January 13, 2012
20 headliners for 2012
Here are the people who will be making lacrosse news this year
by Staff Report/
Madison Acton, who is headed to Duke next year, has her sights set on helping Lincoln-Sudbury (Mass.) High's run at the state championship. (photo: Marshall Grant)
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Every season starts with promise and excitement. In the sports world, it’s the proverbial coming of “next year” in all of those season-ending declarations of “Wait ’til next year.”
With the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships in Foxboro, Mass., and the Boston Cannons defending their first Major League Lacrosse crown, there’s little doubt about the New England lacrosse community’s headline events for 2012, but it’s much harder to figure out where the rest of the lacrosse memories will be made this year.
Here is New England Lacrosse Journal’s look at 20 people who will make lacrosse news around the region this year, whose successes or failures will be a big part of what people talk about next winter when they retell the story of what happened in New England lacrosse in 2012.
Madison Acton
Midfielder, senior, Lincoln-Sudbury (Mass.) High School
Madison Acton is a member of the U.S. Under-19 team and will play in 2013 at Duke University, but the soon-to-be cum laude graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury (Mass.) High School first has some unfinished business to attend to, anchoring her team’s run at the 2012 state championship.
Acton has earned multiple All-Scholastic and All-American honors in lacrosse, as well as what most consider the ultimate honor in wearing the Team USA uniform at the U-19 World Championships last summer. Still, her greatest asset isn’t her lacrosse skills so much as her approach to the sport and how it’s played.
Lincoln-Sudbury head coach Debra DeJesus noticed Acton’s smile and determination before her athleticism.
“It is her hard work and positive attitude that has made a difference in our program,” DeJesus said.
Lincoln-Sudbury won the North Sectional title in 2011 but fell short of the ultimate goal, dropping the Eastern Massachusetts final to Westwood. The 2012 squad will be a favorite to finish the job, and DeJesus believes Acton will motivate others with her strong work ethic, smile and respect.
Cheryl Acton, Madison’s mother and No. 1 fan is undeniably impressed with her daughter’s work ethic and determination to be the best.
“This past summer’s experience with the USA team has really fed her drive,” Cheryl said.
On Acton’s bathroom mirror at home, she has taped a quote: “Some dream of success while others wake up and work at it.” It represents Acton’s attitude toward life and lacrosse; opponents this spring should see that she’s been doing more than just dreaming about finishing her high school career as a state champ.
— AMANDA PELLEY
Carter Bender
Attackman, senior, University of Hartford
Hartford shocked the lacrosse world last year when its men’s squad — just three years removed from a winless season — beat Stony Brook in a classic finish at the America East Conference championships to secure an NCAA berth.
While the Cinderella season came out of nowhere, all eyes are on Hartford for 2012. The team lost one of New England’s top players to graduation in lights-out faceoff specialist Tim Fallon, but the Hawks return their top seven scorers from last year’s potent offense, including team leader Carter Bender.
The Ontario native and Brewster Academy grad led Hartford with 53 points last season, and if the Hawks are going to make a return trip to the NCAA tournament, they’ll rely strongly on the potent stick of the 6-foot-3, 205-pound attackman.
Fortunately, Bender is up to the challenge. After his Big Dance debut, Bender spent the summer as a contributing member of the 2011 national Senior A box lacrosse champion Brampton Excelsiors, alongside such professional box stars as Dan Dawson and Zach Greer. This experience, Bender said, will pay dividends when it comes time for the Hawks to prove that 2011 was no fluke, not only when it comes to racking up points but in intangible ways, too.
“All these guys have been playing pro box for five, six years now,” Bender said. “I think they’re great leaders, those guys. They’ve helped me turn it around and be a better leader myself.”
— BRADEN CAMPBELL
Nick Brett
Attackman, senior, UMass-Dartmouth
After powering through the Little East Conference to a second-place finish and a school-best record of 13-4, UMass-Dartmouth is a program on the rise and with good reason to expect more.
Little East Coach of the Year Kevin Mahoney returns plenty of firepower, none of it more explosive than second-team all-conference attackman Nick Brett. He led the Little East with 60 goals and 18 assists and finished second with 175 shots. The senior from Loudon, N.H., was a force around the cage, with 4.59 points per game and 3.53 goals per game, fourth best in NCAA Division 3.
Brett started his collegiate career at Div. 2 American International College and was the school’s second-leading scorer with a 30-point freshman season, before slumping to just five points as a sophomore.
Mahoney described Brett as “a threat every time he touched the ball.
“He had something to prove to himself and he proved it to the team and the Little East Conference, as well,” Mahoney said. “We look forward to (2012), when he will be more comfortable with our offensive sets and the players on the team.”
That’s a frightening prospect for Little East opponents, as Brett is the centerpiece of a solid returning core that gives the Corsairs reason to expect to fly higher than ever before in 2012.
— DIANA PUGLIESE
Jordan Burke
Goalie, Boston Cannons
A year ago, Jordan Burke was No. 2 on the depth chart behind Kip Turner, the reigning Goalie of the Year in Major League Lacrosse. The only mark most fans would have expected him to make during the season was a dent on the bench.
In preseason, then-Cannons coach Bill Daye told the goalies that, despite Turner’s hardware, the starting spot was an open contest. Turner earned the opening-day nod — and win — but got off to a shaky start against the Denver Outlaws in the season’s second week, and was pulled in favor of Burke; while the team lost the game, Burke — a third-year player out of Brown — won the job.
The Cannons ran off five consecutive wins under Burke, surging to the top spot in the league before finally overcoming the team’s perennial postseason ineptitude to bring the Steinfeld Trophy to Boston. While Burke did not capture the Goalie of the Year hardware himself — despite a stellar 61.5 save percentage and a 10.60 goals-against average during the regular season — he earned honors as Championship Weekend MVP for leading the Cannons in a pair of one-goal wins.
“Kip Turner’s an outstanding goalie,” new Cannons coach Steve Duffy said. “It just so happens that Jordan Burke came along and played at as high a level as any goalie has ever played in the MLL.”
Now all Burke has to do is to keep playing that way, because that’s the mark everyone expects him to make in 2012. Turner was lost in the expansion draft, and much of the Cannons’ future — and ability to repeat as champs — now rests on Burke’s shoulders. The Cannons wouldn’t have it any other way.
— BRADEN CAMPBELL
Fergus Campbell
Goalie, senior, Dartmouth
For several years now, Dartmouth’s men’s lacrosse team has been an afterthought in Ivy League competition. In a league made up of some of the most storied programs in the game, the Big Green historically has been a perennial also-ran, and the past few years have been even worse, a wretched 14-28 with no more than five wins in any season.
As poor as that line seems, it would be much worse were it not for the play of senior goalie Fergus Campbell.
The New Canaan, Conn., native won the starting spot after starting his freshman campaign as second backup. In the two seasons since, Campbell has become prominent on the national stage, finishing last season ninth in the country in saves per game with 11.57.
Now, with the addition of legendary Cornell goalie Paul Schimoler as Dartmouth’s goalie coach and defensive coordinator, Campbell should only get better. Second-year head coach Andy Towers looks to have the Big Green moving in a positive direction, for which the coach says he owes a debt of gratitude to Campbell.
“Off the field, what he’s done is spearhead a major culture change within our program,” Towers said. “We want our guys to be hyper-competitive people on the field but, more importantly, humble and driven to reach their potential first and foremost as students and ultimately as athletes.
“(Campbell) has been the poster boy in those areas.”
And if Dartmouth is ready to shake off the perennial blues and become a story in the Ivy League this year, Campbell will be the poster boy for that success, too.
— BRADEN CAMPBELL
Danie Caro
Women’s head coach, Quinnipiac
Not many coaches have the impact on the game that Quinnipiac’s Danie Caro will have in 2012. Last year, Caro led the Bobcats to a 13-5 record, tying the school’s mark for wins in a season, while picking up her 100th victory and grabbing Quinnipiac’s first Northeast Conference championship.
When the season ended, Caro went right back to work as the head of the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Rules Committee. The changes she helped to enact there are radical for the women’s game, and include teams playing down a player in their defensive zone after yellow-card infractions — effectively creating power plays in the women’s game for the first time — and more.
Those changes will impact Caro’s tactics on the field and — as a major discussion point for all women’s lacrosse fans throughout the season — her legacy off of it.
Already, Caro was honored for her efforts with the 2011 Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Association’s President’s Cup Award, given to “the individual who demonstrates the drive and determination towards the development, promotion and enhancement of intercollegiate women’s lacrosse.”
“We have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk,” Caro said of her responsibilities. “All of us coaches have the responsibility to the game to teach the players how to play aggressively but also how to play safely. Being on the committee is a big responsibility, as we’re making important decisions that will impact the game; I am impressed at how everyone is agonizing about the decisions we are making and considering the consequences they will have on the future of our game.”
Caro’s immediate future with the Bobcats should be bright, though she admits the team will have a target on its back and will have to learn how to handle the pressure of being a front-runner for the title. Led by reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Year Marissa Caroleo and 2011 NEC Tournament MVP Devon Gibney, Caro’s squad will be favored to repeat and could make some noise on the national scene.
— DIANA PUGLIESE
Madison Crutchfield
Midfielder, sophomore, St. Paul’s School
Madison Crutchfield of the St. Paul’s School (Concord, N.H.) was one of only three high school freshmen named U.S. Lacrosse All-American in 2011. Just a year into her high school career, the midfielder’s stock is rising fast as a future college star, but she promises not to rest on her laurels or get complacent.
Crutchfield believes she still has a lot to do to get better.
“She’s plays wall ball every morning at 6:15,” said her mother and high school coach Heather Crutchfield.
Madison’s days are long and busy: wall ball in the morning, traveling to boarding school, practice after school (she also plays soccer and ice hockey) and club lacrosse for Granite State Elite on the weekends. She doesn’t feel like it’s work though. She actually enjoys it.
“I love this sport so much, and I look at it as a chance to get better,” Crutchfield said. “I was lucky enough to play something I really love and working hard is just part of that.”
Crutchfield is enjoying other sports and thinks time spent focusing on other things makes her appreciate lacrosse that much more. So much so that she is itching to get back on the field.
“I’m excited to see how the wall ball pays off, to see the competition, to see how the team does,” she said. “I’m hoping to take more of a leadership role this year now that I’m a year older.”
It’s hard to improve on an All-American season, especially for a freshman, but add all those hours working on skill development and the possibilities may be truly endless.
— PHILLIP SHORE
Steve Duffy
Head coach, Boston Cannons
Some people would say Steve Duffy is in a no-win situation in 2012, even though he is taking over as head coach for the team with the most wins in Major League Lacrosse since 2009.
Duffy inherits a championship team with enough star power to win it all again, but he does it at a time when league expansion stripped the squad of some vital pieces from its title run. Repeat as champs and people will give the credit to the team he inherited; lose, and they’ll lay the blame on Duffy.
Still, most would say the veteran Massachusetts high school coach is in an enviable position, taking over the best team on Earth. His three years as defensive assistant with the Cannons should ensure a smooth transition with the returning stars who, on paper, make the team odds-on favorite to repeat regardless of how the expansion, supplemental and collegiate drafts alter the bottom of the roster.
“There’s no doubt the city of Boston has high expectations for its sports teams and we have a fantastic fan base — one that’s going to get bigger because of the championship — and that everyone here has big expectations,” Duffy said in the press conference where he was introduced as the fourth head coach in franchise history. “It’s a lot to live up to, but no one has higher expectations than the players and coaches on this team. The best way to satisfy our fans would be to satisfy ourselves and reach our goals.”
— CHUCK JAFFE
Sarah Galligan
Midfielder, senior, Stonehill
Being among the league leaders in caused turnovers while tallying 150 career points shows that Sarah Galligan makes an impact at both ends of the field, but now the Stonehill College senior is looking to lead the Skyhawks back to the top of the Northeast-10.
While Galligan is the top returning defender in the NE-10 statistically, Stonehill coach Kathryn Conover, whose team made consecutive NCAA Division 2 tournament appearances in 2010 and 2011, expects Galligan to produce in the offensive end.
“We expect Galligan to lead our team on the attack end and fill in whenever possible through the midfield,” Conover said.
Galligan netted 46 goals with 10 assists last year, while also generating 43 caused turnovers. This year, the senior from West Newbury, Mass., is looking to take on an increased leadership role on the field. Conover said that Galligan leads by example and hopes her effort and skill makes an impression on the underclassmen.
“Sarah is a very versatile player,” Conover said.
A 2010 All-Northeast-10 First Team selection and two-time NE-10 Player of the Week, Galligan should be a significant factor in Stonehill’s quest to return to the top of the league, and beyond. Galligan has set her sights for the Skyhawks’ 2012 season as high as possible.
“I plan to win a national championship with my team,” Galligan said.
— SAMMI GORMAN
Kristen Giovanniello
Goalie, sophomore, Dartmouth
Dartmouth’s women’s lacrosse team has been blessed with an embarrassment of riches at the goaltending position for over a decade. Goalies Sarah Hughes, Devon Wills and, most recently, Julie Waldman were fixtures on the NCAA Division 1 All-America teams and kept the Big Green in big games and consistently among the nation’s elite.
Add to that list one more name, one with the potential to be the best of all: Kristen Giovanniello.
In just her freshman season, Giovanniello started all 16 games for the Big Green, making 138 stops to post a save percentage of 50.5, fourth-best in the nation, earning a second-team All-American nod.
“She never settles, she’s out with me four days a week before practice. She’s one of those kids that wants to get better and better and better,” Dartmouth coach Amy Patton said. “This is a whole new year and I see her hungry to keep working and learning. That’s going to continue to make her one of the best goalies in the country.”
While Giovanniello’s stopping ability is unimpeachable, Patton says there are areas for improvement, chief among them her ability to dictate the play of her defensive unit. If the sophomore can mold herself into a more vocal leader, expect some big things from the Big Green. Others already are expecting big things; Giovanniello was an Inside Lacrosse pre-season All-American pick, one of just three sophomores nationally to be so honored.
“She’s always trying to expand her game, and that’s what’s going to make her a stellar goalie for four years, and on,” Patton said.
— BRADEN CAMPBELL
Sean Kirwan
Attackman, senior, Tufts
After winning its second consecutive NESCAC title, Tufts came up just short in its quest to defend its NCAA Division 3 title in 2011. The road back to the finals will be lot harder in 2012 after the departures of stars D.J. Hessler, Ryan Molloy and Matt Witko, but the Jumbos will still have attackman Sean Kirwan to rely on.
The senior netted the game-winner with 1:55 left in overtime to send Tufts home with the NESCAC hardware, his fourth goal of the game. On the season, Kirwan scored a team-high 66 goals, standing in 13th place in all of Div. 3, and finished second in total points. He earned U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Third Team All-American honors and already has been named an Inside Lacrosse 2012 Face-Off Yearbook Division 3 Preseason All-American.
“Sean is one of the best pure finishers I have been lucky to coach,” Jumbos head coach Mike Daly said. “He is a lacrosse junkie and a coach on the field, and his presence and mentoring of some of the new players will be vital to our success this season.”
Even with his focus on the team, it will be hard for Kirwan to ignore the records lying in front of him. The attackman enters his final season only 25 goals shy of tying the school record of 148 career scores — an easy mark given his career scoring pace — but for Tufts to reach its lofty targets, Kirwan will have to shatter that record by a wide margin.
— DIANA PUGLIESE
Nick Maggio
Midfielder, senior, Merrimack
Lacrosse games can be won and lost at the X. More faceoff wins means more offensive possessions and chances to score, while also resting your defense.
Merrimack has been in the Northeast-10 championship game each of the past three years, winning once. One big piece of that success has been Nick Maggio, one of the best faceoff men in the country over the past three years.
“It’s definitely something that never goes undervalued around here,” said Merrimack head coach Mike Morgan. “The position … only goes underrated when you have a good one, because when you don’t have a good one you realize how important it is. We had our struggles my first year, and we knew we needed to bring in a good faceoff guy.”
Maggio, of Winchester, Mass., was that guy and, in his freshman year, Maggio won 61 percent of his faceoffs and finished seventh in the country. He slipped slightly as a sophomore, winning 59 percent of the draws — still good for second in the conference — but broke out with a career year in 2011, winning the most faceoffs (236) in NCAA Division 2, with his 69 percent success rate ranking second in the country.
Merrimack will ride the experience, talent and preparedness of Maggio for one last season.
“If I go off in a game like I do, the other team is never getting the ball,” said Maggio, who really proved that last year against league rival Bentley by going 20-for-21 with 17 ground balls. “If we go on a two- or three-goal run and keep getting the ball, it’s impossible for the other team to make a comeback.”
— PHILLIP SHORE
Sydney Mas
Attacker, sophomore, Vermont
Sydney Mas, sophomore at the University of Vermont, made her stamp on 2011 being named the America East Rookie of the Year while setting the record for most goals scored in a season by a freshman.
Vermont coach Jen Johnson expected Mas to be an impact player in her freshman season, but got more than she bargained for in Mas, who played her high school ball at St. George’s School in Rhode Island.
Being 6 feet tall, Mas is a threat simply by playing true to her height and using her strengths, Johnson said, but there’s more to her game than just size.
Johnson believes Mas will continue to see a lot of success largely due to her modesty.
“She’s very quick to credit her teammates when she’s scoring a lot of goals,” Johnson said. “She’s tough on herself and holds herself to an incredibly high standard.”
Mas scored 55 goals a year ago, setting a new league record for a freshman. She also broke UVM rookie records for most points (63) and goals. The all-star attacker finished 2011 ranked 12th overall in the country in goals and eighth in goals per game (3.44).
The Catamounts finished 2011 with a record of 8-9, and are expecting better results out of 2012, with Mas expected to lead the way.
Mas is optimistic about the Catamounts’ shot at the title in the highly competitive America East conference.
“I am expecting really good things to happen for us this season,” she said. “The team is closer than ever and really talented.”
— AMANDA PELLEY
Case Matheis
Attackman, senior, Darien (Conn.) High School
As a high school freshman, Case Matheis hardly was the prototypical lacrosse stud. Barely taller than most long poles at 5-foot-4, he tipped the scales at a scant 120 pounds.
But what Matheis lacked in size and strength that year at Darien (Conn.) High School, he made up for with his athleticism, acceleration, ability to stop and change direction on a dime, and his lacrosse IQ. After senior captain Nicky Dysenchuck was sidelined with an injury midseason, Matheis stepped up and into the spotlight, making an immediate impact.
By his sophomore year, Matheis had grown a few inches, packed on some meat and muscle, and was drawing the top defenders in every matchup. In the 2010 state championship game, he set a Connecticut record with an explosive nine-goal, three-assist title-winning performance.
A year later, Matheis tore his meniscus early in Darien’s quarterfinal matchup against Fairfield-Ludlowe. Watching his team humbled by FCIAC rival Wilton a few days later was a shock.
“I couldn’t really process what was going on,” the Duke-bound Matheis said. “Losing to Wilton that badly — 11-3 in the semis — that ticked me off. It’s something I’ll carry into (this) season. I don’t want to look back at high school and see my peak as my first two years, not my last.”
Matheis has been on a strict rehab program since undergoing surgery to repair his knee. While his leg’s still not 100 percent, he’s used his down time to focus on his shot, which he now thinks has never been better.
The more he takes that shot as he continues to recover from his injury, the more Darien will be favored to recapture its crown in Matheis’ senior season.
— BRADEN CAMPBELL
Griffin Meehan
Attackman, senior, Keene State
Since setting foot on Keene State’s campus, Griffin Meehan has punished opposing goalies and has risen through the ranks as one of the best players in team history.
The 6-foot-1 attackman from Simsbury, Conn., has led the Owls in scoring all three years at Keene; as a sophomore, he broke the school scoring record (69 goals and 36 assists) and his 105 points were tops in the nation. Last season, his 89 points were good enough to finish third in the country and he was the first Owl to be named to the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-New England first team.
As he enters his senior year, Meehan already is Keene’s all-time leading scorer and the only player in program history to earn All-America honors twice. He has bigger career milestones in his path, as he and the Owls shoot to go deeper into the NCAA Division 3 tournament. Meehan’s 169 career goals and 84 assists account for 253 points, or 5.16 per game he has played; that puts Meehan among Div. 3’s all-time top 15, where another season playing like, well, Griffin Meehan, could easily vault him into the top five.
Making things easier for Meehan is teammate Matt Schairer. The junior attackman scored 60 goals and had 25 assists last year and finished 11th in points in Div. 3. He is a good feeder who will look for Meehan, but also will score goals to take some of the attention away from the senior.
While Meehan is hoping the Owls will be a big story in the Little East and Div. 3, his numbers will be a story no matter how the season turns out for Keene State.
— PHILLIP SHORE
Chris Menard
Attackman, senior, South Hadley (Mass.) High School
As a junior last season at South Hadley (Mass.) High School, Chris Menard enjoyed an incredible year both individually and with his team. He scored 55 goals and added 31 assists and was named a U.S. Lacrosse All-American while the Tigers went 14-2 and earned the top seed in the Western Massachusetts Division 2 tournament.
Menard and his teammates fell short of the ultimate goal, however, dropping the tournament finals to rival Longmeadow, 13-11.
The stage is now set for an even bigger year for both Menard and the Tigers. The team — led by the player many feel is the best in Western Massachusetts in his final season — will be back with a vengeance; nothing short of a championship will bring satisfaction.
“I’m just excited to play lacrosse again and hopefully win another championship,” said Menard, who has committed to Dickinson College, an NCAA Division 3 school in Carlisle, Pa. “It’s my senior year and I want to go out on a bang.”
A new year, however, brings about a lot of change and obstacles the team will have to overcome. The Tigers lost a large amount of seniors from last year, and Menard says the team will have a new coach this spring.
As the captain and a senior, Menard thinks that this is the perfect opportunity to prove his leadership abilities.
“It’s my senior year and I will be the head honcho basically,” he said. “I need to put as much effort and time into it as much as I can.”
— PHILLIP SHORE
Mikaela Rix and Covie Stanwick
Freshmen, Boston College
Talk to Boston College freshmen Covie Stanwick and Mikaela Rix and both will tell you that they are excited to play college lacrosse and will do whatever the team needs of them, including coming off the bench.
“Hopefully, I can get a little bit of playing time and contribute anyway possible whether that’s on the bench or on the field,” Stanwick said. “I just want to make the biggest impact I can.”
Added Rix: “I wasn’t coming in expecting to start or anything. If I get a chance to play it’s because I’ve worked hard.”
These aren’t your run-of-the-mill freshmen, however, and the Eagles didn’t recruit them to ride the pine. Stanwick (sister of Steele Stanwick, the reigning men’s Tewaaraton Trophy winner, Virginia star and potential top draft pick in this month’s Major League Lacrosse draft) and Rix were the No. 2 and No. 3 recruits in the country respectively, according to Inside Lacrosse.
On paper, Rix and Stanwick are the best high school players ever to come to The Heights. They lead a recruiting class that Inside Lacrosse ranked sixth in the nation.
Couple the new potential stars with an already-solid foundation — which includes fifth-year senior Kristin Igoe, a member of the U.S. national team — and expectations have never been higher for the Eagles. BC is ranked 10th nationally in the preseason polls, the highest it has ever started a season.
What kind of impact Stanwick and Rix make from the beginning will go a long way in determining how far Boston College goes. Both will not be fazed by being on the college stage; they have played on the U.S. Under-19 national team, in the Under-Armour All-American Games and more.
What’s more, that past success — and anything they do on the field this year — won’t go to the newcomers’ heads.
“I feel pressure all the time,” Rix said. “I’m just so excited to play with the seniors. They’ve worked so hard in their four years here and I want to bring home a national championship for them.”
— PHILLIP SHORE
Hannah Saris
Midfielder, senior, Moses Brown School
Hannah Saris is big lacrosse news in the nation’s smallest state, and the story should only get bigger this year as she finishes a record-setting career at Moses Brown School, a preparatory school in Providence, R.I.
Saris was Moses Brown’s MVP and Rhode Island’s leading scorer both in 2010 and 2011, both a U.S. Lacrosse All-American and Academic All-American in 2011, and a participant in the All-American Showcase in 2011. Picked at No. 32 in ESPNHS Top 100 girls lacrosse players, Saris is the girl every Ocean State coach will be game-planning to stop.
Leslie Frank, head coach of the Mass Elite club team — where Saris has played for several summers — describes why that’s no easy task.
“(Saris) has mastered many unique offensive strategies and effective dodges to goal,” Frank said. “She is crafty and deceptive with her assists, and she is often able to ‘thread the needle’ with pinpoint accuracy to set up a teammate for a goal.”
Saris doesn’t show up in the numbers; she has the intangibles. Her determination, leadership and coachability are what attracted the college coaches; Saris is committed to Dartmouth.
“I’m going into this high school season with enthusiasm to keep improving,” Saris said. “I am working to become faster and stronger, so I lift consistently as well as working with a trainer so that I can excel at a Division 1 level.”
“She is a natural leader and teacher,” Frank said. “She literally lights up the field with her speed, athleticism, passing accuracy, and attack skills.”
— SAMMI GORMAN
Mitch Tapley
Attackman, senior, Falmouth (Maine) High School
Falmouth (Maine) High School’s 2011 season was something special, as the Yachtsmen (14-1) grabbed their first state title behind the exceptional play of attackman Mitch Tapley.
The three-year starter capped off his team-leading 42-goal, 33-assist junior season with eight goals and 10 assists in the playoffs, including eight points in the 15-4 Maine Class B championship victory over North Yarmouth. The performance not only earned him the title of Portland Press Herald Player of the Year but also netted him All-American honors.
With a majority of the team returning — including another All-American in defenseman Mike Ryan — Falmouth has high hopes of returning to the title game. The team has a number of strong scoring threats, but it is Tapley — who has yet to decide where he will play collegiately — who will have to get the offense moving.
“He’s someone that will get the defense rotating and sliding,” said Mike Lebel, Falmouth’s head coach. “He can get the shot off or he’s got the savvy and experience and awareness to find the open guy. At this level, up in Maine, it’s very difficult to find a kid of that caliber that can be both a pure scorer and an assist guy.”
— DIANA PUGLIESE
This article originally appeared in the January 2012 issue of New England Lacrosse Journal.
New England Lacrosse Journal writers can be reached at feedback@laxjournal.com
