March 10, 2005

NOTING THE NORTHEAST

Upheaval.

Such is the status of high school lacrosse in the Northeast after the 2004 season, when the region's usual contenders gave way to a breadth of new programs that gained national prominence.

Consider this: Of 50 teams ranked in the annual Lacrosse Magazine Top 25 boys' and girls' high school recaps, 19 came from New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts - the same number from 2003. However, consider this: Of the 19, just three (Northport girls; West Genesee and Yorktown boys) were there the year before.

Meaning this: Sixteen new teams burst the seams of the elites, claiming their stake in the longstanding supremacy of high school lacrosse in the Northeast. And, just for redundancy purposes, one more consideration: Of 26 sanctioned state or regional tournaments decided in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, 20 crowned new champions in 2004.

A Manhasset Repeat?
Even though Alan Lowe had accrued over 400 wins in his coaching career, it took an undefeated season (20-0) and the program's first New York Class C state championship for his Manhasset team to earn its national recognition. The Indians, who won a Class B crown in 1995, finished atop the national rankings for the first time in 2004 - following a 2003 season in which they were excluded from the Top 25 entirely.

"It's not like the NCAA, where you play for a national championship. Everything is mythical," Lowe said of the national rankings. "We're a small school. We can't help that. When the New York state playoffs were played, that settled a lot of issues."

Fayetteville-Manlius Girls Reach the Top
Fayetteville-Manlius girls' lacrosse coach Kathy Taylor takes umbrage to the notion that the Hornets' rise to the ranks of New York Class A state champions "came out of nowhere." Of all people Taylor, now in her 16th season coaching, should know.

Fayetteville-Manlius never emerged, Taylor said, because they could never make it out of Section 3 - a league in which perennial powers like West Genesee (state champions from 2001 to 2003), Carthage, Lafayette and Liverpool reside. Section 3 has produced seven of the last 10 state champions. From `01 to `03, the Hornets lost three straight Section 3 finals to West Genesee by a combined four goals.

"We were like kissing cousins, but only one of us could go," Taylor said. "It was always like they had a little bit more than us at the end of the season."

That is, until last year. F-M snapped West Genesee's 69-game win streak during the regular season, and Liverpool upset West Genny in the Section 3 semifinals. The path was cleared for the Hornets' flight to the top.

Junior Jinx? Don't Count On It
Just five sophomores nationwide were good enough to warrant All-American recognition from the US Lacrosse Men's Division in 2004 - two of them were from New England. Max Quinzani, now a junior at Duxbury School (ranked No. 17 in the nation by Lacrosse Magazine after 2004) in Massachusetts, has scored 259 points in his first two seasons of high school lacrosse.

Steve Boyle, a junior attackman and midfielder at the Pinkerton Academy in New Hampshire, played both roles to near perfection last year with 52 goals and 53 assists.

Both were All-Americans as sophomores, playing in a region which is often overshadowed by the big N.Y.

The previous items were excerpted from the High School Spotlight in the April issue of Lacrosse Magazine. Don't miss any of the great coverage from the print version of Lacrosse Magazine. Become a member of US Lacrosse today and receive eight action-packed issues of Lacrosse Magazine.

California Showcased by First Four Event
In addition to the collegiate Division I games featuring Georgetown, Syracuse, UNC and Notre Dame along with the IA game showdown between UC-Santa Barbara and Colorado State, the First 4 event in Carson, Calif., will feature four fantastic North-South high school match-ups from California.

The prep games will pit Malibu (L.A. area) against Foothill (Sacramento area), La Costa Canyon (San Diego) versus Berkeley, Torrey Pines (San Diego) versus Monte Vista Danville (East Bay), and Coronado (San Diego) matching up with St. Ignatius (San Francisco).

Inter-region battles in Maryland
The Maryland boys' high school lacrosse season gets underway this weekend with several interstate games. St. Paul's hosts the Haverford (Pa.) School on Saturday while McDonough and Boy's Latin entertain Bishop Timon-St. Jude from New York on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Loyola-Blakefield will square off with Loyola (Ill.) Academy and Regis Jesuit (Colo.) on Mar. 19. Calvert Hall will meet Malvern Prep (Pa.) that weekend, as well.

- Jac Coyne contributed to this report.

The High School Notebook is published each Thursday on Lacrosse Magazine Online. To submit an item for possible inclusion in the notebook, send an e-mail to Jac Coyne at jcoyne@lacrosse.org.