March 20, 2011
2011 prep school previews
Salisbury, Deerfield boys expected to shine
by Phillip Shore/
Midfielder Walker Chafee, who is committed to North Carolina, leads a powerful Salisbury School squad. (photo: Thomas Honan)
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the March 2011 issue of New EnglandLacrosse Journal.
Prep schools in New England have strong reputations, and they do a lot of winning to back up the hype. According to LaxPower, three boys teams finished in the nation’s top 25 (Deerfield Academy at No. 10, the Salisbury School at No. 14, and Avon Old Farms at No. 20), and one girls team in the top 50 (Loomis Chaffee at No. 34).
Salisbury and Deerfield are both ranked in Under Armour’s preseason top 25 nationally for 2011.
With many returning All-Americans and plenty of others waiting in the wings, 2011 shapes up as being even more competitive in New England’s prep school leagues.
Boys
Independent School League
Middlesex School, last year’s ISL boys champion, has been one of the top teams in the league over the past couple of seasons, but it loses 13 seniors. A few teams will be in good position to overtake Middlesex.
Governor’s Academy finished 2009 with a share of the league title and had a strong 2010, going 14-2. It returns defenseman/LSM Reed Kennedy, who will be heading to Penn State in the fall, and midfielder Taylor Pirie who is committed to Middlebury.
St. Sebastian’s went 15-2 and was the only team to beat Middlesex. Harvard-bound midfielder Murphy Vandervelde will lead the charge. Also in the mix should be Rivers School, another team that won a part of the championship in 2009.
Western New England Division 1
Two rivals are odds-on favorites to again compete for the league title. Either Salisbury School or Deerfield Academy has won at least a share of the championship five times in the past six years. They’ve shared the title twice during that span. Last year, Salisbury finally won its first championship outright, handing Deerfield its only loss and going 13-0 in divisional play.
The Crimson Knights look to be in prime position to have another memorable season. The group will be led by returning All-American and University of North Carolina-bound midfielder Walker Chafee. Joining him in the midfield will be another future ACC player, David Solomon (Maryland).
Deerfield’s Big Green, meanwhile, will vie to get back on top with a strong roster of its own, starting with another future Tar Heel in attackman Jimmy Bitter. Supporting him will be the Dartmouth-bound trio of attackman Adam Hull and defenders Mike Muller and Bobby Osgood. A third attacker, John Hogan, will play for Cornell next year.
While Deerfield and Salisbury are the titans expected to finish atop the standings, Avon Old Farms could surprise people. Last year, Avon lost only three games, including single losses to Salisbury and Deerfield by a combined three goals. Avon returns Johns Hopkins-bound midfielder Bronson Kelly and future Rutgers Scarlet Knights defender Kieran Morris.
Former Division 2 powerhouse Berkshire had a solid 12-7 campaign in its inaugural season in Div. 1. Improvement must be made to turn the school into an elite competitor, but another year at that level should help.
Western New England Division 2 & 3
With Berkshire moving to Div. 1, Millbrook School took over as champions in 2010. Millbrook finished 9-0 in league play, but loses its top seniors on offense, including Chase Cochran and Matt Job.
Canterbury finished in second and should push Millbrook again this season.
Chase Collegiate is the school to beat in Div. 3, having won three consecutive league titles without dropping a single D-3 game in that span. Chase will be lead by returning All-American and Babson recruit Jon Hale.
New England North
Brewster Academy was once again the champion of the league, and it’s been so long since it hasen’t been at the top that it’s tough to imagine someone else there. If anyone is going to knock off the king of the hill here, it could be Gould, which will be led by Mount St. Mary’s recruit Mark Hojnoski and which is capable of improving on a 12-6 record from a year ago.
Eastern Independent League
Portsmouth Abbey has been crowned champion two of the past three years. Anchored by a strong defense starting with goalie and VMI recruit Morgan Green, along with long-pole Jake Flynn and long-stick middie Mitchell Green, the team should have another good season.
Pingree, looking to get back to the top spot it captured in 2009, will look to attackman Colin Rossano — committed to Roanoke — to get past the strong Portsmouth Abbey defense in 2011.
Others
Phillips Exeter Academy and Tabor Academy are top teams to watch that battle every year. Tabor returns All-American attackman Cam Spiro.
Girls
Independent School League
The ISL could be the most hotly contested league in girls prep lacrosse. Last year’s league champion, Thayer — despite heavy losses — will still be strong thanks to returning honorable mention All-American McKenzie Hunt. With a 12-1-1 record (9-0-1 in league play), Thayer unseated Noble and Greenough, which had won the previous three titles and will be looking to rebound.
The Brooks School tied Thayer in a regular-season matchup and was in the hunt for a share of the championship up until its final game. It should have another strong year, as should Governor’s Academy, the team that beat Brooks in the final game of the season. Governor’s returns junior goalie Kelsey Duryea — a member of the U.S. 19-and-under national team who was selected as an All-American in only her sophomore season — and Union-bound midfielder Haley Gould.
Eastern Independent League
The EIL has been dominated of late by the Pingree School. It stormed through the league last season going undefeated at 9-0, and had a lot of juniors on that squad — including the attack trio of Meaghan Souza, Sarah Mathey and Caroline Mead — who will now lead the team in their final go-round. The team had a lot of juniors play a key role last year and will once again rely on them.
Portsmouth Abbey looks to be its biggest hurdle.
Founders League
Loomis Chaffee was the only New England prep school to land on LaxPower’s 2010 top 50 national power rankings, after going 17-0. It loses two All-Americans but retains a third in midfielder Alexandra Crerend. Helping her lead the team will be Sarah Byrne, headed to Dartmouth in the fall, and Delaware-bound defender Alex Alois.
The Hotchkiss School finished the season 10-4, starting and ending its season with losses to Loomis. It will take a lot to exact revenge against the league’s three-time defending champ, but Hotchkiss has a strong attack unit, lead by Sydney Ellis and All-American Claire Yackery, that will look to put enough goals in to finally get by Loomis Chaffee.
Others
Although Williston-Northampton’s win streak of two-plus seasons was snapped, it still finished with a 10-1 record that included impressive wins over Suffield Academy and Choate Rosemary Hall. A talented pair of midfielders — Wheaton-bound Anna Carando and Colby-bound Abigail Hatch — should continue to help the team play at a high level.
Suffield — which has gone 29-4 over the past two seasons — returns a versatile group of players including UConn commitment Grace Presnick, Bryant-bound Molly Clark, and midfield/defender Brenna Lowe.
Phillips Exeter Academy returns All-American midfielder Rebecca Ryan.
Penciled on the trophy
Brewster Academy boys
Brewster is known for its league dominance. The Bobcats have been crowned New England North League champions the past six consecutive seasons, including last year when they went 5-0 in league play to finish with an overall record of 13-3.
They lose All-American defenseman Riley Merritt and league Player of the Year attackman Jared Boudreau, but they have a host of players more than capable of filling the holes. The Bobcats currently have five players ready to play for big-time college ball next year: attackmen James Cathers (Syracuse), Jimmy Murphy (Hartford) and Jonathan Behning (Hartwick), along with defender Mitch Chapman (Bryant) and defender/LSM Patrick Eaker (Marist). It’s a strong team with a well-known history of reloading, rather than rebuilding, so it would be foolish to bet against them in 2011.
Climbing back to the top
Noble and Greenough girls
Heading into the 2010 season, Nobles had been outright ISL champions for three straight seasons and held at least a share of the title for four consecutive years. That run came to an end last year, as eight seniors who had been part of those four titles all graduated, and the team stumbled through an 8-5 season.
That’s about as much rebuilding as anyone should expect from coach Meghan Cleary Hamilton’s team, is Nobles returns a roster loaded with talent.
It starts up front, where All-American Chelsea Landon returns for one last season before heading off to play at Duke. She’s joined at attack by Hope Hanley, an honorable mention All-American in 2010 and one of the top players in New England’s loaded junior class.
At midfield, the Bulldogs feature Ellen Bailey, headed to Dartmouth next year, and Reilly Foote, committed to Yale. With a deep and experienced roster around those stars, Nobles could prove that 2010’s average record was a fluke.
Phillip Shore can be reached at feedback@laxjournal.com
