March 3, 2009 E-MAIL PRINT

White provides might for Ridgefield, Conn.

by Roger Brown/

Matt White of Ridgefield, Conn., will take his talents to Virginia next season.

Matt White of Ridgefield, Conn., will take his talents to Virginia next season.

Matt White set the school record for yards passing in a season when he was a sophomore quarterback on the Ridgefield (Conn.) High School football team. He broke that record as a junior and completed his career as the school’s all-time leader in passing yardage (4,083 yards).

Ridgefield coach Kevin Callahan rarely used White on defense, but White was on the field for 10 defensive plays when Ridgefield beat rival Danbury, 27-12, on Thanksgiving eve last year. White intercepted three passes during those 10 plays and returned two of those interceptions for touchdowns.

“Unfortunately, one of those TDs was called back, but that tells you what kind of football player Matt White is,” Callahan said.

Although White passed on all offers to play football in college, he still earned himself an athletic scholarship to a Division 1 school. That tells you what kind of lacrosse player Matt White is.

White, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound attackman who is preparing for his senior season at Ridgefield, committed to the University of Virginia last November. North Carolina, Princeton, Notre Dame and Georgetown were among the other schools in the recruiting picture.

White said he was attracted to Virginia’s up-tempo offensive style, and called his college selection an easy decision.

“From the beginning, I think I had a list of about eight schools,” White said. “They all seemed to come up short compared to Virginia. When I got on campus the guys made me feel like I was already part of the team.”

Virginia reached the 2008 national semifinals, where it lost to eventual national champion Syracuse, 12-11, in double overtime. It was Virginia’s third appearance in the national semifinals in the last four years.

The Cavaliers, who began 2009 ranked No. 1 in the country in several national polls, have won four national titles: 1972, 1999, 2003 and 2006. Johns Hopkins is the only Division 1 school that has made more NCAA tournament appearances (37) than Virginia (31).

“I think they liked his athleticism,” Ridgefield lacrosse coach Roy Colsey said. “They do a good job of putting kids where they can contribute. I’ll tell you this: He’s not going to be OK with the hope of trying to crack the lineup as a sophomore. He’s a competitive kid who’s going to want to play right away.

“I would say he has a real good understanding of the game — better than most high school kids have. He can score from all over the field, but he’s equally adept at making one more pass to set up a goal. What he does best is put pressure on the defense. He works so hard, hustles so much. He’s a coach’s dream in that regard.

“I don’t think calling him well-rounded is big enough of a compliment. Well-rounded kids in high school are a dime a dozen. Matt is an example of what a great high school lacrosse player is. He’s unselfish, but he wants the ball in the fourth quarter. There are not a lot of kids like that.”

There were football recruiters interested in White, according to Callahan, but nothing that compared to the offers he was receiving for lacrosse. Callahan said White’s desire to play college lacrosse was no secret.

“For Matt, lacrosse and football were 1 and 1A,” Callahan said. “I had a couple [of football coaches] ask about him when they were in the building, but most of them realized lacrosse came first. He’s a terrific athlete, but there’s no question he was committed to lacrosse at all times.”

Said White:  “I just like lacrosse a lot more. It’s not as organized as football. In football you run a play and that one play is all you’re thinking about. In lacrosse you’re thinking on the fly.”

White collected 68 goals and 64 assists for Ridgefield last season, when the Tigers finished 19-4 and reached the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference (FCIAC) championship game for the first time in the program’s history. The season had its share of disappointments, however.

Ridgefield lost to Darien in the FCIAC final, and then lost to Fairfield Prep, 15-14, in the state championship game. Ridgefield pulled even with Fairfield Prep by scoring with 56.1 seconds left in regulation, but Chase Bailey’s third goal of the contest came 3:14 into the third overtime and handed Fairfield Prep its third consecutive Class L title.

“We played pretty well all game, we just couldn’t finish,” White said. “We’ll be back this year, though. We’ll be very, very good. I think we should be [the favorite].

Ridgefield returns most of the key players from its 2008 team, including four players who have already signed with Division 1 schools: White, midfielder Matt Baker (Colgate), midfielder Brendan Walsh (Fairfield) and attackman Colin Scott (Denver). Ridgefield could have as many as seven future Division 1 players on its 2009 roster.

One of the few new faces on this year’s team belongs to Colsey, who was hired as the program’s head coach in July, shortly after former coach Andy Stockfish resigned.

Colsey has a lengthy resume. He was an All-America midfielder at Yorktown (N.Y.) High School, won two national championships at Syracuse (1993 and 1995) and won three Major League Lacrosse titles as a member of the Philadelphia Barrage. Following his senior season at Syracuse, Colsey received the Donald McLaughlin Award as the Division 1 men’s lacrosse midfielder of the year.

Colsey was the varsity lacrosse coach at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, N.Y., last year.

“It’s a tough job to take,” Colsey said. “Any other year would have been a great year to take over. This is one of the hotbeds for high school lacrosse, and the pressure is on.

“We’re a little inexperienced on defense and in goal, but otherwise we’re loaded. A state championship is the only way these kids are gonna leave satisfied.”

White said he’ll prepare for his first season at Virginia by playing lacrosse in the Sound Shore League this summer. It’ll be the first summer since third grade that he hasn’t had to prepare for an upcoming football season.

“I know he loves football, but I’m sure he took a look at where he could go for football and compared that to the calls he was getting for lacrosse,” Colsey said. “One thing probably became pretty clear: He’s a lacrosse player.”

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