Power rankings: Founders title on line, and how high will Tabor rise?

Milki Conway-Reppert and Loomis Chaffee host Declan Pettit and Choate in the Founders League final on Wednesday.

There is one game left to play in what has been a wild prep lacrosse season.

The Independent School League, Lakes Region and NESLL have crowned their respective champions. The Prep Nationals tournament was also decided over the weekend.

The one final left on the docket is the Founders League championship, which will take place on Wednesday between second-seeded Loomis Chaffee and fourth-seeded Choate.

These is New England Lacrosse Journal’s penultimate prep Top 10 for the 2026 season.

1. BRUNSWICK

Record: 16-3 | Previous rank: 1

Brunswick ends its season at the top of our rankings. A perennial power in the prep ranks, the Bruins had some wild games and made their mark on the lasting legacy of the program. This team flat-out found a way to win over and over and over. With players like Lucas Garcia and Sawyer Bligh exploding on offense with a mix of creative playmaking and straight-line shooting power, they were an extremely tough out for anyone they played.

2. DEERFIELD

Record: 14-4 | Previous rank: 2 

Deerfield played so many tight games this season. If nothing else, the Big Green were exciting to watch. That’s due in large part to their ability to control games and dictate their opponent’s tempo. If Brunswick was the offensive north star of the prep world, you could say that Deerfield was the inverse. They had black hole defenders like Leif Anderson putting the clamps on top-tier offensive opposition.

3. TABOR

Record: 17-1 | Previous rank: 4

For now, the Seawolves get to celebrate their historic season in the No. 3 spot. Tabor’s run was all but unblemished, with the one loss to Milton Academy the only thing preventing true perfection. Still, the way this team melded offensive control with aggressive defense was admirable. It looked like a college team on defense most of the time, with poles like Jack Czepiel and Chris Tardie pulling off incredible cover jobs, while Landen O’Neil, Jayden Walters and Leo Kavey sliced through defenses with dodges, cuts and shots that were also beyond their years. A worthy ISL champion.

4. LOOMIS CHAFFEE

Record: 14-2 | Previous rank: 3 | Next game: Wednesday vs. Choate (4 p.m.)

If the Pelicans down Choate for the Founders League championship, they will move up to the third slot. But for now, they’re nestled quite comfortably at No. 4. The more I watched Loomis, the more I came to appreciate players that I’ve been watching for years, like attackman Milki Conway-Reppert and defenseman Saki Nicholas. I’m sad that I don’t get to see them play as much next year, but also glad that they have a shot to make an impact at Dartmouth and Colgate, respectively.

5. HOLDERNESS

Record: 15-0 | Previous rank: 6 

It’s hard to say that a team is underrated when it’s undefeated, but that’s where we find ourselves whenever we talk about Holderness. It’s the Lakes Region bias. Look, I get it. I’m the New Hampshire guy. I’m going to stand up for the New Hampshire teams when they do great things, but honestly, it has felt pretty tiresome to be the only one banging the Lakes drum the last two years. Do teams need to schedule more ISL programs? Yes. Do they also need to get a Founders League or NE West team to cross the border? Also, yes. But believe me when I tell you that this Holderness team was special.

6. ST. SEBASTIAN’S

Record: 14-3 | Previous rank: 5

Give Sebs and first-year coach Mike Silpo credit — they overcame some serious injuries to make it all the way to the ISL title game. And in the game, they made several adjustments that kept them in the fight. Losing Tedy Frisoli would cripple a lot of teams that relied on all the things that a player like him could do. Sebs dressed an eighth grader and made it to the ISL final. That’s so incredible, I don’t have words. The other side effect of Frisoli being out is that Ty Curry got to be the alpha, and man, if I’m Notre Dame head coach Kevin Corrigan sitting in my house watching Curry play for the last three weeks, I am patting myself on the back and drawing up man-up plays all night long.

7. CHOATE

Record: 10-5 | Previous rank: 10 | Next game: Wednesday at Loomis Chaffee (4 p.m.)

The Boars had a fairly up-and-down season, but beating Avon Old Farms in the Founders League semifinals, 9-4, was a high point. Will it be their last high point? Maybe. But neither one of those games will compare to the joy this team felt when they finally downed Deerfield after years of just missing the mark. That win makes this season memorable for this entire class of seniors, who are excellent in their own right and will go on to be impact college players.

8. AVON OLD FARMS

Record: 10-4 | Previous rank: 8

What a great year for first-year coach Taylor Pirie and his squad. The prep game of the year was Avon’s 15-14 win over Loomis, which was one of those games that I thought I could sit and watch forever. Sophomores like Luke Mullen stepping up and sticking pipe-ringing shots, long-poles going coast to coast, face-off guys smashing through the first layer of the defense — it was one of those games that had it all. That’s how I’m going to remember this team, and next year no one should be underestimating the Winged Beavers.

9. SALISBURY

Record: 9-7 | Previous rank: 7

The Crimson Knights failed to reach 10 wins for the second time in three seasons, but their season still carried positive weight. Wins over Choate and Taft were sizeable, but the results that could have gone their way were unmistakable. Salisbury played four overtime games and won just one of them. One of those games was against Lawrenceville, one of the best prep teams in the nation. The end record does not reflect the potential of this team to come back and wreak havoc in 2027.

10. TAFT

Record: 11-7 | Previous rank: 9

Taft’s final game did not go the way they wanted it to, but the Rhinos still had a solid season in the prep ranks and the Founders League. Another team with a slew of close losses on its resume, Taft could be sitting at 14-4 if it had won three of their one-goal losses, which were to Sebs, Brunswick and Salisbury. Young talent permeates the roster, though, and next season is less than a year away.

@TheKyleDevitte
kyle.devitte@laxjournal.com