College: Johnno Gibbons at Amherst

Johnno Gibbons

Johnno Gibbons, former SI standout, is the starting FO guy at Amherst. He's winning about 50% of his faces (17-35) and leads the team in GBs with 12. Way to go, Johnno!

College: Colorado Mesa defeats Queens, 8-7

Austin Pridham

Colorado Mesa travelled to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on Queens University in a battle of solid NCAA DII powers in front of 500 screaming fans. Austin Pridham, the former Bellarmine standout, scored the winner with 28 seconds left in the contest! He had a hat trick for the game.

On the defensive side of the field, Colorado Mesa's Eric McCosker, former De La Salle standout, had 2 GBs and 2 CTOs to blunt the Royals offense.

For the Queens University Royals, Casey Hock, former Monte Vista All-American, had a goal in a losing cause. Casey continues to lead the Royals in Goals and Points.

Here's a news story about the game:

http://www.laxpower.com/laxnews/news.php?story=32590


These pictures will bring back memories for a lot of NorCal Lacrosse fans:

Austin Pridham, Mitch Flaherty, Casey Hock, and Shane O'Neil (Eric McCosker was in the shower while this picture was taken)

Mitch and Casey

In the lower picture, it's worth noting that Mitch and Casey first played TOGETHER on The NCJLA U-13 NorCal travel team that went to Vail in 2005. That's a lot of history! These guys all played AGAINST each other in NCJLA games even before that. Amazing!

Thanks to Lori Hock for taking these photos. She's the best!

College: Kenyon's Aliman brothers show well in loss to Franklin & Marshall

Nick and Phil Aliman both attended St. Ignatius and were serious contributors to their squads. Now, both attend NCAA DIII Kenyon, where they roam the midfield. In last week's game against Franklin & Marshall, both brothers were offensive contributors. Nick had an Assist and Phil had two goals. Way to go, guys!

Here's a write-up from the F&M game that gives a tip of the hat to Phil:
http://athletics.kenyon.edu/news/2013/3/5/MLAX_0305130032.aspx

College: NorCal guys give MCLA DI Stanford lots of Firepower

Stanford University's MCLA DI team is currently ranked #4 in the country. They've won two games by forfeit. but of the 6 games they've actually played, they're averaging 12 points per game. Three NorCal guys are offensive stalwarts for the Cardinal. They are:

Jack Farr, former SI standout, who is averaging 2.33 GPG and 2A per game, for 4.33 Points per game

Peter Doyle, former Si standout, is averaging 3 GPG and 0.66 APG, for 3.66 Points per game

Hunter Irvin, former Berkeley standout, is averaging 1 GPG and 0.5 APG, for 1.5 Points per game

These three, in the games they've played, are scoring more than half of Stanford's average goals per game.

Way to go, guys!

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!              

College: NCAA DII: Queens University thrashes Coker, looks forward to Colorado Mesa

Casey Hock

Queens University thrashed Coker last night, 14-6. NorCal standout Casey Hock went off for 6 points in the game – with three goals and three assists –  leading all players in points. Coker is a middle of the pack team in NCAA DII, ranked 26th out of 50 by LaxPower, while Queens weighs in as #10 in DII. Casey is playing very well, starting all four games and leads the Royals in goals with 7 and points with 10, while being tied for 2nd in assists with 3.

The game of interest to NorCal fans takes place between Queens and Colorado Mesa on March 9th. The Mavericks, ranked 20th in DII, travel to Charlotte to take on the Royals. I've never seen the Mavericks play, but they have a strong NorCal contingent on the squad. I have seen the Royals play, though only twice, and I'll  put my money on Queens, primarily because Colorado Mesa has to travel 2/3 of the way across country to play the game.

Sadly, I won't be in the stands, as I'll be in New Haven, taking in a series of games that Yale will be playing, but a part of me wishes I could be in Charlotte for this game! Biggest aggregation of NorCal guys going at it in all of the NCAA!

College: Colorado Mesa travels to North Carolina to face Queens

In an upcoming NCAA DII Intersectional battle between two teams with NorCal players, the 20th ranked Colorado Mesa Mavericks will travel to Charlotte, NC taking on 11th ranked Queens University Royals. March 9th.

Colorado Mesa has five NorCal guys on the roster:
Mitch Flaherty Amador Valley
Eric McCosker De La Salle
Shane O'Neil Foothill
Austin Pridham Bellarmine
Guiliano Sanchez De La Salle

Queens has one NorCal guy:
Casey Hock Monte Vista

Casey has started all three games for Queens and has tallied four goals so far, playing a rugged schedule having faced #9 Post and #1 Mercyhurst.

For the Mavericks, Austin Pridham was third in goal and assists last season, Eric McCosker was third on the team in caused turnovers, and Shane O'Neil was third in ground balls in 2012. All big-time contributors!

Should be a great game!

College: Penquins clobber Argos

Dominican University met Notre Dame de Namur Saturday and the Penquins thumped the Argos, 18-3. LaxPower has a nice write-up that can be read here.

Nice comment about former Miramonte standout Brian Raaka. At the moment, Dominican is ranked #7 in NCAA DII.

College: DII Queens defeats Wingate in opener

In a nother North Carolina game, NCAA DII Queens University of Charlotte defeated Wingate, 14-5. Casey Hock, former Monte Vista standout and All-American, put up a hat trick in the victory. Six shots producing three goals is pretty impressive. Charlotte is a 3.5 hour drive for me, so I did not see this one in person. I'll get to one of his games this season!

Nicely done, Casey!

Mike Sappio at USNA

This blogger most often talks about NCAA lacrosse players from NorCal, but this blog entry is about a club player – at the United States Naval Academy – Mike Sappio. I've known Mike for a decade or more, first as one of his coaches at Lamorinda, then as a fan who watched his High School career with keen interest. Mike was not an All-American. He was not recruited to play NCAA DI Lacrosse. He played for Miramonte and was a very capable defender. He was athletic enough, he was gritty enough, and he was certainly smart enough to be a DI player. He just wasn't big enough.

He'd always wanted to go to the Naval Academy, as he comes from a  Maritime family. An allergy kept him from being admitted during his Senior year, so he ended up going to UCSB, a school that mapped to his academic prowess. But, he applied to Annapolis again – he's relentless, you see. This time, Navy couldn't resist. His grades, his character, his relentlessness – let me say that again – his relentlessness – made him irresistible to Navy. Well, that and his character and test scores! So, here is Plebe Michael Sappio, in uniform:

Michael Sappio

He made the Club team at Navy, but WAY more important than that, he's someone you can count on to defend our country. Congrats on your achievement, Mike! Can't think of anyone better than you to stand watch for us!

College: Lacrosse weekend: watching NorCal laxers in North Carolina

Ben Krebs after his stint in cage

Just back from my 3rd NCAA DI game of the weekend! Friday night, #4 UNC defeated the Air Force Academy, 16-8. NorCal standout Mike Tagliaferri – the San Ramon Valley legend – did not play, as he is still suffering a slow-healing injury.

Saturday, #6 Duke met #8 Denver and Denver prevailed. Both Dax and Chad Cohan – former SI standouts – are on injured reserve and didn't dress. Ben Krebs, Foothill's fiery and passionate goalie and scholar-athlete, dressed but saw no action.

Today, Duke took on Jacksonville and won big. Ben Krebs played the fourth quarter, until he was pulled, allowing the last goalie on the depth chart have a shot in cage.  During Ben's time in cage he faced 5 SOG and saved 4 – for a heady 80% save percentage.^ Nicely done, Ben!

So, that's my report from the East on this very first week of the season. It was a blast!
_______________
^ The goal Ben allowed came when Duke was 2 men down.

Movin' On

With apologies to Lewis Carroll:

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and college lax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."


After a decade of posting about, watching, and talking about Northern California lacrosse,  I have reason to spend the next four lax seasons on the East coast – watching college games in all three NCAA Divisions. Most of the players I knew in Youth and High School lacrosse, in indoor leagues and on summer travel teams have moved on. Literally dozens of them have made the cross-country trip East. My Son is just one of them. I've never seen an Amherst vs Williams game, a North Carolina vs Duke game, or a Harvard vs Yale game! So, for the next four years, that's where you can find me from mid-February to Memorial Day.

Oh, I'll write here every so often – maybe once every month or two – and even then, it'll be about the college game. But, I'll still be watching the game I love and watching all the NorCal guys I've known over the years as they make their mark on the college game.

So, to all those who read this blog and to those who continue to read the NorCalLaxForum, where I was lucky enough to find games enough, or teams enough, or players enough to write 3,470 posts – I want to say, "Thanks for the memories!"


P.S. There may be a couple of you who wonder what my connection to NorCal Lacrosse is:

Here's my boy in the Blue and White of Lamorinda and the Blue and White of Yale.

He's 8 years old in the top picture and 18 years old in the bottom, where he's on the left.

Inside Lacrosse player write-ups at Adrenaline Challenge

Adrenaline Challenge Recruiting Round-up

Inside Lacrosse has a nice recruiting round-up from the Adrenaline Challenge. You can read it here. It features comments on a number of NorCal guys, including:

Mikie Schlosser M Davis HS/Michigan
Joe Reid Casa M Grande HS/Denver
Jack McCormick A De La Salle HS/Dartmouth
Josh Wellman M/FO Oak Ridge HS/Penn State
Niko Souza LSM San Ramon Valley HS/Furman
Austin Appleton G Sacred Heart Prep
Matt Emery M St. Ignatius/Virginia

Adrenaline Challenge All-Star teams released

All-Star teams, comprised of players selected by their coaches, were released by Adrenaline. As has been the case in past years, already committed players did not participate in the All-Star games, thus giving college coaches their best opportunity to see players who were still considering colleges. Here is the 2013-2014 list of All-Stars:

and here is the list of 2015-2016 All-Stars:

NorCal's ADVNC wins 2013 Adrenaline Challenge

Adrenaline Challenge Elite victors, ADVNC

NorCal's ADVNC team won the Adrenaline Challenge this past weekend, defeating Lax Dawgs Brown in the Championship game of the Elite Division. They prevailed, 11-5. You can read a write-up by Inside Lacrosse here.