2011 Tournament Lax Notes / Links
Posted on June 9th 2011
Massachusetts
The semi-final match-ups are set for Friday and Saturday in D1, D2 and D3. The No. 1 seeds Marshfield (D1) and Wellesley (D2) have been eliminated with Dover Sherborn (D3) still alive and looking strong.
D1 - The much anticipated match-up between Billerica and Duxbury will go down in the semi-finals this year as the No. 2 seed Indians host the No. 3 seed Dragons on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. This should be another classic as both teams have hit their late season strides and are clicking all over the field. Billerica has three 100 point scorers this year in attackmen Ben Medlaugh '12, Cam Slatton '12, and record breaking UMass bound All-American Grant Whiteway '11 (pictured against A-B in the quarterfinals below). Whiteway added to his state individual season points record by scoring four goals and dishing out four assists in a 15-6 quarterfinal win over A-B. Duxbury counters with a four headed junior attack unit featuring Seamus Connelly '12, Paul Hellar '12, Will Siefert '12 and Sam Sweet '12. All-American midfielders Bryan Barry '11 and Kane Haffey '11 tip the scale in favor of Duxbury and both teams are also playing strong defensively and in net. This should be another classic.
On the other side of the bracket No. 9 seed St. john's Prep continues their late season surge to get back to Harvard Stadium on tuesday (2010 champions). Harvard bound hockey star Colin Blackwell '11 is leading this group on their late season tournament run. Needham may be without Albany bound All -American attack Will Stenberg '11 who exited early last game with a shoulder injury. Sophomore attack Nico Panepinto '13 and junior all American midfielder Mark Riley '12, will lead a deep group into the semi-final match-up at home on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
D2 - No. 9 seed Medfield upset No. 1 seed Wellesley 7-5 on Tuesday and No. 4 seed Foxborough rolled by No. 5 seed Reading 8-1. For more on the Medfield upset win over Wellesley see ESPN Boston. Foxborough's Greg Stamatov '12 and Medfield's Sam Aronson '11 are both playing at the top of their games in goal and this one could be a low scoring affair in Foxborough on Friday evening at 5 p.m.
No. 2 seed Concord-Carlisle squeaked by No. 6 seed Sandwich 8-7, but may have lost another star senior in long pole Michael Anastos '11 (pictured above left). The bruised and battered Patriots are probably sick of hearing about all the injuries at this point. Stepping up big for the Patriots offensively have been juniors Jackson Fingan '12 and Mike O'Brien '12. Both natural middies have been forced to take on the majority of the offensive load from the attack position along with remaining healthy attack Matt Carroll '11. Hingham, who squeaked by Winchester in the quarterfinals 6-5, features All-American attack Kevin Blair '12 and senior captain Tim Driscoll '11. They also feature experienced and battle tested goalie Derek McInnis '11.
We will have live coverage of the C-C Hingham game beginning at 5 p.m. today on our twitter page @newenglandpreps
D3 - Dover-Sherborn is the only No. 1 seed alive in Eastern Mass and they face No. 4 North Reading on Saturday in their semi-final round contest. D-S is clicking on all cylinders and is looking poised to make it to Harvard Stadium and try to win the State Championship as the No. 1 seed.
The other side of the bracket pits No. 2 seed Weston against No. 3 seed Cohasset. Cohasset will be tough to stop with the dynamic midfield play of Thomas Flibotte '11 and the lock down defense of Jake Kissick '11. Weston will need Jared Fong '12 to step up big in net for any shot at getting to Harvard on Tuesday.
For more scores, schedules, times from the playoff action check out the MIAA site
New Hampshire
Bishop Guertin pulled out an 11-8 victory over Pinkerton Academy in front of a packed Stellos Stadium in Nashua, NH to take home the Division 1 state Championship for the second consecutive year. BG (14-7 overall and 14-1 in state) avenged an early season loss (8-7) at the hands of Pinkerton by locking down on defense in the second half and coming through with timely strikes. Juniors Bob Fahey '12 and Paul Spinney '12 (3 goals) led the way defensively and offensively respectively and junior goalie Colin Delea '12 also stepped up and made 14 saves. Read more about the game on the Nashua Telegraph site.
For more scores, schedules, times and the rest of the divisional playoff action check out http://www.nhiaa.org/tournaments.cfm * Cut and paste link *
Connecticut
Wilton upset No. 1 seed Darien 11-3 in the Class M semi-finals and will face New Canaan for the championship on Saturday at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk, CT. Wilton avenged and early season loss at the hands of Darien. who was playing without leading scorer and All-American attack Case Matheis '11. Matheis suffered a torn meniscus in the quarterfinal win over Fairfield-Ludlowe. For more on the Wilton upset of Darien check out Darien Patch.
For more scores, schedules, times and the rest of the divisional playoff action check out the CIAC tournament site.
Rhode Island
Over the weekend Rhode Island favorite La Salle Academy lost in the D1 state finals to Bishop Hendrickson. The final score was 6-4. In their previous two regular season meetings La Salle swept BH by scores of 11-1 and 13-3. For more on this game see laxpower.com.
For more scores, schedules, times and the rest of the divisional playoff action check out the RILL site under brackets on the left hand column.
Maine
For updates on the Maine lacrosse playoffs please check out Maine Today
Vermont
For updates on the Vermont lacrosse playoffs please check the Vermont Principal's Association site
