Let us turn our attention away from the Top teams in section six lacrosse and examine those dark horse teams that may well surprise us all this coming season. Everybody likes an underdog and Western New York is full of them.
In Class A, look out for the Lancaster Redskins. Renson Mullen should have his boys off and running, especially with a strong JV contingent from last year. Look for Clarence to once again be in the mix. Three consecutive games in early May with Frontier, Wmslv North, and West Seneca West should determine playoff slot. My personal favorite is Lockport. Mike Evans has done an incredible job in just three years. The Lions are very athletic and looked poised to gain some much deserved respect in 2008.
Beyond the "big 3" in Class B, look for some past powers to make some waves this season. Sweet Home (John Faller) and Grand Island (Steve Steck) are always so well coached it is very difficult to count them out of any game. However, I am picking Williamsville East to knock off one of the top teams. They were extremely young in many positions that last season yielded a 9-10 record. Coach Greenway should have the Flames ready for an all important back-to-backer in early May against Hamburg and West Seneca East.
The Class C should be interesting as East Aurora lost 13 seniors to graduation. The up-and-comer looks to be Eden. Coach Chris Archabald has the Raiders poised to make a run at a potential sectional title. Attackman Andy Williams should lead the way. As far as a dark horse, Gowanda should be improved over last season's 7-13 record. The Panthers were marred by inconsistent play in 2007. Salamanca could be strong enough to again make it to the finals this year. Akron is a wildcard as Bryan Bellis takes over the reins from Gary Sundown.
I defer to area lax expert Mike Ferrentino on the parochials. Mike feels that Canisius and St. Francis should secure the top spots. However, never underestimate Timon. Mike Burke always crafts a great non-league schedule to get the Tigers ready for the playoffs in May. It seems like this highly competitive division always seems to beat each other up a bit. Don't count out St. Joes and Nichols.
Any thoughts of your own? What would be the one/two teams that you think will take it to the next level in 2008?
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20 comments:
2008 Darkhorse Teams:
Class A: Clarence
Class B: Sweet Home
Class C: Salamanca
-laxbro
How about a couple teams that haven't been mentioned:
A - West Seneca West
B - Williamsville South
C - Akron
MM - St. Joes
I don't predict them winning their respective leagues but they could surprise.
-hopkinsrules
area lax expert Mike Ferrentino how can this be. He does not know the game. Have you ever heard his radio show. All self promotion.
I like to see a show down between Patrick Lally and him on the radio. He is the true lax expert in the area. He owns Nickel City Sports and runs 2 club lax teams. He has coached lacrosse for years and still plays. Is very well respected in WNY and NYS as well as in Maryland.
These teams will be in the hunt:
Class A- Lancaster Redskins
Class B- Williamsville East Flames
Class C- Gowanda
Catholics- Timon Tigers
-lax4life
Class A is a two way race between OP and Wheaties. Frontier or Will could upset to get there. The Class Bs should be Hamburg with Amherst and WSE. Sweet Home or Will East may challenge. Class C is East Aurora and Eden.
Who cares about the parochials?
I agree with the last post, Williamsville North and Frontier are always tough. Grand Island and Sweet Home are getting no love, are they better than Williamsville East? People forget, Salamanca was in the sectional finals last year. Eden might be talented but could falter in big games. You need experience! We may be able to get an idea about Canisius high school as they play this weekend against out of state talent. Being a St. Joes alum, I will take the Marauders. As we know, Canisius is always overrated!
In response to the last post. The private and parochial schools have historically played a better brand of lacrosse. We play a much more difficult schedule. Very few public schools venture out even into section five. Often times,our teams play some of the best lax talent in the nation. Just a quick glance at graduating players who continue lacrosse in college reflects the ability of our players.
-JoEsLaXeRfOrLiFe
I must agree with the post about MR. Lally he knows the game and the gear better than anyone I ever met. He has a deep passion for the game.
No one has mention Iriquios as a dark horse, well coached and season team. played all the B schools tuff. Look for them to upset some teams.
How about Eden, A coach who knows the game. The kids are playing year round and getting better. Look for them to make a run at the class C crown.
Lancaster will turn some heads this year. The coach went the extra step and got a few colege guys to come out and run some clinics for his boys to learn. Lancaster has always had athletes now with knowledge and drive to be better the redskins will be game no one can over look not even OP or NW.
Remember you can not judge a game by a published score in the paper. What may look like a blow out may not have been.
Way to go Canisius going 1-1. Loosing to a tuff team. This trip will pay dividends down the road.
i think mr. ferrentino is trying to do nothing more than improve the lacrosse situation in WNY. He's on the radio to do nothing more than to promote the game and have some fun. I've been playing lacrosse for a long time, and as far as i can remember Pat Lally hasn't done half as much to promote the game in the community in all of his years, as Mike has in the past 2 years. It's a shame that people are bad talking a good guy like mike. Mike talks to all of the coaches, gets their input on the hot players, and uses it as discussion on the radio. And if i remember correctly, he sponsored a summer team, started the first awards banuqet in the area, had the first radio show, and now is getting lacrosse TV time on Time Warner. No offense Robert, Pat, or whatever you wanna call yourself, just stop bickering like a little girl because you have no class.
joes definitley is a darkhorse, im not an alum, im actually a canisus alum, and i can say that this st. joes team is dangerous. Rossi and murphy are 2 of the top players in the area.
Lets face it, Mr Ferrentino has been doing a lot of good for WNY in the last few years. Lalley also is very knowledgeable in the sport. We should not be bad mouthing guys like them and instead should be focused on the darkhorses:
Class A: Frontier, who proved they can win in big games last year. But unfortunately will not be enough to take down OP or NW.
Class B: Sweet Home always offers the big dogs a scare. WSE has no depth after their few studs..Hamburg vs. Amherst games this year will decide everything
Class C: East Aurora is down this year after losing 13 seniors and 9 starters from last years championship team, but coach hoover and Ericson(modified, jv and varsity assistant) have turned East Aurora into a lacrosse town so they always turn out some good players. They will be in finals for 5th straight year. Eden is a newer program but have been playing together for a long time and Salamanca behind Rudi George has a great shot at taking over class C this year. Gowanda is always inconsistent and can come out of no where.
Can you tell i'm a class c guy?
A: Clarence. Jordan Collins is a very talented midfielder, and they have a ver good attackman too, but I forget his name Dan B.
B: Will East: Very young last year return all but 1 starter they ahve teh talent to knock off WSE, possibly Amherst.
C: Eden, this team keeps getting better and better, they take it this season.
MMAA: St. Joe's: Maybe with Frannies and Timon appearing veyr yougn this season Maybe the marauders can take advantage with 2 potential All-WNY Players in Rossi and Murphy.
no offense to any teams, but the only open class is C, A will be OP and B will be Amherst or Hamburg
a. clarencee
b sweet home
c eden
mmaa- st. joes
frannies looks like a modified team this year, and although st. joes is young too, they have great players in rossi murphy and federico. sweet home's donnie daniels is fantastic as is hoffman for clarence
Darkhorse Teams
Class A: West Seneca West (many good athletes on the roster)
Class B: Williamsville East (Good players at every position)
Class C: Gowanda (has a good number of good athletes with a pretty good goalie that doesen't get much help)
class c dark horse: Gowanda, already upset east aurora who has beaten contenders eden and salamanca once already this year.
Glad everyone called out St Joes to be a darkhorse. They havent won a game last time I checked. And as far as Rossi and Murphy as All-WNY, not a chance. They're good for St. Joes, but cant touch many other MMA players, and I'd take anyone on OP's first two middie lines over either of them.
in response to the last post lets just put it this way, rossi is one of the top faceoff men/ midfielders in the area. hes a righty and at the two games ive seen him play my alma mattar timon the coaches have been forcing him to his right hand in fear of his lefty shot. Murphy also has 121 gbs with 5 or so games left. expect him to break 170. all of this is done against top 10 teams (frannies, CHS,Timon,WSE, etc) both played spectacularly. and kids from OP have been playing their whole lives, i believe pete hudecki said rossi started playing lacrosse when he was a freshman. and note the 8-7 loss to WSE, both 1 and 2 goals games at frannies,and even though the score doesnt show it, they hung around with timon for about 3 1/2 quarters. rossi and murphy both on wny 2nd team
I would find it hard for Rossi and Murphy to make 2nd team all catholic, let alone all-wny. when joes played frannies the defense didnt even slide when rossi went to his left. and just because he only picked up a stick in 9th grade doesnt mean anything except that he should have picked one up earler, and then maybe he'd be all-wny. held scoreless in the playoffs, not a clutch player. murphy is pretty legit though.
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