Iona Prep hopes to be off and running on Wednesday against CHSAA rival Fordham Prep. (Photo by Stuart Bayer/The Journal News)
Are you ready?It’s time once again, my friends, for the return of our popular Monday morning feature, “Previews and picks.”
In case you forgot, here’s the deal.
I throw out a few games and give some analysis and predictions.
BUT … that’s just the start.
The rest is up to you.
I will then give a prediction on any game you want. You just have to ask.
So ask. I’m down.
All righty then, away we go …
Fordham Prep at Iona Prep (Wednesday, 4 p.m.): After seeing a pair of nationally ranked teams the last few days (John Jay in a scrimmage on Thursday and Chaminade in a game on Saturday), it will be interesting to see how Iona Prep does against its longtime CHSAA rival, Fordham Prep. The Rams are a young team with co-captain Michael Wrotniak, a defenseman, one of just three seniors. Iona Prep returns Nick Trizano, who led the LoHud region with 79 goals last season.
Prediction: Iona Prep 11, Fordham Prep 7
Lakeland/Panas at Suffern (Thursday, 6 p.m.): These teams have had some heated battles in years past and this one should be no exception. A Suffern win here would go a long way toward establishing the Mounties as a legitimate Class A contender. Lakeland/Panas may lack depth, but it has a solid group of potential impact players, starting with goalie Mike Mackay and including attackmen Jack Doherty and Keith Rodriguez, midfielder Mike Malan and defenseman Phil Honovich.
Prediction: Lakeland/Panas 9, Suffern 4
John Jay at Manhasset (Saturday, 7 p.m.): It would be hard to talk about this game without starting off with what happened last year when the teams met. In fact, we’d be foolish not to because it may have been the most exciting regular-season game of the year involving a Section 1 team. John Jay won 9-8 in triple OT for its first-ever win against Manhasset.
This year’s game could be equally as entertaining.
Manhasset is ranked No. 4 in the nation by Inside Lacrosse. John Jay is No. 9. But going in, Manhasset gets a slight edge because it returns nine starters, including Virginia-bound attackman Connor English and Harvard-bound defenseman Paul Pate.
One area that will be key is faceoffs as JJ’s Tyler Granelli and Harrison Silver square off against Manhasset’s Jeff Molinari in an intriguing game within a game. I project whoever wins the faceoff battle will win the game.
Prediction: Manhasset 10, John Jay 8
• “Here’s more”:http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080331/SPORTS02/803310324/-1/SPORTS on the showdown.
BTW – Connor English, who is a junior, even has “his own Web site.”:http://connorlax.com It’s called — what else? — connorlax.com.
93 Comments
hey joe, just want to know if u can give any predictios on any other games besides the ones you mentioned?
like the john jay and putnam valley game
i know its not supposed to be too much of a game but
do you expect big things from any of the young players on that put valley team?
Anybody know anything about the Croton or Sleepy Hollow Teams?
PV –
Absolutely I give picks on other games. Like I said, I throw a few picks out to start and then write back to any specific requests folks have on other games.
As for JJ at Put Valley on Tuesday, the Indians are obviously heavy favorites. The Tigers will have to play hard from the start and try to hold their own on faceoffs. Once PV gets possession, it will want to run deliberate offensive sets to keep the ball out of JJ’s hands. Having said all that, it’s a tall order obviously. I have a feeling it will be lower scoring than the Brewster game. Let’s say 12-4 JJ.
Thoughts?
A bit off topic, but this really illustrates the spread of lacrosse. Last year, it became a sanctioned varsity sport in Minnesota, and Kevin Kaiser (Yorktown Class of 1978) who now lives in Eden Prairie, Minn., is an assistant with the youth teams and the JV team there. The JV team will be coming to the area this week for a trip in which it will play four games, starting with Yorktown on Wednesday at 4 p.m., Iona Prep on Thursday at 4 p.m., John Jay on Friday at 7 and Fairfield Prep on Saturday at 10 a.m. The team will watch the Georgetown at Fairfield game on Saturday before heading back to Minnesota. One of Fairfield’s players, Todd Baxter, a freshman attackman, graduated from Eden Prairie.
Joe – I want a prediction on what lacrosse fans in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam should be doing on Wednesday morning, April 3
Reading our preview package in The Journal News and on LoHud.com, of course.
Who knows – we may even have a new podcast up at that point too!
Would that be Wednesday morning, April 2, or Thursday morning, April 3? Need to know this!
I didn’t catch that error, but glad you did.
It’s Wednesday, April 2.
Jeff – get a calendar.
Fordham Prep is going to rock Iona. They have absolutley no chance.
It was an intentional error. People should be reading it on Wednesday, and then again on Thursday.
(I’m off to office max before I go cover Fordham Prep vs. Stepinac)
Joe,
How about a prediction on Hen Hud vs. Wantagh?
The Hen Hud-Wantagh game is set for Saturday at 11 a.m. at Wantagh and it should tell us a lot about Hen Hud. Last year, the Sailors fell to Wantagh by just a goal. Wantagh is coming off a 9-2 win over Rye. Wantagh has not had the level of talent it did a few years ago, but is still a very solid program. I’m going to take Wantagh 10-6.
Hey joe how about a prediction for Pleasantville Ardsley, a rematch of the sectioanl quarterfinals last year where Ardsely won 6-5.
byram smacked peekskill 15-1 today
they sat there key players most of the secod half, after going up 11-0 in the first
byram should not be bragging about beating peekskill 15-1 if they didnt beat them by that it would be a disgrace i personally think byram scheduled a very week out of league schedule i dont no who agrees
I hope the Manhasset-JJ game is as great as it was last year. Hopefully JJ can hang with Connor English and Manhasset. As for the Putnam Valley game, JJ will probably win by at least 10 goals.
SECTION 1 FAN—
i believe this year being have played both ardsely and pleasantville during the season last year and during the sumer that pleasantville will take the game this year from ardsley and i dont think it will be as close i say maybe
8-4 thoughts?
I think Pleasantville’s defense, led by Chris Gautieri and Matt DeFabio, will be tough much for Ardsley. Plus Pleasantville has plenty of motivation after last year.
Pleasantville 8, Ardsley 5
lax-
byram’s gonna get smacked in their league schedule with teams like JJ, Rye, pac…so i dont really blame them for turning it down a notch in their non-league games to compensate. But as u said…if Byram is really the “real deal” as they have being trying to prove, wins over teams like peekskill, or upcoming games against edgemont, clarkstown north or other “lesser” teams should be expected and are nothing to brag about
joe, what about mahopac vs nyack?
ch – I like the ‘Pac 11-4.
joe what are your thoughts on the suffern lakeland game?
L/P has a four-year starter in goal in Mike Mackay, which to me is a big advantage in lacrosse.
L/P 9, Suffern 4
Joe,
What about Briarcliff Harrison? Any information on both teams would be appreciated. Thanks.
Not to keep talking about goalies, but it really is huge in lacrosse. A couple of big saves can really lift a team. I was very impressed from what I saw of Bryan Cipolla of Harrison last year. I’m going to give the Huskies and edge — 8-6.
thats true, but once again suffern has a tough defense. i think it will be a good game
True enough. Suffern D is always tough and is led by Evan Shreck and Scott Sorrillo.
Any thoughts on Ytown vs. McDonogh? btw. it is dan kaiser not kevin.
Strong Island –
It is Kevin Kaiser (YHS Class of 1978). Trust me, my friend.
He is the brother of the Dan Kaiser you’re thinking of, who is head of Hudson Valley Lax. Dan (YHS Class of ‘83) lives in Yorktown. Kevin lives in Minnesota as I explained earlier.
Anyway, McDonogh is a top-notch program as most folks know. Just a few years ago, it was ranked No. 1 in the country. This year, the Eagles are off to a 7-1 start with the loss coming against LaSalle of Pa. 9-8.
McD is led by Princeton-bound goalie Tyler Fiorito and Towson-bound defender K.C. Woods.
The Fiorito vs. Michael Bonitatibus goalie matchup should be a good one.
McD also has several players who have committed to top D-III schools: Sam Greenberg (Dickinson) Adam Paterakis (Salisbury) and Pat Sartori (Gettysburg).
Should be a real good test for Yorktown and the ‘Huskers will have had a week to prepare. Then again, so will McDonogh, whose last game going in will have been Saturday as well — a 6-5 win over Malverne Prep.
Call it a hunch, but I like Yorktown to pull a surprise here – 10-9 ‘Huskers.
Thoughts?
BTW gang, we touched on boys lax in our look ahead at the week in local sports on RNN today. “You can check it out here.”:http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080331/VIDEO0602/303310013/-1/RNN
BHills is a joke. There about as tough as a 2nd grade girls teams. NO offense girls. BH has not been good at a tough sport since Coach Caputo left. They need to play very weak teams outside of there conference in order to get a shot at making the sectionals. So I guess I can’t totally blame them for the WEAK schedule. I will have to make the road trip to watch them play John Jay. THat should be funny. BH stick to non-contact sports like soccer. You guys are great at that!
It’s hard to call the Yorktown-McDonough game because they have nothing in common and the average MIAA team would hand everyone but Yorktown and Jay their lunch on any given day. That said, people I know down there say McDonough is down this year. Who knows what that means? It seems every time Yorktown plays an MIAA/IAC team they lose. Landon, BL, Loyola … I’m not even sure if they’ve beaten one of them since they started going down there. Maybe Joe can shed some light on that.
I got a buddy tied directly to Gilman and he says Yorktown should win this game. Now he’s basing a lot of what he says on Yorktown’s rep as a program. Who knows?
I think if Yorktown plays a physical game they’ll have a solid result. MIAA teams live and die with finesse. Town cracks some heads out there, sends a message from the get go and it’ll be a different game.
Also, the MIAA has a huge advantage over NY teams because they can’t travel here due to restrictions and, second, they start so early they already have eight or so games under their belt before we even play 2, so that often plays a role.
It would be nice if Town just went down there and dominated, but it’s impossible to predict.
i spoke to Kevin Kaiser yesterday and it was interesting to hear what he had to say about his JV team/program from Minnesota. He and the other coach (from baltimore) have been coaching these kids since they were in third grade and over the years have taken them to play in baltimore, vail tournys and other competitive tourneys/areas. I asked him how they did and he said they usually win. Their HS program has 3 levels – a freshman/sophmore team without cuts, a JV team that makes cuts, and varsity. He said that the JV team he is bringing here to play is made up of almost all freshman from his group that has been playing together since they were in third grade. Its interesting that a program from Minnesota has so much participation and dedication while here, a so called hotbed, we have a somers varsity team that barely has enough players to field a team, a yorktown freshman team that had only 10 ninth graders come out, and several area teams that apear to be what can only be described as poor. It should be interesting to see what areas are considered the hot beds for lacrosse in the coming years.
When does the lacrosse preview come out??
Tomorrow
Updates on the results from JJ’s season opener with Put Valley would be great.
PV 3 JJ 17
Looking at the stats right now, nice game for Chris with 4 and 5, but leading scorer was Harrison Jones with 5 goals. Daniello had a goal too. Who started on defense for the Indians?
Whalen(44), Goldfarb(11), Stearns(34) started. LSM is DeRuiter(40). Pickel(48) and Murray(30) played in first half as well.
I have seen whalen play and I truly think he is under-rated. Not once this year have I seen whalen been straight up beat. I also think Stearns will get better as the season continues. Goldfarb is another solid defensemen. Deruiter is potentially a great player who is definetly under the radar. He is only a junior so i think he has a lot of potential to play in college. Responses?
Joe,
I think your off on the ardsley pleasatville game. Ardsley lost a ton. They should be a bottom B league team while pleasantville is trying to fight its way up the A ladder (A,B,& C talk is power leagues). Pleasantville wins by atleast 7. Also, I am predicting briarcliff to win big over Harrison. Harrison lost two of their three top scorers that accounted for most of their offense. Briarcliff, on the otherhand is loaded with seniors and lost almost nobody from last year. They may be the best team in the B schedule along with scarsdale. These seniors have been playing varsity together from their sophmore year atleast. Briarcliff in a big win, i say 13-3.
Joe, it would be great if every once in a while you could put up B and C level power schedule games that you think might be of interest. I know town and jay are above everyone else, and that game will be sick. I would like to see if there would be interest in other teams as well. Except for Briarcliff, they spend toom much time online:)
I agree lax fan whalen is a great player, many JJ defenders have not gotten any attention because of all the great seniors last year but new players are stepping in. Nice game for the defenders and many other players. Junior Will Stewart had 3 goals too and sophomore goalie Rob Maher played for about 10 minutes also and saved every shot.
How’s Somers looking this year?
Prediction for North Salem vs. Croton today Joe?
Section 1 – I like the Tigers.
Actually, it shold be a tight game. I think it was a one-goal game last year with North Salem winning.
I’ll go with North Salem 10-8.
??? – I picked Pleasantville to win, so I assume you think I mean I didn’t pick them to win by more? P’ville is a defensive-oriented team though it should be noted. We’ll see. I like your idea about working the B and C Division teams into the “Previews and picks.” Remember, I only throw out a few picks just to get it started. After that, it’s up to you guys to decide what games you want to talk about.
Dave – As for Somers, it should be an interesting year. The Tuskers have one of the best attackmen in the country in JoJo Marasco and an outstanding, experienced defenseman in Chris Coppolecchia. But the Tuskers lack depth and also will have a brand-new goaltender. It’s going to be important for some underclassmen to step up and make immediate impacts, including sophomores Erik Pfiffner (midfield), Greg Petre (attack) and Colin Tullgren (midfield) and freshman Eddie Schurr (defense).
Joe just a prediction for todays Pleasantville game.13-5 Pleasantville. I think you will find that they have a lot of offense on that team. They scored 8 against a very good Lakeland defense.Class C belongs to Rye until someone beats them, but Pleasantville is a strong well balanced team.Time will tell. I also think you guys do an awesome job covering Lacrosse. Thanks
byram could give rye a run but what they lack is a big time player they go to when they big play (ex.- marasco, bocklett, bonitatibus)
pleasantville won 16-2
Joe, any predictions for the Sleepy Hollow vs. North Salem game? and who are you putting down as Section champs in Section 1 I-B LEAGUE?