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The NYC Report: High School Lacrosse In Full Swing

Editor’s Note: Welcome to the New York City Report, brought to you by Apple Lacrosse, NYC’s first lacrosse store! This week Billy Nguyen dives deep into the world of Public School lacrosse and introduces us to some of the teams in the PSAL for 2014.

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Last week we had PSAL scrimmage day video, photos from the scrimmage day, a Championship Division North preview, and our Game of the Week! This week we’re back with even more NYC Lacrosse info!

On Saturday, I got to watch my good friend Jeff Melnik play for SUNYIT vs SUNY Maritime in the Bronx. It’s an amazing setting for a lacrosse game. Photos to come on ‘CAC to the CAC, but here is a teaser from an old Wesleyan-Maritime game:

SUNY Maritime lacrosse wesleyan
You can see the Whitestone bridge clearly here on the left.

Ok, back to High School lacrosse! Last week, I went out to watch the Columbus vs Midwood game in the Bronx (it was a rematch of the championship game from 2009 after all). But when I got to the field, a security guard told me that the game was cancelled. I went on www.psal.org to check the score and saw that Midwood won due to a forfeit. A tad disappointing, but I’m looking forward to their match up later in the year.

Game of the Week

We are actually going outside of the PSAL for the GotW this time around. Big wins deserve credit! Fordham Prep, a private Jesuit school in the Bronx, is ranked #22 in the pre-season Tri-State poll. Here is an update on their season so far, from head coach Le De Luchia:

Varsity goes 3-0 for first time ever at Jesuit Lacrosse Classic. Victories over Strake Jesuit, DeSmet Jesuit and Top 20 Nationally ranked Gonzaga HS.

Junior attackman Eamon Coughlin had 2 goals against Gonzaga HS. Eamon is a product of Doc’s NYC youth lacrosse! Congrats to Fordham Prep on this big win!

2014 Season Preview – “A” South

The PSAL boys varsity lacrosse teams are currently divided into 3 divisions, Champion (North and South), Bowl, and Developmental. All teams have a chance of bumping up and down pending league standings at the end of each season. Today, I will be breaking down the Championship South Division. Current records are in parentheses next to team names.

New Dorp (2-0)

The Central Cougars are currently undefeated with a pair of convincing conference wins in the South division over Port Richmond and Curtis. Coming off of a stellar year in 2013, New Dorp is looking to get over a tough semi-final loss (11-10) to eventual champions, Hunter College High School. The big question mark for this team remains to be the defense. Can they keep New Dorp out of high scoring games? The backbone of this team is Frank Bakakos in the net. New Dorp proved that they can outscore opponents but they can’t win every shootout. Seniors John Cerenzio and Edvin Cobaj will have to carry the team on offense and senior midfielder Luke Betz will have to do it all for the Central Cougars to have success in 2014.

Curtis (2-1)

The Warriors return to the Championship division after being in the Bowl division last year and the Championship division the year prior. Senior midfielder James Meeker will be the catalyst for the Warriors this year, doing it all from the midfield, controlling the tempo on both sides of the ball. Curtis will look to senior gunslingers, Kieran Reilly and Eamon Martha to rack up points, both players already account for 15 goals and 51 shots. If the Warriors can continue to outshoot opponents and hit the cage, they won’t be going back to the Bowl division in 2015!

Photo Credit: Renzo Spirit Buffalo
Photo Credit: Renzo Spirit Buffalo

Tottenville (1-0)

Making a statement in their first game of the season, Tottenville absolutely lit up James Madison in Brooklyn 17-0 last Monday. Tottenville was extremely efficient with the ball, totaling only 30 shots on goal, and making 17 of them count, of which 12 were assisted. I continue to question if a PSAL team is only as good as its best player, and the Pirates seem to prove that, at least for now.

In my opinion, this team will only go as far as Nicholas De Meo takes them, and the senior attackman is unselfish and is the unquestioned leader of this team. If he remains healthy, this could be the big year for Tottenville. They have a strong core of poles down low in Alexander Becerra, Kevin Ottiano, and James Pipitone in front of senior netminder John Musemeci. After losing 10-9 in the finals last year, the Pirates are back with a vengeance.

James Madison (0-2)

After a strong year in the Bowl division in 2013, the Knights of Bedford Ave, Brooklyn are off to a slow start in 2014. The team returns their leading scorer from last season, Kyle Marino, who is coming off of a 54 point season last spring. Marino will have to step it up and be more assertive this season. Unless juniors Cameron Wong, Robert Dinome, and Stephen Laspina can contribute and be an outlet, the Knights could possibly be headed back to the Bowl division in 2015.

Port Richmond (0-2)

Port Richmond is a traditionally strong football school. A lot of their kids are multi-sport athletes. If you look on the Red Raider’s roster, the team is very young, with only 4 seniors. Stevengeor Lakeman returns as a senior with 40 goals from last spring. Can this young squad of fairly new lacrosse players develop stick skills quickly enough during the season to catch up and not get the bump back down to the Bowl division? They clearly have the athletes so look for Port Richmond to be a physical team in 2014.

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Photo via Coach Ronchetti at FDA.

Overall “A” South Predictions

My team to watch in the South is New Dorp and my player to look out for is Nicholas De Meo (Tottenville). Stay tuned for the Boys Bowl Division preview next week as well as photo and video recap of our game of the week!

Eagle Academy 13 – Stuyvesant  8 – Video

Speaking of Bowl Divison action… LAS Publisher Connor Wilson is helping out at Eagle Academy, so they are getting heavy photo and video and treatment. Ask your coach, team manager, or AD, to submit stuff as well! Noah Kramer (Stuyvesant) and Kernell Warner (Eagle) each had big individual days as Eagle defeated visiting Stuyvesant in a spirited game, played at Boys & Girls HS’s amazing turf field.

Noah Kramer 4G, 1A
Kernell Warner 6G, 1A
Peter Miles 3G, 1A

Volunteer assistant, Connor Wilson, had this to say:

Eagle Academy, located in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn came off of it’s first win as a varsity program against A. Tuitt Educational Campus on Wednesday, and went on to defeat Stuyvesant on Friday, in a tough and hard fought game. It has been a good start to the season so far for us and we are happy to be playing lacrosse in the PSAL! We are also extremely thankful that Boys & Girls HS has so graciously agreed to allow us to use their new turf field for home games.

Boys & Girls HS has allowed Eagle to play their home games there, on the brand new Nike turf:

nike astro turf

Columbus vs Eagle Academy Game Photos

Columbus visited Eagle Academy for a game on March 24th, which Eagle won to move to 3-0 on the season. Victor Godette registered a shutout in goal for Eagle and Michael Covington scored the first goal of his career.

Random Grab Bag

Brooklyn Lacrosse starts them young!

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More excellent CityLax Gala Video:

Check back on the New York City Report each week for more great NYC Lacrosse content brought to you by Apple Lacrosse. If you want your program included, PLEASE reach out to us and we will put you in touch with Billy Nguyen… but you probably know him already! Reach out, we would love to have you included. Even just one photo!