This is the final hybrid week of the preseason.

By hybrid we mean a combination of scrimmages and actual games.

Since teams don’t start things out for real till next week, we will once again use this space to preview the week ahead rather than a look at a Top 5 for each day.

Noteworthy in Nassau: There are some big battles in Nassau this week. Today, 2008 Class A state finalist Syosset, fresh off a 6-3 season-opening win over Garden City, hosts Class C power Cold Spring Harbor. South Side hosts Garden City at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. On Saturday, Manhasset hosts South Side at 2:30 p.m.

Big battle: Lynbrook hosts Farmingdale on Tuesday.

Helping Hand: Teams from throughout the region are gearing up for the most tradition-rich preseason event — the 29th annual Daniel Hand Jamboree at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Conn. Participating teams include Yorktown, Garden City, Northport, Ridgefield, Brien McMahon, Canandaigua, West Genesee, Corning East, Mountain Lakes (N.J.), Ridgewood (N.J.), Duxbury (Mass.), Winchester (Mass.) Medfield (Mass.), Cherry Creek (Co.), and host Daniel Hand. Action starts at 9:30 a.m.

Catch the Wave: Though they’ve been unable to schedule a regular-season meeting, four-time Connecticut state champ Darien and four-time New York state semifinalist (and 2007 finalist) John Jay have engaged in some heated scrimmages the last few years. Their latest will be 4:15 p.m. on Thursday at John Jay. Two days earlier, John Jay scrimmages 2007 CHSAA finalist Iona Prep, which has four Division I-bound players, including Nick Trizano (Drexel) who led the nation (yes, nation) in scoring last season. The Indians end the week with a scrimmage at New Jersey power Delbarton on Saturday. You can catch Darien again on Saturday when they host a scrimmage that will include the No. 3-ranked team in the nation, West Islip, which has eight returning  starters, including the top-ranked junior from sea to shining sea in North Carolina-bound Nicky Galasso. Fairfield Prep and Shoreham-Wading River will also be competing. Action lasts from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For starters: There are some interesting season-opening games in Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Dutchess on Saturday, including Stepinac at New Rochelle (11 a.m.), Nanuet at Suffern (7 p.m.) and Nyack at Clarkstown South (8 p.m.).

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Posted In: Today's Top 5

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5 Responses to “Today's Top 5”

  1. Doid23 says:

    Joe,

    Great site! Glad to have you back on the scene. Just moved to Texas, so I’ve been jonesing for some updates, finally found your site, thank you!

    Any updates on some of the local graduates playing in college? Looks like Drew and Daniello are making an impact at ‘Cuse, what happened to Granelli and the kid from Brewster (forgot his name)? Don’t see them on the roster.

  2. Syracuse says:

    Granelli left Syracuse and is now at Cortland I believe.

  3. Joe Lombardi says:

    Doid23 –

    Good to see you, my man. Hope all’s well in Texas. How do you like it? I have some family now living in Austin. It’s becoming a growing lax hotbed by the way.

    As you mentioned, both Chris Daniello and Kevin Drew are having big years at Syracuse. Daniello, who is enjoying a breakout junior year, has scored four goals in the last two goals for the Orange (6-1). He has eight goals and 10 points for the season. Drew is playing d-middie but has managed to score a couple of goals.

    Also of another, another former John Jay AA, defenseman Ryder Bohlander, got his first collegiate start in the Terps’ last win — an 8-7 victory over rival North Carolina.

  4. Doid23 says:

    In terms of Lax, Texas certainly isn’t there yet, but given their overall focus on all sports, it’s coming. I brought my son to sign up for fall lax when we moved here, a field full of kids, 8 teams of 3/4 graders just from one average sized school district, with even more on the 1/ 2 grade level. And the kids have some skills, better than what I saw from the John Jay/ Fox Lane/ Somers youth programs. Youth program run by Bob Seebold, who was on the ’83 Syracuse national championship team, played on the same line with Tim Nelson. Just saw the local high school (Highland Park) and St. Marks hang with a decent St. Mary’s of Annapolis team, and beat up on Fort Collins of Colorado. They are also getting a lot of top notch spring break games, they just had Notre Dame, Air Force, St. Lawrence, Bowdoin, Bucknell, Western New England, etc. play a week full of games down here in front of some big crowds. Kind of cool to see, and with the weather and focus, it wouldn’t surprise me to see this grow like crazy over the next decade. But football is still king, so I’m not sure it will ever reach the NY/ Baltimore level, but you never know.

    Good luck with the site.

  5. Joe Lombardi says:

    Interesting stuff. I tell you what. If those numbers at the youth level, which are already impressive, continue to increase, “Friday Night Lights” may soon apply to lax games in the spring too. The fact those two local schools can already hold their own with established programs from Maryland and Colorado is very telling too. Keep us posted.

    BTW – Former JJ/Hopkins standout Matt Bocklet is assistant coach of the lax team at the Episcopal School of Dallas.

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