The JuCo Report is celebrating because the 2016 NJCAA lacrosse season is now in full swing, with teams up and down the east coast playing games, and giving us tangible results. Who doesn’t love it when the hype subsides and the results can speak for themselves? Everyone, that’s who.
IF you have NJCAA video, photos, stories, former players seeing NCAA success, etc, etc, please send it in for consideration and use in future JuCo Reports. This post is powered by me, and the people. So be the people! Info is credited! Please email JuCo Report info to Connor@LacrosseAllStrars.com!
2016 NJCAA Lacrosse Top 10 Poll
Last week’s poll is in the background now, and the preseason poll is only a fading memory. Teams have played games, so now the polls really mean something about the JuCo landscape this year. The poll shows team names, votes received in parentheses, record, and last week’s results. Hallelujah, brothers!
1) Onondaga (60) 1-0 – 33-4 win over FLCC
2) Essex (52) 2-0 – 12-7 win over Stevenson JV
2) Nassau (50) 1-0 – 9-7 win over Navy Prep
4) Genesee (42) 0-0
5) Anne Arundel (31) 1-0 – 18-8 win over ASA
6) Howard (30) 1-0 – 21-1 win over ASA
7) Suffolk (28) 1-0 – 28-4 win over Stony Brook club
8) FLCC (13) 1-1 – 33-4 loss to OCC
9) Herkimer (10) 0-0
10) Union County (5) 2-1 – 17-5 win over Harford, 17-7 win over Delaware Tech
Monroe (3) 0-0, Dean (3) 1-2, and Frederick (3) 1-0 all received votes.
2016 New NJCAA Video!
Howard really stuck it to a young ASA squad, winning 21-1. Attackmen, middies, even poles got in on the scoring action. Nice highlight package and audio from Howard. Congrats to Howard’s Parise Williams headed to Cleveland State, and Austin Mitchell, who verbally committed to UMBC next year. As a JuCo player, a verbal commitment actually can mean something.
Thanks to Matt Stovall for the above video find!
CCBC Essex Live Streams!
CCBC Essex is doing something really cool this year, and that is… streaming all their home games on YouTube! Both men’s and women’s games will be live streamed, and you can access the games via CCBC Essex’s YouTube Channel. The next men’s game is March 12th against Genesee.
Herkimer 1988 Team – Herk HOF
1988 was Herk’s first title year, and the team is now in the HOF at Herkimer. Congrats to these guys! Video below is great stuff!
Found that one on my own. What a gem!
Former JuCo Players Going HAM
Last week we talked about former Nassau player and NJCAA attackman of the year, Josh Byrne, going off for Hofstra, this week we’re looking at FOUR former Genesee CC players making some waves in NCAA lacrosse! But first… let’s talk about Josh Byrne again! The junior attackman had another YUUUUGE game for Hofstra, putting up 5 goals, including the OT winner, as the Pride knocked out Princeton 14 seconds after additional time started. Byrne now has 11 points in 2 games on 9 goals and 2 assists. UNREAL.
Ok, back to the Genesee guys seeing NCAA success at D2 and D3 schools:
Tyler Skowrinski (Genesee 2014 ALL Region III midfielder) playing for NCAA DIII Keuka College had 6 goals and 1 assist to start the season off hot in a win vs. win over Alfred State.
Marcus Palvino (Genesee 2013 NJCAA All-American 2nd Team – 1st Team All Regioin III) had 1 goal and 1 assist in NCAA DIII SUNY Brockport’s first game of the year vs. Alfred.
Jimmy Smith (Genesee 2015 Captain & All Region III midfielder) had 1 goal and 1 assist to help out in NCAA DII Indianapolis’ second win of the season. This is Indy’s first year as an NCAA program, so the 2-0 start is big!
Mitch Kinney (Genesee 2015 midfielder-2 year starter) had 1 goal and 1 assist in NCAA DII Dowling’s win over Pace.
Thanks to Coach Hoover at Genesee for those updates. Love a coach who looks after his players after they move on from the JuCo ranks!!
From NYC to NJCAA – Grow The Game
Patrick Sokoya is a former PSAL player from Curtis HS on Staten Island. Sokoya is now playing NJCAA lacrosse, and he has a really interesting perspective on how NJCAA lacrosse helps to Grow the Game. Patrick reached out to us thanking us for our coverage, so we interviewed him. See what happens when you’re proactive?
NYC has a growing, but raw, lacrosse scene. Many kids are not ready either financially, athletically, or academically for NCAA lacrosse (and there are other reasons as well), and the NJCAA provides a great opportunity. Here is a chance to hear from one of those former PSAL players, and current Monroe CC player, Patrick Sokoya:
I played for Curtis High School in Staten Island, NY. I played for Coach Pizzarelli on Curtis’ first undefeated regular season team, and I graduated from Curtis in June 2015. I was a three sport athlete at Curtis, as I played Football, Basketball, and Lacrosse. Lacrosse was a growing sport during my Freshmen year in high school and as I got to my senior year it had probably become the 3rd most watched sport at Curtis.
As I watched lacrosse grow at my school, my team grew better and better. We ended our season undefeated, only losing to Farrell in a non-league tournament game, then eventually losing to New Dorp in the playoffs, who questionably had one of the best lacrosse players in the state! I was an All-City HM, All-Borough Player, and also nominated for the All-American prize. It was a long journey, but a good one.
I first thought I could play college lacrosse when I watched a fellow lacrosse player at my school go D3. He was a big part of me starting to play, and once I watched him go on to play LSM for New England College (Brandon Antoine) I told myself I could go somewhere too. I also received minor interest from schools by sending my highlight tapes out. I sent my tape out to EVERY D1 school and only received back emails from Hampton U and Wagner College… Wagner college asked if I could play LSM at the time.
It’s actually crazy how I ended up at MCC. I realized I had to go JUCO because I didn’t have the grades to go to the school of my desire. I uploaded my highlight tape on to my twitter account and my brother tagged MCC’s lacrosse page to the tweet. Luckily, our Lacrosse Director of Operations, Doug McSorely, received the tweet and was impressed with my athletic ability and invited me for a visit. I’m pretty sure you guys know how MCC facilities exceed any JUCO I’ve seen.
The biggest challenge for me is to match the lacrosse IQ of my teammates. I am an athletic player with an ounce of stick skills, so it adds up to me having potential as a player, but these guys KNOW the game. Coming out of NYC the lacrosse game is played so differently, the passes are so much slower, the kids aren’t as experienced or talented, and few of us have been playing all that long! Also, the pride in lacrosse is so much different at this level. But It’s nothing I can’t overcome.
NJCAA lacrosse is providing me a great opportunity, and I’m going to make the most of it.
We will be back next week with more JuCo Report action, so stay tuned!
IF you have NJCAA video, photos, stories, former players seeing NCAA success, etc, etc, please send it in for consideration and use in future JuCo Reports. This post is powered by me, and the people. So be the people! Info is credited! Please email JuCo Report info to Connor@LacrosseAllStrars.com!
