Before we get set to start our fourth and final week of position voting  for the LaxLessons.com all-region team with the goaltender position, let’s check out the final vote tally for the defense position.

All-America teams by region:

• Hudson Valley

• Connecticut

• Long Island

So here you go:

Final reader votes for LaxLessons.com all-region team/defense

Thomas Keith, Syosset, 133
John Fennessy, Yorktown, 83
Brad Cappellini, Manhasset, 60
Matt Gorski, Darien, 57
Ethan Fox, Yorktown, 56
John Bello, Somers, 42
Geoff Stearns, John Jay, 34
Derek Katchis, Greeley, 34
Joey LaSala, Wilton, 33
Eddie Schurr, Somers, 14
Donald Keough, Rye , 8
Jameson Pickel. John Jay, 8
Mike McCormack, West Islip, 8
Brendan Brunelle, Yorktown, 8
Jon Mirra, Ridgefield, 4
Brett Cabriele, Yorktown, 3
Hunter Bastian, Greeley, 3
Chris Jackson, Iona Prep, 3
Andy O’Meara, Lakeland/Panas, 2
Corey Caputo, Darien, 2
Brian Winterfeldt, Calhoun, 2
Chris Wood, North Salem, 2
Robert Keough, 1
John Mclean, Putnam Valley, 1

Total votes: 601

Now, here are the goaltender nominees. Remember, you can write in anyone not nominated.

Michael Bonitatibus, Yorktown

Beginning three weeks ago, and lasting for the next week, we have been have balloting by position. We are presenting the names of at least five nominees per position and asking you to write in anyone not included. So all players from Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, Nassau, Suffolk and greater Fairfield — including public and private schools — are eligible.

The voting has started at midnight each Sunday and ended Saturday at midnight.

After all the positions are decided on July 4, we will publish our all-region team on Monday, July  6.

On Sunday, July 5, we will start week-long balloting for coach of the year, which will be announced on July 12, the same day we start week-long balloting for region player of the year.

Here’s the order of voting:

• Attack: June 7—12 (Voting completed)

Results:

* Nicky Galasso, West Islip, 78
* Connor English, Manhasset, 76
* Matt White, Ridgefield, 68
* JoJo Marasco, Somers, 64
* Kevin Interlicchio, Yorktown, 54
* Dante Fantoni, St. Anthony’s, 22
* Greg Petre, Somers, 22
* Ryan Fitzgerald, Putnam Valley, 13
* Will Manny, St. A’s, 13
* Rob Santangelo, Rye 6
* Nick O’Reilly, South Side 4
* Joey Leonard, Hicksville 4
* Mike Daniello, John Jay 3
* Tyler Perrelle, Mahopac 3
* Colin Scott, Ridgefield 2
* Jack Doherty, Lakeland/Panas 2
* Remy Lieberman, Yorktown 2
* Eddie Loftus, Syosset 1
Total Votes: 435

• Midfield: June 14-20 (Voting completed)

Results:

Jeff Froccaro, Port Washington, 92
John Ranagan, Yorktown, 72
Thomas Schreiber, St. Anthony’s, 33
John Bolton, Darien, 18
Ian Braddish, West Islip, 18
Will Stewart, John Jay, 12
Brendan Walsh, Ridgefield, 11
Drew Belinsky, Manhasset, 11
Erik Pfiffner, Somers, 9
Andrew Hodgson, West Islip, 7
Colin Tullgren, Somers, 5
Forrest Walter, John Jay, 5
Rob Lombardo, Somers, 5
Matt Baker, Ridgefield, 5
Cole McCormack, Rye, 5
Nick O’Reilly, South Side. 5
Jimmy Vande Ver Donk, Putnam Valley, 4
Matt Deiana, Somers, 3
Chase Thompson, Mahopac, 3
Collin Parkhurst, Hen Hud, 3
Dylan Haas, Somers, 2
Duncan Morrissey, Ridgefield, 2
Peter Crisara, Irvington, 2
James Bryant, White Plains, 2
Jeff Molinari, Manhasset, 2
Jordan Fried, Greeley, 2
Robby Cegielski, Somers, 1
Doug Tesoriero , Syosset, 1
Joey Porcelli, Yorktown, 1
Giuseppe Rice, Peekskill, 1
Stefan Carpentieri, Byram Hills, 1
R.J. Medeo, Byram Hills, 1

Total Votes: 338

• Defense: June 21-27 (Voting completed)

Results:

Thomas Keith, Syosset, 133
John Fennessy, Yorktown, 83
Brad Cappellini, Manhasset, 60
Matt Gorski, Darien, 57
Ethan Fox, Yorktown, 56
John Bello, Somers, 42
Geoff Stearns, John Jay, 34
Derek Katchis, Greeley, 34
Joey LaSala, Wilton, 33
Eddie Schurr, Somers, 14
Donald Keough, Rye , 8
Jameson Pickel. John Jay, 8
Mike McCormack, West Islip, 8
Brendan Brunelle, Yorktown, 8
Jon Mirra, Ridgefield, 4
Brett Cabriele, Yorktown, 3
Hunter Bastian, Greeley, 3
Chris Jackson, Iona Prep, 3
Andy O’Meara, Lakeland/Panas, 2
Corey Caputo, Darien, 2
Brian Winterfeldt, Calhoun, 2
Chris Wood, North Salem, 2
Robert Keough, 1
John Mclean, Putnam Valley, 1

• Goaltender: June 28-July 4

During each balloting period, you will be allowed to make just one vote per position.

And finally, our all-region team will be broken down this way numbers wise:

Attack — 4

Midfield — 4

Attack/midfield — 4

Defense — 6

Goaltenders — 2

Total — 20

So there you have it. Be sure to exercise your right to vote and let us know what you think about the attack position on this thread.

Reach Joe Lombardi at joe@laxlesons.com.

Posted In: General

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53 Responses to “LaxLessons.com all-region team: Who’s the best goaltender?”

  1. Laxit says:

    The two best goalies in the region play on teams that were not championship caliber – Luke Haggerty and Chris Moffa from Fordham Prep. If either one played for a Yorktown or John Jay they would have started in last night’s AA game at Towson.

  2. beeflax says:

    Schneider really?? not even an add-in I’m surprised i mean no knock on him. Bellaris is the best on LI nuff said

  3. LAXIT says:

    TOP 4 GOALIES (pretty much in order)

    1 Luke Haggerty

    2 Rob Bellaris

    3 Kyle Feeney

    4 Ryan Alexander ( have not seen play just heard great things)

  4. IslandLaxpert says:

    Beef Lax – Agreed but not sure what you mean. Bellairs is one of the nominees above and the top votegetters so far in the poll.

  5. LI Lax says:

    Bellairs is the best goalie in the region, no question about it…he also may be the MVP of Nassau…close between him and English IMO…without him, Plainedge was an under .500 team this year, he kept them in every game and was their clearing game as well.

  6. LI Lax says:

    I already voted, but someone should add Nick Longo from Shoreham to this list, he deserves to at least be considered.

  7. Jericho says:

    Wonder if he and Chris Longo are cousins or something?

  8. HV lax says:

    Well Haggerty is the section 1 rep. He is a beast for all you LI lax guys who have not seen him. Plays for a terrible team but single handly takes over games. Could have been a 2 time AA if he played for a better team.

  9. Laximus says:

    LI Lax, by making that statement that Bellairs is obviously tbe best in the region then you must have seen Haggerty too to make this evaluation and bold statement. What were your thoughts on him and why is Bellairs better?

  10. jmac says:

    Speaking of Chris Longo from somers, he doesnt even make your top Joe?
    Longo in my eyes was one of the best goalies in section 1. Y-T has an amazing deffence which make Mikey B’s work alot easier, NOT saying that somers D isnt good one bit because they are. But put Longo on yorktown and they are unstoppable. Mikey B and Chris Longo should be on the list comming down to a tight vote!

  11. smallz says:

    Chris Longo is considerably one of the best goalies in section 1

  12. LAXIT says:

    smallz

    Chris Longo is a good goalie if you took the top two from each region
    he would not be there Chris is going to be one of the best along with Mcguigan
    he needs to clear the ball better stick skills need to inprove alittle but yes he will be one of the best right now you would not put him in front of Haggerty Mikey B ,keep working hard The one i am suprised at was joe you left out Feeney

  13. Ride the Wave says:

    Honestly Feeney was better last year. He’d be in Top 10 in region but not the top 5 or 6.

  14. SirLaxalot says:

    It’s apparent by his lack of a response that LI Lax has not seen Haggerty. Well I have and I’ve seen Bellairs and my objective take is that Haggerty is at another level. He is the obvious #1.

  15. 1timer says:

    Chris Longo’s clears deff do need to improve but in the playoffs and in the Section Championship he was on fire with stick skills and clears. Coming up with atleast 4 redirecting saves and body twisting saves against John Jay in the championship! A good 4-5 of the Somers goals came off of a great save and clear down to a strong middie….he’s a top 3 goalie of my choice

  16. Joe Lombardi says:

    I don’t think there’s any doubt that Chris Longo is one of the best goalies in the section. I don’t really see how anyone could argue otherwise. I’ve written in the past that I believe he and Johnny McGuigan of Mahopac were the top two junior goalies in Section 1 this past season. I didn’t mean to slight anyone by making that statement, so if anyone has any other names to add to that very short list, please be sure to do so.

  17. smoothsailing says:

    Chris got his nickname for a reason, Chris “The Wall” Longo because hes a Wall in the cage! Holding JJ to 7 goals each showing and giving Marasco not only his 1st win against JJ in his career but giving him 2 wins and an amazing run from the 1st game @ Mahopac to the Section Championship against JohnJay.
    MY TOP 3

    Chris “The Wall” Longo

    Luke Haggerty

    Mikey B

  18. LaxWise says:

    Im not sure were all this talk about longo is coming from but haggerty is the best goalie I have seen in a while and I have been watching The hudson valley area for the past 4 years. He was picked for AA for a reason.

  19. meatball says:

    congrats to john jay grad chris bates on being named the new princeton head coach.

  20. spotlight says:

    Mikey B OVER-RATED

    Longo “The Wall” UNDER-RATED

    HAGGERTY-RATED

  21. FAN says:

    Longo broke John Jay’s heart twice this year and certainly was spectacular in those two games. I also thought he was impressive against Yorktown and Greeley among others. Haggerty, however, is the most tenacious, talented goalie I have seen in Section One in the last ten years. No disrespect to his teammates but the amount of shots he sees against top Section One teams and how close the shots come from is astounding. I think that Mikey B is a talented kid as well, but Luke would be viewed as one of the top goalie recruits in the country if he had played for one of the Westchester Section One powers over the last four years. Hopefully his PG year leads to an offer from a Division One power!

  22. PurpleReigns Jr says:

    Stop this talk about how Longo is the best goalie in the Section bc he clearly is one of the top 2 maybe not 1 but deff 2! The best team beat JJ and that was Somers not once but twice unfortunetly. To be honest Somers D is nothing without Longo or as some of you people call him “The Wall”.

  23. 1 ON 1 says:

    Whenever the percentage is higher for a goalie to stop a 1on1 shot you have a tremendous goalie I have watch Hag’s over the years both at westrock and high school and as people have stated you have to throw 2 to 3 fakes on him or he will stuff you every time He is without a doubt one of thr top goalies to come out of section 1 in the last decade As FAN has stated one of the top recurits in the country,gotta love South ( quickest hands i have ever seen ) good luck Hag’s

  24. spotlight says:

    1 on 1

    I agree with you Haggerty is an amazing 1 v 1 goalie but thats his only strength if u shoot anywhere on Longo he will stop you! I have gone and watched some Somers lax practices and while Longo warms up JoJo Marasco rips shots on him running from the 20 yard line to the 15 Stopping his shots from all angles on a dime, put them head to head in a tryout and Longo wins overrall

  25. meatball says:

    Nisky killed them and nisky played there back up goalie. longo gave up 14

  26. 1 ON 1 says:

    spotlight

    i am really not going to debate you but i can tell that i have seen his brother chris shoot on him and i can also tell you their is no comparison between jo jo shot and chris haggerty shot and as far as a head to head i don’t think so i think you are going a little overboard but you are entitled to you opinion

  27. 1 ON 1 says:

    and haggerty’s clearing ability and stick skills are way ahead of longo’s

  28. laxkid says:

    Meatball-

    take it easy Nisky played a great game against Somers with there back up in net and did you happen to see any help from Longo’s D that game? not one could keep up wit number 8 from nisky. and HAGGERTY GAVE UP 16 against Somers! and that was 1 game out of Hags multi double digit goals against games

  29. laxforu says:

    Look at how many saves he had he sees more shots than any goalie in section one. Just becasuse he is the best one on one goalie I have ever seen dosent mean he isent filthy at the outside shot. At the senoir game as I’m walkin in the first thing I see in the game is hags makin a very nice offhip save from about 7 yards.out. Kid. Is the real deal and I will not be surprisde when he commits to hopkinns or cuse or somewere big after his pg year

  30. jwfan says:

    Joe Lombardi-

    Do you know if Longo has been looked at by any colleges?

  31. sglax says:

    Jwfan-

    Cant remember the names but heard of a few D1 schools checking Longo out.

  32. dougyfresh says:

    People, people, people!
    Longo is only a junior lay off this kids back. All this arguing back and fourth, back and fourth is incredible! Might have to take a trip from Cuse to see this kid!

  33. Old Rugger says:

    Have not seen the Plainedge Goalie but here are my top 5 in the section 1 Area

    1.Haggerty
    2.Haggerty
    3 Haggerty
    4.Mike B
    5 Longo/Moffa/McGuigan

    Haggerty best Goalie for some time to come out of Sect 1

  34. Red Ranger says:

    Haggerty is not that good Longo is a “WALL!!!” plain and simple

  35. Chrome lax says:

    TOP 10 GOALIES although Old Rugger was def interesting

    1 Luke Haggerty – Clarkstown South
    2 Rob Bellairs – Plainedge
    3 Ryan Alexander – South Side
    4 Michael Bonitatibus – YTown
    5 Andrew West – Darien
    6 Chris Moffa, Fordham Prep
    7 Kyle Feeney, Greenwich
    8 Johnny McGuigan, Pac
    9 Chris Longo Somers
    10 Nick Longo Shoreham

    although i have not seen a couple of these kids play top 5 i have

  36. Wasabi says:

    I’ve seen Bellairs play the past two seasons and he’s far and away the most athletically gifted goalie around. He’s a great stopper like Haggerty, but also a freak of an athlete who can make things happen out of the cage. For my money, he’s clearly the best. You can’t go wrong with many of the guys on the list, but I’d take these three guys above the rest:

    1. Bellairs, Plainedge
    2. Haggerty, Clarkstown South
    3. Feeney, Greenwich

  37. Chrome lax says:

    Wasabi

    I absolutely agree that Bellairs is very athetlic i have watch both as well hell i grow up there the reason i have them the way i do with Haggerty # 1is i have seen Bellairs go out of the the cage alittle to far and get caught if there was 2 min left i a game with a save a outlet pass coming i have seen haggerty throw 50 year strikes to middies on the run but in all fairness they are both very talented goalies so i guess it’s just a matter of opinion.

  38. Laxie says:

    It looks like it’s gonna go down to the wire in the voting. I thibk we should decide who’s #1 by getting the input of the people who know best (other than Joe of course). I’m talking about the college coaches. Bellairs got a ride to Hofstra and Haggerty is going to prep school. So you gotta go with Belairs. A kid who should be getting more votes is Schneider from Pequa whose going to Hop. Enough said.

  39. HV Lax says:

    Excellent point. I also think its pointless to mention juniors unless its a Galasso or someone of that calibet when thwre are so many talented seniors. Frankly I don’t see any juniors from Section One other than maybe McFuigan with the maturity and athleticism to play at the next level at the goalie position. So as the voting concludes let’s focus on the clear best nominees like Haggs and Bellair and Mikey B. Good luck to those three and other seniors like West, Schneider and Feeney who belong in that company.

  40. LAXIT says:

    Laxie

    Haggerty, however, is the most tenacious, talented goalie I have seen in Section One in the last ten years. No disrespect to his teammates but the amount of shots he sees against top Section One teams and how close the shots come from is astounding. I think that Mikey B is a talented kid as well, but Luke would be viewed as one of the top goalie recruits in the country if he had played for one of the Westchester Section One powers over the last four years. Hopefully his PG year leads to an offer from a Division One power! and FAN Pretty much says it all

    We are not picking on were they are going you reasoning is ridiculous at least Wasabi made some good points and apparently you have never seen haggerty play

  41. PurpleReigns says:

    Dude I agree with ur assesment about the juniors and all BUT I wanna give everyone a heads up for next year becuz tops on thos list WILL be Fletcher Franklin. When it comes to all the things great goalies need he has it all …
    Maturity. Check.
    Poise. Check.
    Athleticism. Check.
    Leadership qualities. Check.
    Save ability. Check.
    OK. So now the word is out. I had to be the one to do it before P-ReignsJr. Beat me to it lol.

  42. slacrosse says:

    Watch for Linehan to put on a big show next season as the Rye goalie who meets all of Purple Reigns criteria above. He’s one of the two Captains of the team along with Cole McCormack.

  43. purplemachinejj says:

    Joe, regarding top Section Junior 1 goalies, I saw the Brewster goalie at the Section 1 Showcase and he was very impressive. I think he can be one of the top goalies this year.

  44. Rosey says:

    Not to sound like a jerk, but everyone is calling Haggerty the best section 1 goalie in a decade, can someone please name some other high quality section 1 goalies from the past 10 years? This isn’t a knock on section 1 lacrosse, I just can’t really think of any since maybe Billy Schell

  45. Joe Lombardi says:

    A few of the guys I would put on the short list off the top of my head are:
    Ethan Vedder (Yorktown), Mike Novosel (Somers), Pete Coluccini (John Jay), Ryan Penner (Yorktown), Chris Latino (John Jay), Mike Mackay (Lakeland/Panas) and Colin Hart (Rye).

    Thoughts?

  46. LAXIT says:

    Ethan Vedder Cornell
    Mike Novosel Darthmouth
    Pete Coluccini Syracuse transfer Ohio ST
    Mike Mackay Delaware
    Billy Schell UMASS
    Colin Hart Yale
    please correct me if i don’t have some thing right

  47. L/P says:

    LAXIT
    I would have to disagree with Mackay because he didn’t actually make the team at Delaware. But I would include Kevin Ray from Yorktown from just about ten years ago. Star at Albany and he really helped bring their program to the spotlight.

  48. LAXIT says:

    L/P

    Thanks like i said wasn’t a 100% sure but Kevin Ray should def be in there

  49. Rosey says:

    Alot of the names just named seemed to have tough college careers, besides Penner and Rae. Hart and Vedder never saw any playing time, while Colucinni and Novosel both had starting jobs and lost them. This is in no way me trying to slander any of these kids, just an observation. Excellent point with Rae though, I didn’t realize he was a section 1 guy, he did great things for Albany.

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