammerer Trophy

The Jerry Langkammerer Invitational is the most prestigious in-season High School lacrosse tournament in the Western United States. It is hosted by Saint Ignatius College Prep and annually gathers a top-notch field of teams from a bunch of states in the Western United States. This year will be no different. I've been fortunate to attend all the Langkammerer Invitationals. I wouldn't miss it. Last year I saw a flash of the new trophy for the Langkammerer and it looked great. Now, I've got a few pics of it. Here they are:

 Count on SI to do it right! This thing is 30 inches of limited edition bronze sculptures, brass plaques, and solid mahogany planks, and is a fitting trophy for a tremendous tournament. Every team that has ever participated in the Langkammerer is listed for the year in which they competed. This year's event should be just as good as ever!

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.