July 5, 2009
Triple crowns for ISL champs
by Mike Zhe/
Three kings. Different suits.
It may be a simplistic analysis to say that Rivers School scored goals, Governor’s Academy stopped goals and Middlesex did a little at both ends. But there’s no denying that the three teams that shared the title in the Independent School League used very different game plans to produce very effective results.
Each team finished 14-1 in the ISL, going 1-1 against the others. Each team had an All-America midfielder — Blake Riley of Governor’s, David Lawson of Middlesex and Steve Manning of Rivers. And the three battles among the leaders were some of the best prep games in the region this spring.
Rivers landed the first blow, beating Governor’s 10-9 on the Red Dogs’ home field and snapping their 23-game win streak. The 10-goal effort was modest by Rivers’ standards. Junior John Fitzgerald would finish the season with 72 goals, while classmate Jordan Greenfield would finish with 106 points (38 goals). The two have verbally committed to Syracuse and Fairfield, respectively.
“I knew the attack was going to be extremely good, and it surpassed my expectations,” said Rivers coach Justin Walker, a former assistant at Duxbury (Mass.) High School. “I’ve coached a good chunk of the best players to come out of this area and this may be the best attack I’ve coached.”
Mix in senior Mark Cornacchio (Wooster), who finished fourth in the ISL in scoring, Manning, the first All-American in program history, and supporting cast members such as Jeff Rautiola (Trinity), Andrew Navoni (Curry), Will Sahakian (Manhattanville) and Geordie Carrick, and it was a formidable team.
But it was Middlesex that put itself in the ISL driver’s seat the next time out, stifling Rivers, 8-4, and holding it to its lowest output of the season.
“When they came to play us, the hype was huge,” Middlesex coach Ned Herter said. “The kids read the blogs online. There was so much talk going back and forth.”
Lawson (56 goals), who’s bound for Duke, would finish third in the ISL in scoring behind Greenfield and Fitzgerald, and conclude his career as the No. 2 point man in Middlesex history. But he had assistance.
Senior poles Ryan Williams (Colgate) and Chris Mahoney (Bowdoin) took care of things at the other end of the field. Goalie Conor Murphy, thrust into a starting role at the start of the season, stopped 69 percent of the shots he faced.
“I think I can count one soft goal he let in all season,” said Herter.
It was the defending champs’ turn next. Knowing it had zero margin for error if it wanted a share of a fourth straight ISL title, Governor’s responded by beating Middlesex on the road, 11-10. The Virginia-bound Riley scored five goals, Zack Brown added three and two assists, and the Red Dogs began pulling away in the third quarter, inflating their lead to three.
“Our best game of the season,” said Governor’s coach Peter Bidstrup.
Riley would go on to score 37 goals and become the program’s fifth All-American in the last five years.
Other college-bound seniors include midfielders Brian Durkin (Bowdoin), Connor MacLennan (Ohio Wesleyan) and Trevor Hines (Babson for hockey), attackers Marc White (Brown) and Dan Hines (Bates), defenders Jimmy King (Franklin and Marshall), Colin Canty (St. John’s) and Andrew McLain (Union), and goalie Peter Metcalf (Villanova).
The Red Dogs didn’t quite duplicate their undefeated run of 2008, but they gladly pocketed their share of the title.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with this team,” Bidstrup said. “They worked hard and enjoyed each other’s company all season. They were truly a pleasure to coach.”
When the smoke cleared, and the teams took care of their remaining business, the result was a three-way tie atop the league standings.
Achieved via three different roads.
“Rivers was very much a scoring machine, though they had good players up and down the field,” Herter said. “We were pretty balanced — a good defensive squad but we also had David Lawson. Governor’s, I’d say, had the best defensive team.”
Connecticut
Salisbury (13-1) — Seventh-year coach Bobby Wynne called it “as complete a team as I’ve had at Salisbury,” and it’s tough to argue with the results. The one loss — 13-11 to Brunswick — earned it a share of the Western New England Division 1 title with Deerfield. The three-headed attack monster of Will Casertano (Villanova), Connor Rice (Marist) and junior Alex Love combined for more than 150 points. Specialists Ian Gordon and Luke Dawson won 83 and 65 percent of their faceoffs, respectively. Midfielder Cameron Flint and goalie Jamie Faus both were named All-American.
Hotchkiss (10-3) — The Founders League champions were strong on defense, yielding less than seven goals per game behind close defenders Chris Nourse (Georgetown), Baxter Lanius (Lehigh) and John Tomashoff (Trinity), junior long-stick middie Derick Raabe and goalie Dan Marcus (Denver). Kyle O’Keefe (Bucknell) and George Sherman (Brown) led the offense, aided by middies Mike Row (Drexel), T.J. Cholnoky (Trinity) and juniors Derek Deblois and Teddy MacKenzie.
Massachusetts
Deerfield Academy (15-1) — Only a 7-6 loss to Salisbury kept the Big Green from winning the Western New England title outright. They settled for co-champion status, and their season was marked by defense. A unit led by Mike Morris (Georgetown), Peter Johnson (Yale) and Pete Berg (Harvard) allowed opponents just 4.7 goals a game, and juniors Peter Reiley and John Rose earned all-league honors. Sophomore Jimmy Bitter stepped up and led the team in scoring with 21 goals and 29 assists, and Drew Philie (Vermont) and Josh Hawkins (Loyola) also played large roles.
St. Sebastian’s (10-6) — The Arrows were led by senior defender Teddy Downs and junior middie Peter Burke, who both earned All-ISL honors. Senior attacker Jack Crowley was an honorable mention selection.
Milton Academy (10-5) — Junior attacker James Laughlin continued his climb up the school’s all-time scoring ladder. Laughlin moved into 14th place all-time with 58 goals and 30 assists for 88 points.
New Hampshire
Brewster (14-1) — The Bobcats lost the Lakes Region title with an 8-6 loss to Kimball Union on the last day of their season, but they did collect wins from Rivers and Phillips Exeter. All-America midfielder Alejandro Brown (Denver) headlined a group of six players headed for U.S. college varsity programs, a list that includes attackers Dylan Koontz (Delaware) and Jackson Burress (Roanoke), midfielders Mike Woods (Albany) and Justin Ingram (St. Lawrence), and goalie Nate Billings (Bentley), who wrapped up his four-year career with just five losses.
Kimball Union (12-3) — Lakes Region and Northern New England titles were the rewards for the Wildcats. Senior Cody Danforth received All-America recognition and Steve Kontos was named Northern New England Player of the Year.
Phillips Exeter (12-4) — The Big Red’s list of victims included Kimball Union. Defender Sam Gardner was picked to take part in U.S. Lacrosse’s National Senior Showcase while defender Matthew Callahan earned team MVP honors.
Maine
Gould Academy (14-6) — Two years removed from a winless season, the Huskies reached the New England small school championship game. Senior attacker Lance Robinson deposited 88 goals and will take his game to Bellarmine, a Division 1 school in Kentucky. St. Lawrence-bound attacker Max Littlefield earned All-America honors. Other leaders included midfielders Zach Robinson (65 goals, 37 assists) and Joe Johnson (21 goals, 43 assists), and defender Scot Baribeau.
Rhode Island
Portsmouth Abbey (11-4) — The Ravens were led offensively by Shane McComiskey, Nick Albertson and Brett Kroll, and got solid play from goalie Ben Theriault. The team’s four losses — to Phillips Exeter, Berwick, Pingree and Canterbury — came by a total of 10 goals.
