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. 

High School: Congrats to Matt Emery – Named to Under Armour All-American team

Matt Emery was recently named to the Under Armour All-American South team. Congrats to this St. Ignatius Senior – and his family – for being named to participate in this prestigious, nationally televised, event. Matt will attend UVA in the Fall, joining his brother, Rob, who was also named an Under Armour All-American in his Senior year at St. Ignatius.

2012 Under Armour West team 2-2: not in playoffs

West on offense

The 2012 Under Armour UnderClassmen (UAUC) games are underway in Baltimore. Seven NorCal guys are on this team. Through Pool play, they ended with a 2-2 record. They did not make the playoffs, since the other contenders have defeated the West team in head-to-head play. Nonetheless, they have acquitted themselves well and they represented the Western States nicely. Seven of the 24 members of the West UAUC team are from NorCal. Here they are:

Matt Emery SI M*
Spencer Evans SI M
Charlie Ford SI LSM
Jack McGovern SI D
Wiley Osborne Menlo A
Mikie Schlosser Davis M
Cyrus Scott SI GK

Game results for the West team so far:
6/29
West 7 New Jersey 6

6/30
Baltimore 16 West 8
Washington D.C. 14 West 6

7/1
West 12 v Midwest !0
______________________
• A two time member of UAUC teams. Matt is only the second California player to have been selected to two Under Armour UnderClassmen teams.

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!

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

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.

Under Armour Lacrosse medals

The West team did wonderfully at the Under Armour Underclassmen All-Star games in Baltimore recently. Heck, they defeated Baltimore – holiest of the holy hotbeds. Here are the medals participants in the tournament received. Congrats to Matt Emery, JW McGovern, Will McKee, and Patrick Worstell on their achievements!