As we prepare for another exciting lax season, there are some teams to watch in each Class. These are the favorites although I'm sure there will still be some surprises once the season starts! You can think of this as preseason rankings except that it's silly to use numbers and try to say who is better than who before the 2011 teams play more than a few games (most pre-season and early season rankings/polls are based on legacy of schools and expectations for the upcoming year...not factual evidence of how they are playing this year).
CLASS L
Cheshire
-Starting with the defending champions, and rightfully so; the Rams return All-American defenseman Torrey Martone along with two other All-State players last year: Joe Klemenz on defense and Evan Gaudio at long-stick middie. Their biggest obstacle will be filling the void left in goal by All-American Nate Gaudio's departure for Middlebury. Cheshire also lost Chris Barney and Mike Devine on defense, Nick Carisio on attack and the player of the year in boys' lacrosse last year, attackman and All-American Todd Heritage (Bucknell). The Rams play in the very tough SCC so that won't help their record but it will help their experience and toughness come tournament time so I expect them to go deep again this year.
Fairfield Prep
-Aside from the 9-8 slip-up to Cheshire last year, Prep has dominated Class L, winning it every year, since its inception in 2006 when the CIAC switched from divisions to classes for lax. The Jesuits lost All-Americans Brendan Rotanz (attack, Dartmouth) and Darric White (defense, Middlebury) along with All-State standouts Griff McGoldrick (attack), Alex Matarazzo (defense), and Mike Carey (middie). Tyler Cox (middie), an All-State player last year and is a senior this year and you Prep always fields a good team so this year no one expects anything less than the powerhouse lax dynasty that is Fairfield Prep.
Greenwich
-The FCIAC is ready to get their first Class L title and Greenwich would be the team to do it for them. The Cardinals are led by David Dickson on attack and Adam Sands on defense but they have talent at every position. The FCIAC as a whole is looking very good this year with Darien in Class M, New Canaan, St. Joseph, Ridgefield, Staples and even Wilton and Weston so the conference schedule won't be easy but will help prepare the team for the playoffs.
Ridgefield
-Speaking of which, I'll stay right there in the FCIAC will a very good Ridgefield team. The Tigers may have lost a lot of talent --- Kurt Mueller-attack, Mike Galione-attack, Aaron Mathis-attack, and Casey McKnigh-LSM --- but they have a strong leader in Matt Shannon on defense and will really focusing on playing as team this year.
Staples
-Another FCIAC contender, the kids in Wesport have the potential to make a lot of noise this year. Their star player would be Kip Orban at midfielder but they will have a hard time replacing their goalie Austin Waiter, defenseman Jack Ambrose and middie Kyle Mendelson. I feel like the Wreckers will get better as the season progresses and can make a serious run in the state tournament again this year.
Glastonbury
-Let's look up north in the CCC for a second and, as usual, Glastonbury stands out. Thir top attackman, Ryan McCarthy went to Yale after last season but they retained defenseman Douglas Pollack and still have a talented roster. Their CCC record will undoubtedly get them a nice seed in the playoffs and hopefully for them enough players step up during the season to take them back to at least the semfinals again.
Teams no one should sleep on: Southington (they have some proven players that are respected state-wide, most notably Matthew Prezioso on attack and Zach Wholley at midfield); Xavier (the team in the SCC that no one is talking about but really should be when they have three attackmen good enough to play in college like Matt Kycia [Quinnipiac], Geoff Bruno and Tyler Crout, a plethora of middies like Trevor Buchas, the offensive threat whenever he has the ball-Dan Walsh, and a beast at faceoffs-Brandon Reid, a solid defense behind Charlie Dupont and junior Sam Izzarelli and one of the better goalies in the state: Nick Ford); Simsbury (probably the second or more like third best team in the CCC, Simsbury will field a very good team again this year that can upset you if you're not careful with them); Newton (the SWC's best team has enough talent to play with anyone in Class L this year).
CLASS M
Darien
-The only Class M champion since it started in 2006 and they won Division I in 2005, Darien is more of lax dynasty than Fairfield Prep since they boast more lacrosse state champions than any other team in CT. From last year's championship team, nine players are back and six of them are headed to DI lax schools in college. I don't say next year because most notable among them is junior attackman Chase Matheis, an All-American last year as a sophomore, the #3 recruit in his class according to ESPN Rise and a future Blue Devil at Duke. They also retained All-American and Maryland commit Eric Parnon on defense, Bayless/Baylis Treen, Justin Shaw and Dylan Torey at LSM, and J.P. Wlash at SSDM. The Blue Wave should coast to another Class M title.
New Canaan
-When trying to find a team that will contend with Darien, tow really stick out and I think NC may be the better of the two. All-American midfielder Joe Costigan will be leading things this year along with Henry Eschricht on attack. The Rams lost some really good players but the team knows how to win and has the confidence, coach and athletes to do so again this year.
Wilton
-The other major contender, who may be better than NC, is Wilton, also in the FCIAC. They lost a few stars from last year but All-American attackman Mike Francia is back so the Warriors will make a run at the title and the FCIAC crown.
Hand
-The Tigers from Madison have one of their better teams in a few years this year with Chad Crisco at middie, an All-State player last year, another really good middie Casey Dowd and one of the top goalies in the state, Richie Ortiz. They have a lot of buzz around them already in both the SCC and Class M.
New Fairfield
-The final team to round things out in Class M this year would be New Fairfield. The Rebels feature All-State attackman Ryan Mallon but lost a lot of talent from last year: Andrew Kemer and Dan Miley at middie, Jessie Broderick on defense, Pat McCormack at LSM and Nick Costabile in goal.
CLASS S
Weston
-The defending champs are serious contenders again this year with Kip McMahon on defense and Eddie Hutchins playing short-stick defensive middie. They lost key parts of their championship team from last year but they been in the last four title games so experience will serve them will this year when they go for it all again.
St. Joseph
-Last year's runner-up is my favorite to win the championship this year, just like they did in 2009. Junior Brian Bacarella on attack is very skilled along with senior midfielders Pat Corcoran (headed to Quinnipiac) and Pat Mulligan. All three players went All-State last year. Nick Francis and Alex Stefkovich stand out on defense but the Cadets biggest problem will be replacing Tim Izzo in goal.
Joel Barlow
-The third team with legitimate hopes of winning Class S this year is Joel Barlow. They have enough skilled players at each position to beat any team in Class S this year and if they can play together on a consistent basis then they will have do big things in 2011!
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