John Wiseman had a dream last night.

“We were playing Yorktown,” said the former Wilton standout who is now the Warriors’ first-year head coach. “And we won 9-6.”

But here’s where it gets interesting.

It wasn’t the 2009 Warriors that beat Yorktown in Wiseman’s dream. It was he and his former Wilton teammates in their old-school attire.

“We had some great games,” Wiseman said. “I played against (Yorktown coach) Dave Marr’s brother (University at Albany coach Scott Marr) and those great Yorktown teams.”

Last night, the Warriors faced another great Yorktown team. One that entered its regular-season finale ranked No. 2 in the latest LaxLessons.com regional rankings and No. 8 in the Under Armour/Inside Lacrosse national rankings.

And yesterday, Wilton pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season, stunning the ‘Huskers 8-6 to win the Jim Turnbull Cup at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Wilton.

“This is the biggest win we’ve had here in years,” said Providence-bound goaltender James Fuller, who had 25 saves. “I can’t even believe we did that. We have 26 players, but our motto is, ‘One team, one dream.’ ”

Wiseman’s dream — besides the one he had last night, of course — was to revive a Wilton program that was once the king of Fairfield County lacrosse and one of the nation’s premier powers.

But in recent years, the Warriors unhappily became an afterthought in the county, taking a backseat to Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan and Ridgefield.

Enter Wiseman, who, like many former Wilton stars, played at Duke. His mission was simple. Restore pride to a program that has won a jaw-dropping 20 state titles and 13 FCIAC championships.

After dropping games to Ridgefield 15-4 and Darien 8-4 early in the season, the Warriors reeled off eight straight wins. But on Saturday, Wilton lost 19-10 to a St. Anthony’s team Yorktown defeated 14-10.

What’s more, Yorktown entered tonight’s game with a nine-game win streak and with just one loss — to Ward Melville (also, coincidentally, by the same 8-6 score).

Few could have expected what happened tonight.

So, how did the Warriors do it?

In addition to Fuller’s magnificent performance, the Warriors got two goals and two assists from Bryant University-bound attackman Pete McMahon.

McMahon’s goal with 8:07 remaining in the game was the winner, giving Wilton a 7-6 lead. Two minutes earlier, Hopkins-bound senior attackman John Ranagan tied it at 6-6 for Yorktown. Ranagan finished with three goals. Tom Casey, Ty Schuldt and Ethan Fox also scored goals for Yorktown. Goaltender Michael Bonitatibus made eight saves. Hopkins-bound junior attackman Kevin Interlicchio was limited to two assists even though he was not shut off.

“(Washington & Lee-bound senior) Joe LaSala is the best defenseman in Connecticut,” Wiseman said of the player assigned to guard Interlicchio. “Even though Ranagan had three goals, (defenseman) Scott Thompson did a great job on him.”

It was a win that accomplished many things for Wilton.

For starters, it has shown the program is back and clearly one of the top in the region. And with the energetic, man-on-a-mission Wiseman at the helm, it’s hard to imagine Wilton not staying there.

It has also shown that those who view the battle for the FCIAC title as a two-horse race between Ridgefield and Darien should re-think that premise.

“We play well together as a team,” Wiseman said. “We’re not a team with any superstars, but we play as a team.”

Reach Joe Lombardi at joe@laxlessons.com.

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53 Responses to “Blue and white upset: Wilton stuns Yorktown”

  1. slaxxer says:

    So, is it a down year for conn. Lax or not? Does this make ridgefield look better in comparison after they smoked wilton? Does anything that happened in reg season matter before fciacs?

    Great win for wilton but I would love to see ridge/ wilton rematch now. Especially after wilton coaches backhanded insult that “ridgefield isn’t our rival” after having the clock run on him at tiger hollow.

    Great year.

  2. Young Warrior says:

    I don’t take that “not our rival” quote as an insult – the truth is, RF is relatively new to the top of the FCIAC – think about the background of Wiseman, New Canaan, Greenwich and Darien have been established top tier programs for years. Rivals are built over a series of years, something Wilton / RF hasn’t had with BOTH at a top level. Maybe they will be – we’ll see…

  3. slaxxer says:

    Good point, it takes 2 to make a rivalry. Wiseman knows the history better than most.I am sure he gets an earful from wilton alums now he is losing to ridgefield. Still an odd comment to make after that loss. Made it seem like he lacked a little respect. Don’t think he meant it, just sounded a bit odd in the papers.

  4. Lax Novice says:

    That is a GREAT victory for Wilton and sure to propel them with much momentum as the FCIAC tournament gets going. I’d be tempted to say that Yorktown took the Warriors lightly going in, but only they would know that for sure. In my view, it shows that the regular season is for improving your team so that you are playing your best lacrosse at the end of the year, when the wins really matter. Rather than be a credit to Ridgefield, I’d say that of the top tier of the FCIAC, the Tigers are the only team less impressive now than they were in April. Perhaps that is due to the high standard they set early on as well as the two key player injuries they have suffered recently, but considering their outings against Darien and New Canaan in the last week, Ridgefield is well below the standard they set when the season started. Nonetheless, that could well be enough to win the league and the States this season which would be historic accomplishments for the team.

  5. WarriorLax says:

    Today is a great day. I don’t know if people realize just how big this win was. Yes we won eight straight prior to St. A’s loss but people disparaged the Greenwich win, saying they had four injuries. The perception of the team right off the bat was it wasn’t going to be good at all after losing so badly to Ridgefield to start the season. This is huge. As James said, the biggest win in years.

  6. Jaybird says:

    Congrats to Wilton on a tremendous win. I wasn’t at the game, but I don’t buy this Yorktown being overconfident stuff. From what Joe wrote the game came down to one thing. The Wilton goalie made 25 saves to 8 for the Yorktown goalie. If 1ilton goal merely had a very good game instead of great and made day 18 saves Town wins by 5. Doesn’t everyone see what a difference that makes? It’s like when JJ played Somers. The Somers goalie was tremendous and made 27 or so saves. Same thing there. Like Town vs. Wilton, we lost by two. But we should have won by 5 or more.

  7. old guy says:

    Glad to see they got the W. And that there is renewed excitement around the program. John and the boys are doing a great job.

    But it counts as only one win. Now, get back to practice.

  8. franklyscarlett says:

    While I think you’ve never missed a chance to be critical of everything concerning Ridgefield this season Lax Novice I would have to agree that you are spot on with regards to the trends in the FCIAC over the last few weeks. Wilton is definately trending up while both Ridgefield and Greenwich are trending down. To me Darien hasn’t really deviated much over the course of the season. However to say Ridgefield is playing poorly yet still doing what they need to do can be a good thing if they can right the ship a little. Ironically, its the defense and goalie who have stepped it up and held them in the last fews games if you ask me. Time for Colsey and the seniors to step up and decide if they want it bad enough. They looked awful offensively last night. Almost like they didn’t want to be there.

  9. Young Warrior says:

    In an odd way, Wiseman now faces his biggest challenge. His crew has come a long way from that Ridgefield debacle – when “top teams in state or FCIAC” discussions were had, they were an afterthought.

    Now, after a great and huge win, they are (deservedly) getting a ton of love.

    Can they stay focused and continue better defensive efforts and offensive teamwork? That will be the key – plus, they were fortunate Fuller stood on his head last night.

  10. Dantes Inferno says:

    St. A’s beat Wilton 19-10 Saturday. If the friars played town now we would shut off interlicchio and beat em by 6-8 goals.

  11. Syracuse says:

    Dantes Inferno:

    It would be hard to argue against your point.

    I am not the least bit shocked by this result. From this point forward Yorktown is going to have to show how smart it is. Its coaches will have to do the same because the word is now out on what to do to beat them. Skilled teams are going to duplicate the Wilton and John Jay gameplans as far as dealing with KI goes because I think it’s pretty much understood that Ranagan is as close to unstoppable a player as there is anywhere.

    The bottom line for Town is others have to do it more consistently. Lieberman, Casey, Porcelli, Mabus, Schuldt have to start scoring and scoring a lot because after the first round or two of sectionals there won’t be an easy game left to play.

    Yorktown’s D has been as advertised all season. It’s time for the other offensive pieces to fit into the puzzle. If that doesn’t happen, this season will end before Middletown. And yes, I’m still hapring on Guilderland because right now that’s a pick ’em game at best.

    Yorktown just doesn’t transform into Yorktown of old just because the calendar reads late May/June. Something has to happen to trigger the metamorphosis.

    One would think the Wilton loss would be the turning point. But then again, many may just be forced to realize that Town may not have the offensive depth to get to where they want to go.

    Good luck to Wilton the rest of the way. Classy program. Go give Ridgefield all they can handle.

  12. Thorpe says:

    It would of been nice to play this game earlier. A couple days after the Jay game and the playoff seedings out, you wonder how much Town was into it. How many “cups” can you play for? Wilton hasn’t beaten Town many times since the Carter administration so they were not coming out flat. Give em credit and they will be dangerous in playoffs. Maybe this is just what Town needed to re-focus for the second season. Enough already..lets play for keeps! Get your popcorn ready!!!

  13. bill says:

    KI was not shut off last night. He had like 15 or 16 shots. Amazing that none went in. He was played straight up but Fuller was outstanding. The key to beating Town is good goalie play. Fuller played as well as any goalie has this season. He had about 6 or 7 kick saves, he was magnificent. Town needs to work on middie defense, shooting, and being ready to play. They seemed like they were just not there. No excuses, Wilton earned it. Fuller will have to play like he did last night to beat the Dariens, etc. Town will have to come out ready to play. This should be a wake up call that rankings and all that does not matter. When you play at Town, the kids goal is to win a state plaque. Not many can say they have done it, but you must have high goals. Good luck to both teams. This game may have been what both needed going in to playoffs. Wilton seeing they can play with the best, and Town seeing they are not as good as they may think they are.

  14. Shots Win Championships says:

    Town O still needs to make better shot selection. Some shots on goal were well, pathetic, they should have walked up and handed the goalie the ball.
    These kinds of turnovers are unnecessary and costly. On any other day I think the score would have been in Towns favor, but ther are still problems to work out to get to the State Finals. Go Town!!

  15. John FANagan says:

    just throwing out a stat…

    the last time town won states, they had 2 losses in the regular season…

    and on top of it all, give all the credit to the coaches that have adapted to the KI JRAN offense… they have it figured out- for now. as genius as they seem now, don’t forget that yorktown has one of the best coaching staffs around, im sure they can make some adaptations.

    but as the playoffs loom, the keys remain to be the following:
    1) who is going to step up for town?.. tcase? remlax? ty schuldt? joey “chachi” porcelli? rothberg? (i know the crop caught that one)
    2) this is where yorktown can prove the saying “offense wins games, defense wins championships.” the highly regarded and praised town defense has its chance to shine, and im sure it will not go into torpor in the limelight. sure, yorktown’s offense is good, but their defense is better… oh yeah, and dont forget about the ytown fastbreak, if they start running, game over.
    3) yorktown has some “UNFINISHED BUSINESS” to take care of… the slogan of their season… the dark feeling of the loss to syosset last year is residing in a dark cloud above the ytown huddle… if the boys don’t realize what is really at stake… and im sure they will, they’re in for some trouble. once town gets to state semis, it’s going to be the ground balls, faceoffs, and defense that are going to be the main benefactors in their run to a state title.

    KI and ranagan will get their points… the boys will come back to earth after a long week of practice… they will without a doubt be lacing up those studs extra tight

  16. LAX says:

    It’s not bad at all to have a couple losses on your record. It’s the playoffs that count, and I know Town will give it all they got in the playoffs. Anything can happen. Just look at last year, Undefeated #1 Gilman lost to the same Loyola team that they crushed in the regular season in the MIAA finals. Look at two years ago, Undefeated #1 Huntington lost to JJ in possibly one of the greatest upsets in NY lax history in the state semis. Were those teams too overconfident, or was there too much added pressure to maintain a perfect record? Perhaps, but like I said anything can happen in playoffs and losing in the regular season isn’t a bad thing come playoffs.

  17. ytlaxfan says:

    I agree with most of what Syracuse says but this statement below needs some help.

    “The bottom line for Town is others have to do it more consistently. Lieberman, Casey, Porcelli, Mabus, Schuldt have to start scoring and scoring a lot because after the first round or two of sectionals there won’t be an easy game left to play.”

    In order for the above players to do their part KI, JR, and TC will have to increase their Lax IQ’s and help make the players around them better. When pressure is on you you do not take ridiculous shots at 55mph, these are turnovers. Are we all to believe that this goalie made 25 saves on good shots (not). He played very well but these guys made him look like an AA. The Yorktown role players on O have now been trained to stand and watch these 3 go to the cage against standard weak defenses that reside here in Section 1 as they score at will. Wilton had the answer last night, they have some good defenders, 2 college size which handled KI and JR. KI took like at least 15 shots and was O for, that’s nuts, he also coughed it up at least a half dozen times, this is not the first game I’ve seen with similar results (not to this magnitude though). JR was 3 goals on about 13 shots, a few good but many poor, he also coughed it up quite a few times. This team needs to move off ball, and these guys have to find guys cutting and hit them, much like they hit Lieberman vs. JJ. Championship Lax that they will descend upon in the next few weeks is only won by taking care of the ball on O, only taking advantage of excellent opportunities, playing great D and having a hot goalie. This team would benefit offensively by everybody taking a lesson from the Joe Porcelli school of Lax, this kid is an all around Lax Player, tough, smart, heads up, and “unselfish”.
    Greed will take this team out early if they don’t fix it quick. Good defensive teams are now going to press out on the YTown stars, on their hands early, this is where they struggle, recognize it early and keep the ball moving. Congrats to Wilton for exposing our weaknesses, and getting a great win, hopefully you have taught us something about ourselves that we can learn from and fix as we pursue another State Championship.
    RIGHT THE SHIP BOYS!

  18. TownLax says:

    Right the ship? We’ve lost two games all year!

  19. slacrosse says:

    Lax,

    Saw a quote from Shamel Bratton saying that one of his greatest disappointments which STILL bothers him was the loss to Jay (the other was their loss to Syracuse).

  20. slacrosse says:

    ytlaxfan,

    Good analysis!

    TownLax

    Yeah Town has had a great season but there’s always room to “step back” and strive for improvement.

  21. LAX says:

    And I’m sure the game afterwards was one of JJ’s greatest dissapointments, they’ve been so close the last couple years but I predict a state title in the near future.

  22. THE CROP says:

    in other news the yanks just went back to back to back homeruns….gotta love the new stadium.

  23. slacrosse says:

    Lax,

    Jay seems to be building to that point. Maybe not next season but another year of experience for this yr’s sophs could do it when they’re seniors!

  24. slacrosse says:

    Lax,

    Saw Gilman demolish St.Pauls a few weeks ago. St. Pauls is not strong this yr but I tell ya, Gilman looked SO strong. Like watching a college team. No dropped passes, great speed, transition, size etc. Believe they would be THE team to beat out of LI, West, CT, etc. If they (and other Baltimore private schools) see a great public high school lacrosse kid, they’ll offer a scholarship and most kids will take it.

  25. Doid23 says:

    What, 6 home runs a game isn’t normal? “The Windtunnel that George built”.

    And I’m struggling with the sky is falling for Town, not their best effort, but 25 saves will stop a lot of teams. Not sure I see the need to panic.

  26. Lax Novice says:

    Hi frankly,

    I got to see the 1st three quarters of the New Canaan/Ridgefield game last night and I’d agree with you regarding how stout the Ridgefield defense was. I thought Hyatt played a tremendous game and I thought the poles and defense in general was very organized and effective at eliminating even good looks at the goal by the Rams. That will bode well in the FCIAC tournament no matter who they play. New Canaan worked hard and competed, which is no surprise. They won quite a few ground balls that I think surprised Ridgefield. The goalie, Granito, also played very well and had quite a bit to do with keeping the score where it was. I noted that #3 wasn’t asked to do everything as he was in the Darien game, and the new guys taking faceoffs did a good job winning and clearing the ball.

    As you know, I don’t necessarily accept the standard wisdom that Coach Colsey has reinvented RHS into the 2nd coming of Syracuse on a HS level. I wouldn’t (and didn’t) say they played poorly last night, but I do try to keep the discussion on point and not let the expectations become the reality. So I think it’s only because of the early-season success that last night’s game might be disappointing. The RHS team I saw last night is very capable of winning both titles, they just aren’t the same run-n-gun team that was so dominant earlier. But that’s what the regualr season is about, getting ready for the post-season, making adjustments along the way.

  27. silver s says:

    Dantes, Get over it

  28. ytlaxfan says:

    Townlax,

    When you are part of Yorktown Lacrosse it is not the fact that you only have 2 losses and many wins, what matters is what those wins and losses look like. I can tell you that there is not a coach or player on this staff that feels as though they have played a near perfect game yet. At this level we know it will take at least 2 near perfect games for us to end our season with a win and not a loss, This is what matters. We know that playing a game in helter skelter fashion like we did against Wilton will definitely end our season with a loss, below our expectations. I’m glad we saw a very good Wilton team the other night which exposed problems we have to correct before the one and your done part of our season starts.

  29. Syracuse says:

    ytlaxfan,

    Good points, but I think you are going to need to play your three best games of the season to end your season with a win and not a loss. I think Town will win the section, not because they always do or because they are better than everyone else on paper, but mostly because they are probably somewhat embarrassed right now and looking to extract a pound of flesh from someone. Make no mistake, L/P will come to play, as will ‘Pac and White Plains (can’t ignore them anymore), but in the end Town should be highly motivated, even more so than usual.

    After that you got potentially the following:

    Guilderland, West Islip or Ward Melville, most likely West Genny.

    It will take a Herculean effort to pull this off, a series of efforts this Town team hasn’t shown yet or has in glimpses (Chaminade sticks out most in my mind, but then again, the Flyers have lost four games this season so take what they are with a grain of salt).

    I might be overdoing it a bit here, but if Yorktown somehow does pull this off I think it would be fair to say it would be the greatest conclusion to any Town season in the program’s storied history, maybe even better than 1984.

    Are they capable? I don’t know. Too many things still need to be proven (mostly on the offensive end). Could they lose before Middletown? It’s possible. Can they get to Rochester and then once there pull this thing off? Again, that will depend totally on coaching adjustments and desire.

    I don’t doubt that they will try to put their best foot forward.

  30. bill says:

    I think their defense needs to step up as well. All these great players need to play that way to hold teams to 5 or 6 to give their offense a greater chance. 10 goals to JJ, 8 to Wilton, 10 to StAnth, and so on. A great defense would hold these teams, possible exception of the Friars, to 6 or less. They need a game or two where they just hold people down. I think you will see them get to Islip and who knows? Fenn covering Golasso would be great. Saw it in ESGs and Fenn had his number but Islip has so many other weapons. If their D goes on a run, they could win it. Their O has scored enough to win. Scoring over 8 a game with this D should be enough. I feel they have been playing well, but will kick it up in playoff mode now. Too many seniors that were here last year for the Syosset game. Coach Lodey does a good job with the D and I look forward to seeing them come together towards that one goal.

  31. slacrosse says:

    bill,

    Your point about what Town’s D needs to do is RIGHT ON!

  32. Syracuse says:

    Guys,

    How many goals should the Yorktown D allow? Considering its schedule, I think this defense has played incredibly well. It is allowing just 6.25 goals per game. I understand that St. Anthony’s, Chaminade, Wilton, etc. have much better offenses than the Section 1 foes, but still, to ask Town to hold these high quality teams to 6 goals or less is, I think, just asking too much.

    If anything, I think Yorktown’s offense needs to score in a more timely fashion, especially against the great teams. Town averages 13 goals per game, which should be enough to win against anyone, but against the five toughest teams on their sked they averaged 8.9. That is the problem in my eyes and it takes us back to the fact that they need more people filling the net than Ranagan and Interlicchio.

    But, of course, your points are well taken as always.

  33. bill says:

    In playoff lacrosse, 9 goals has to be enough to win..So if the defense holds teams to 7 or so, they should win. Playoff games are always lower scoring. I think the Town D can hold teams to 5 or 6 a game. They have the coaching adn talent and hopefully they put it together.

  34. THE CROP says:

    i would not say the D isnt playing like they should..sure they can always play better..but for most of this year, they’ve been playing pretty well against the better teams……but for instance last game yorktown O was in a huge funk, had trouble passing and catching..and turned the ball over a ridiculous amount of times…this all leads to more possesion for the other team, giving them alot of chances to shoot and wear the D down… and makes the defense play for an extended amount of time, for games like these the amount of goals the other team has can be alittle deceiving.

  35. Syracuse says:

    Why The CROP isn’t running on a second middie line or the fourth attackman for Yorktown is beyond me. We know how he rolls. I bet he’d be a mix between a pimped out Honda Civic and souped up Hummer out there.

  36. springlax says:

    Season finale games can be a problem for winning teams. A few years back JJ went across the border with a 15-1 record to play an average Ridgefield team and lost by one. Stupefied, they returned, retooled, and cruised to a state semi against WI (and lost). My point is that JJ like YTown looked past the last game, got a wake up call, and now YTown has something to prove, and will. Not sure I see them going all the way. But I do see them in the semi’s.

  37. max says:

    of course they will be in the semis, thats why they went to class A to stay away form nisky.

  38. silver s says:

    Stay away from a team they eliminated the past 2 years?

  39. syracuse says:

    Max,

    Yorktown’s only motivation is winning the NYS Class A title. They’ve never won it, unless you count 1984 when they beat West Genny, but that year there were no classifications in the state. Town has six state titles, with five coming in Class B.

    I think everyone who is regular here knows that this program backs down from no one. That’s not to say Nisky isn’t great this year. The Silver Warriors were my pick to win the state Class B crown back when I previewed the season in March and I stand by that.

    But don’t think for a second Yorktown is ducking them, especially, as silver s pointed out, they have beaten Nisky the last two years and lead the all-time series.

    Yorktown ducks no one. They learn from losses and keep their eyes fixed squarely on the prize.

  40. re:lax says:

    Usually agree with you Cuse. But they ducked Ridgefield, who would have spanked them just like they did to Wilton.

  41. lax10598 says:

    re: lax:

    How did Town duck Ridgefield ? Because of the economy, their schedule was reduced from 20 games to 16, and they already gave up a trip to Maryland to play a team from the MIAA. They also gave up a game at Section 2 – most likely Shenendahoah. So who do they replace on their non-Section schedule: St. Anthony’s, Chaminade, Ward-Melville, Darien, Wilton ? I don’t think so !

    Maybe they will put Ridgefield on their schedule in the future, but this year it just wasn’t going to happen.

  42. sunny says:

    WIth the way the scheduling goes, they would have to give up one of the traditional foes that they play. All this Ridgefield stuff is annoying. Win a championship before berating traditionally powerful teams like town and darien. Town plays according to laxpower the toughest schedule in NYS class A. I guess they should replace melville who they have been playing for 20 years with Ridgefield. If they did not lose two games this year due to the economy, maybe they would have. But they may be stuck with those games and no room now to play the BL’s, Landons, they have played in the past. That stinks for the kids as that trip to Balt was fun and a good experience.

  43. franklyscarlett says:

    You guys have to learn to ignore guys like keeler tav and re:lax. Clearly just a provocateur who enjoys tweeking you. Always gets a response too. Listen, this whole Yorktown obsession is more the coaches than the players. The player’s focus is and should be on trying to win some games in CT. They could care less about Yorktown.

  44. Lax Novice says:

    It’s no harm responding to the things those guys say, but it would be wrong to interpret such drivel as representative of most of the Ridgefield support base. Frankly has his (hers?) head on straight in terms of what the expectations should be, and is correct about the notion of players only being concerned about the games that matter, the FCIACs and States. The regular season is over today, I think, and next year is next year. The goals are to win this year, no more no less. Anything else is a unwarranted distraction.

    I hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday weekend, and take a moment to remember those who gave all for our freedom.

    And up in Foxborough, as the Boston Globe puts it, good luck to all at the NCAAs, Go Cornell!

  45. Syracuse says:

    Actually, wait a second here. I respect things re:lax posts and for the most part I have found that he’s not an instigator. Others I can’t vouch for. So I’m a little surprised he thinks there is some ducking going on here.

    I spoke to Coach Colsey and Connolly directly about this and Ridgefield’s schedule. They told me straight out that during the transition to the new coaching staff, a lot of valuable schedule-making time was lost. By the time Colsey took control many of the teams he would have liked to play had already committed to other non-section or non-conference games. And we just know how many each gets.

    Ridgefield only has 4 slots this year and they had to add Wilton, which is not an FCIAC game because there are only so many games and far too many teams to play everyone.

    That left them getting Somers (due in part to proximity to Ridgefield), Massapequa (a decent challenge in any year) and Lawrenceville (who would probably beat every team in Section 1.

    Colsey told me he wants to play Yorktown and John Jay in future years but never once said anyone turned him down.

    So let’s not start problems here just for the sake of starting problems to get rises out of people.

    Ridgefield will play Town and/or Jay in the future. Bet on it.

  46. Lax Novice says:

    Syr,

    This isn’t the 1st time re:lax accused Yorktown and JJay of ducking Ridgefield, this thread has gone around before. You probably didn’t notice because you were busy writing about actual HS lacrosse events, not fantasy conspiracy theories. Anyone who has spent 5 minutes considering the issue knows that agreements between schools to play are part of a long negotiation process to not only attract desired opponents but to make room by dropping others, decisions that are mired in political manuevering not limited to one sport.

    Lastly, all the Ridgefield guys who want to play Yorktown and John Jay (as opposed to Lawrenceville, e.g.) should be careful what they wish for. No one is shouting the praises of the JV and 9th grade teams there, at least compared to Wilton, NC and Darien, so the pantry might be a bit barren when those opponents are finally on the schedule.

  47. Syracuse says:

    Lax Novice,

    OK man. Point taken. But let’s give re: lax a chance to explain what he means before anyone comes down too hard on the guy. If he attempts to make points, give him points. If he doesn’t, then we’ll all know the truth.

    I think Ridgefield’s schedule will be loaded sooner rather than later. I mean, who wouldn’t want to play them? I’d camp out in Colsey’s backyard if I knew it would give me a chance to play a team that could prepare me for June, win or lose.

  48. Cards Lax says:

    especially if those games won;t count against you in seeding for sectionals

  49. re:lax says:

    Cuse-

    I guess you have clarified why this matchup didn’t happen. I remembered seeing somewhere that Colsey stated a strong desire to play Yorktown and wasn’t sure why it didn’t happen with him being an alum and all that.

    Novice-

    That is my point as well. This year RHS is stacked. Scheduling them in future years is a much easier deal.

  50. x says:

    Town played Ridge in 01-03 and destroyed them. Its not like they never played before

  51. UncleLax says:

    A couple of points:

    Ridgefield vs. Yorktown would be a classic.

    First Common Opponent: Ridgefield beat Wilton 15-4. Wilton just beat Yorktown 8-6.

    Second Common Opponent: Ridgefield beat Somers 17-9. Yorktown beat Somers 11-6.
    Third Common Opponent: Ridgefield beat Darien 8-7. Yorktown beat Darien 9-6.
    It’s easy to make a case for Ridgefield being the better team, but head to head play is the only way to ever know for sure. Individual match-ups play such critical role in determining the outcome of a game.

    As far as scheduling goes, I read in an article on this website that Colsey did contact both Yorktown and JJ and ask to play them. Both teams turned the game down, which very well may have been due to having a full schedule. Colsey did not accuse either team of ducking his program, but he did say that he would be interested in adding either or both teams as soon as they have an opening in their schedule in the future.

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