The new Fab Five: A change at the top
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- May
- 13
Rye ends John Jay’s 47-game win streak vs. Section 1 teams.
Iona Prep rolls to another CHSAA championship.
There were plenty of huge games last week.
Can the Yorktown ‘Huskers, shown celebrating their Murphy Cup win over Lakeland/Panas on May 3, check in at No. 1 in the Fab Five for the first time? (Photo by Dave Kennedy/The Journal News)
And there’s big change at the top in our latest Fab Five.
Be sure to check it out and weigh in with your thoughts.
5. Iona Prep: Wins over Lakeland/Panas and Somers have proven the Gaels are a quality team that can step up when it plays outside its league. And now, they are two-time CHSAA champs.
4. Brewster: The Bears have won eight of their last nine, with the lone loss coming by a goal to Yorktown.
3. Rye: Prohibitive favorites to make it four straight Class C sectional titles, the Garnets’ huge win over John Jay may end up elevating the program to a higher level long term. Short term, it shows that this Rye team has the ability to go out and win a state championship.
2. John Jay: Maybe Rye and John Jay should be tied at No. 2. But I’m not a big fan of ties. The Indians edge out the Garnets despite the overtime loss because of the overall strength of their non-section schedule and their impressive 16-4 win Saturday over one of the top Class B teams on Long Island, Comsewogue. Rye has played three non-section opponents, beating Iona Prep 6-5 and Rye Country Day 12-5 and losing to Wantagh 9-2.
1. Yorktown: Yes, folks. For the first time in the one-year-plus history of “The Fab Five,” John Jay is not el numero uno. And look who is. To be honest, this was a tough call. If Yorktown and John Jay played 10 times, I believe they’d probably each win five times. (Where I would project either Yorktown or John Jay to beat Rye six or seven times in 10 meetings.) So who’s No. 1? In this case, the fact Yorktown is the only team unbeaten vs. Section 1 teams — coupled with its wins over national powers Chaminade and St. Anthony’s (victories a bit more impressive than JJ’s non-section triumphs) — give the edge to the ‘Huskers.
A pretty complicated Fab Five. But that’s what parity will do.
There’s definitely plenty of room for debate. I’m all ears. So let’s hear your thoughts.
• We took a sneak peek at JJ-Yorktown on RNN-TV’s “NewsCenter Now.” Here’s the link. Be sure to catch our special preview segment on “The Game” on “Varsity Central Extra” on Thursday night at 6:30 on RNN. You can watch it on Channel 19 or 6 in Westchester and Rockland (depending on your cable system), Channel 20 in Putnam and Channel 62 on DirecTV. Be sure to check it out and participate in our phone-in segment by calling 1-888-RNN-CHAT around 6:40.
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on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 12:58 am by Joe Lombardi.
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Joe's just trying to improve ratings … Britney Spears will do the "Fab 5" picks next week. You watch …
'Cuse – Actually our ratings are pretty good. Now, if Brewster had beaten Yorktown, things could have gotten real interesting. But I think this will do for now.
Can't disagree with this "Fab 5". I also wouldn't disagree if Jay was still No. 1.
You heard it here first:
Rye wins Section (obviously), cruises through the non-Hofstra round, then beats Manhasset (or CSH) 6-5. The Garnets then beat Lafayette in the state finals, 7-4, touching off the kind of celebration seen only in Lake Placid in 1980.
You watch. 'Cuse is wise.
Joe – legit rationale
'Cuse – I'm sure the Rye fans are hoping your crystal ball is just as accurate as the Rye water boy's when he predicted their win over JJ!
Joe,
Do you have any information about Empire tryouts yet? Have dates been announced?
Syracuse,
YOU THE MAN on those Rye predictions!!!! Great hearing this coming from you, one of the most knowledgeable and objective guys on the blogs!!
Joe – I'm outing you. You are a closet JJ fan aren't you? Why else would you bestow the #1 ranking on Yorktown the week of the big game? Everyone knows that to be a JINX! This natural law is better known as as the Sports Illustrated cover jinx but the same forces are at work.
I'm kidding of course. Everyone knows there's no such thing as a jinx…
Player – We should have info on ESG tryout dates by the end of the week hopefully.
Wood Shaft – Interesting theory. Haha.
Joe what seed do you think briacliff should get in sectionals if they were to win out and be 17-1 or lost to chatham and be 16-2
Wood Shaft – I've been thinkin' that all morning, just didn't want to "say it out loud…" but now that you did, Joe, you are in BIG trouble with me….! You'd better wear that disguise Syracuse was talkin' about on Friday night…First time in it's one-year plus history – that is highly suspicious.
.... and Joe
Hats off to Briarcliff for scheduling Chatham!! They are one of the stonger teams in NJ. Chatham BEAT Ridgewood who just lost to WM by 1 goal. They also beat Summit and only lost by 4 goals to Mountain Lakes.
Briarcliff has a very good record this year (although not agianst the strongest teams except for LP).
Chatham should trounce BC. If BC wins (VERY much long shot)would be incedible upset or comes within 5-7 goals this alone should move them into the second seed seed and Rye better be ready for a tough game!!
thanks Slacrosse, didn't know you cared!
will be our third game in a row, and fourth this week, we need to pay attention to Pelham and Ossining first…
I agree Slacrosse…However, being realistic, and predicting a Briarcliff loss, I still say they deserve a # 3 seed. However, Joe, is it true that even though its not in the rules, the coaches are still giving the A league teams(Pville, PV, Byram) are getting preference in seeding as compared to the B league teams?
Good choice with making Yorktown #1, they deserve it.
is anyone from yorktown going to play a sacred heart university next year?
....
As far as Briarcliff goes, it's hard to predict a seed because one of the criteria for seeding is combined won-loss record of opponents. We'll have more info on the seeding process coming up later this week.
laxman – I'm not aware of anyone from Ytown bound for Sacred Heart.
Heres an interesting question Joe can possibly help with…How many players in Fri nights showdown will be teamates on the Empire team this summer???
playinlax2314 – You guys are great at finding clever ways to try to get me to predict sectional seeds, ESG team members and all-Americans. Haha.
I may throw out a few seed projections once we have a better idea after the week is over, but I stay away from predicting ESG and all-American picks for a variety of reasons. But you folks should feel free to toss out some names as always and we will have a new thread on all-America candidates sometime in the next week.
Great picks Joe, I'm glad to see we agree with each other.
playinlax2314-
Good Question about Empires?
Town has some locks. Last years Empire team had Michael Bonitatibus and Ethan Fox as well as Ranagan, who was an alternate. You'd also have to consider Interlicchio a strong candidate to make it as a sophomore. Jay's sophomore and junior classes may not have as many automatics, but I would def put middie Will Stewart and his 90+ mph shot on the team. Other Indians who deserve a good look at Empire tryouts are junior defenseman Ian DeRuiter and Geoff Stearns. Harrison Silver is another do-it-all middie like McNally seems to like, so maybe he'll get a shot, who knows. Junior attackman Andrew Masterson is another possibility. He'll need an amazing tryout to get noticed. There's isn't much chance to make a name for himself this year behind Bocklet, Granelli and Jones, but the kid has skills.
Emps:
A Interlicchio, Y
A Perrelle, Pac
A Doherty, LP
M Marasco, Somers
M Ranagan, Y
M Stewart, JJ
D Keough, Rye
D DeRuiter, JJ
D Stearns, JJ
P Fox, Y
G Bonitatibus, Y
I didn't put a lot of thought into that, so feel free to disagree or make our own suggestions. Those are just the names that popped in my head when I was typing, but you've gotta admit, that's not a bad team at all.
hey 'cuse i'd be a little worried about those predictions after the way they played today… rye's D was solid but the offense looked like they all took lunesta before the game
i think i picked these rankings after rye beat jj, but i got a concussion since then so go figure. Personally dissapointed I can't make the John Jay-Yorktown Ultimate Showdown…..
Joe, is there anyway that you can get the seedings for the Metro playoffs?
i wonder how many Rye, JJ, and Town players will make up the ESG roster?
Yeah, I was surprised Rye didn't win convincingly today. Maybe Rye plays to the level of their opponents. If so, I think they'll be fine come states.
Keogh the defensemen from rye is a lock for empired wat are ryes other chances and empires
1. john jay
2. yorktown
3. rye
4. brewster
5. L/P
I think Donald Keough of Rye is going to lead his team to states. I think he will be the only one to make empires from Rye and will perform strongly throughout the rest of the season. He DID shut Bocklet down..way down and same with the rest of all the other attack man he has gone against. NOONE can beat him and noone should even try because they will get stomped on. As long as the offense and defense keeps performing as well as they have Rye will definitely make it far.
agree with keogh but i'm sure rye has other talent that will get looks on empires. don't know for sure though
how many kids make the team??
mccormick is an incredible faceoff guy and good middie, and rob santangelo is great on the crease, ryes leading scorer, and rye has a d man, whiston, doing a pg year at the hotchkiss school he should make it if he is allowed i am not sure wat the new rules are this year, he shut down granelli only one assist and alot of 18 yard shots when they played jj. and obviously keough has eveyrone else has pointed out. there is also a long shot d middie who only started lacrosse last year patrick ocallahan. it will be intereting to c if he has a shot.
i dont understand how rye beats jj so ytown moves to first and rye stays. rye has the best d in the section. and someone said earlier that if jj and town played ten times they would each win 5. thats false jj will beat town handily on friday and would beat town 7 times out of 10 and rye would win 5 out of 10 vs. town and prob 3-4 against town. now the question is wen jj destroys town does rye move to two. b/c we all know that rye vs town was not played well by either team. and besides the four goals rye gave in the first 5 min against town they gave up one and then an open netter.
town, rye, jj, brewster, iona until friday…
...this isnt one of the dooleys btw to eliminate confusion
JJ fan-
I think it is hard to place L/P anywhere above Iona Prep given that Iona did beat them earlier this season. Also it is hard for a team to remain at number one after having lost to a team that is number three. I think Joe got this weeks Fab Five correct.
doolbear – why so bitter? No one would mistake what you wrote for something the Dooleys would EVER write. not to worry. Safe to spout nonsense when you know the situation will never arise. but you're free to believe what you wish, this is still America. both teams definitely did not play their best…but Town still won. face it.
certainly, doolbear, Rye had a tremendous game against John Jay, as everyone has said. Something we know they worked very hard to accomplish. But, as for all the teams this season, there have been some bizarre results, like for instance 'Town's game vs. Hen Hud, and Rye's vs. Hen Hud…....no? You may be right about Friday nights game, and maybe not. But I hope you come & see some good lax, and please bring some cash for the cause. "In the fight against cancer, we're all on the same team!"
empires from rye . keough d r santangelo a mccormick face off
Keough is clear. McCormick probably/possibly. McNally's 2 FO guys played regular shifts last year, Granelli and Baddalucco. Cole is a great FO, but his stick/dodging might not be good enough yet. Santangelo is a stretch, IMO. Only 4 attack slots, and Perrelle, Interlicchio, Trizano, Gillespie, and Ranagan come to mind off the top of my head.
Didn't Marasco play Attack last year at ESGs? Why wouldn't he go again – U19s? He was the best player on the field for HV last summer.
For emps Ranagan will be a force at the Midfield for HV this summmer between the lines and at the face off X….Perrelle and Interliccio (think both lefty) should lead a pretty solid attack line…Who are the coaches for HV this summer?
Santangelo not a stretch time will tell
I think all of rye's juniors/soph should be in serious contention for ESG. Keough is solid on D, shutting down any attack he sees and clearing the ball like a maniac, McCormick is a solid FO guy, O'Callahan seems to be the cornerstone of the defense never coming off the field, and Santangelo can finish from anywhere on the field
Sec 1 lax fan-
I think they did play Marasco primarily at attack last Summer, but I could see him playing middie this year as a better option for HV. There's a boat load of good lefty attackmen that can stick the ball in the back of the net, so why not have Marasco and all that speed racing up and down the field and playing some D as well. Why limit such a great player to one side of the field when you have other kids who can finish.
HV could have a real nice team this Summer. A few too many 'town kids for my taste, but I can live with that for a medal.
Wasabi –
Middie works as well. The middies had limited push from up top last year.
Where are ESGs this year?
Wasabi, a few too many of your rude comments about our kids for our taste. & the medal won't be yours to live with or without.
What 2 goalies look like they have a spot on the team this year for empires.
2 goalies will prob be Mike b from yorktown and haggarty from clarkstown south
Have only heard of haggarty from clarkstown south as being good never seen him though, any first hand exp watching this kid?
Been watching Luke for 2 years, Since Westrock in summer,2006. Seems to really hit his stride this year. Along with Mike B, seems to be the front runner for Emp's. Have to see Rix without his Rye defense in front of him, and I am sure there will be a dark horse or two.
Rix is a senior, and would make empires if he could tryout. Mike B will make it easy and then the second goalie should be Chris Moffa out of Fordham who was an alternate last year. Haggarty is a good goalie but not quite as good as Mike B and Moffa so i see him being an alternate or possibly not making the team in which case he would end up like the LP goalie, being good but not quite elite.
Honestly you must not have seen haggerty this season if you are saying he dosent have a good shot at making the team. His team is what sets him back from being as known as mikeb, but haveing watched him all this year he is deff a top contender for empires.
here we go
haggerty has pleanty of talent. it is unfortunate that he has to be stuck with such a team.
and for l/p, they had a tough stretch of 5 losses in a row. they've bounced back and i would certainly say that they could beat a rye/Brewster/Iona Prep.
they only lost to Yorktown by one, and besides that they've shown great skill and improvement. i would say they're #3
patrick ochallahan from rye has to be the best ss d middie in section one he is very athletic and along with his great clearing abilities he will be a force on empires
Patrick might be a force if he makes the team. but thats a big IF. how many SS d mids does McNally keep. not to mention the offensive middies he will keep are great defensive players.
this is very true but it is very important as the summer progresses to be a deep team. If McNally is relying on o Mids to play defense, it could create depth problems. I'm no expert but I would assume that he would/should keep 2 specialized ss D mids
Last year on ESG's, McNally kept 2 short stick middies who were more on the defensive side. James Devine for clears and defense, and one of the Sorillo brothers for defense, Can't remember if it was scott or Nick? he had 4 attack, used Zack and Ethan Fox on the wings as an LSM, although both played close D also; Gauteri, Difabio, McDonald, Coppalechia as poles. It is all a question of fitting into the style he want to play. And a year later, I still haven't figured that out. Don't expect an uptempo offense is all I can say.
Perrelle, Marasco, Interlicchio should be pretty exciting, fun attack line to watch…all lefties I believe which can be a real advantage for them…If Mcnally wants uptempo offense he'll let the attack control that…
HV fan and PV
Dont forget about Keough from Rye.He should be a lock at lsd
Kieran Mcdonald will be back to lead the Empire d. he was named All American out of Founders league
What about Doherty L/P Brandofino Pac . Both righty Attackman
Santangelo will be righty attack
dohrety on l/p is a lefty