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First things first. Tomorrow is Sept. 1. If you’re familiar with recruiting — and/or a reader of this blog — I don’t have to tell you what that means.

Defenseman George Benitez of Darien will be playing his college lacrosse at Division I Stony Brook. George Benitez is one of four rising seniors for five-time state champion Darien that have committed to college programs. The defenseman is headed to Stony Brook University.

Joe’s going to be upset that I’m posting on something that has nothing to do with lacrosse but this is a video I think all of you have to see. Sorry Joe!

Lacrosse is not exactly front and center on Greg D’Arienzo’s mind these days. Who can blame him? After all, the rising senior from Carey High School in Franklin Square is busy preparing for the football season. Last season, he rushed for 1,300 yards and 11 touchdowns and earned all-Nassau County honors.

With the summer now all but over, let’s take a look at some of the major college commitments among top rising seniors from Long Island.

Matt Bocklet, top (shown in action for the Denver Outlaws), has had the upper hand on most of his MLL and NLL opponents during his pro career thus far. Matt Bocklet’s lacrosse career has taken him to many places. From John Jay High School to an NCAA tournament appearance at Fairfield University to an NCAA […]

An exciting weekend of semifinal- and final-round games ended today with Toronto outlasting Denver 10-9 to win the Major League Lacrosse championship game in Annapolis, Md. Needless to say, several players from the LaxLessons.com lower New York State/Greater Fairfield County area played key roles in the contest.

Former Johns Hopkins star Paul Rabil of the Boston Cannons was named the Bud Light MVP and Warrior offensive player of the year and former Georgetown standout Brodie Merrill of the Toronto Nationals was named Warrior defensive player of the year to lead the list of 12 players chosen to the All-Major League Lacrosse team.

Well gang, we continue to follow the recruiting commitments around the clock. And I just got word of another one. John Jay rising senior Fletcher Franklin, whose strong play in goal down the stretch helped the Indian make their sixth straight sectional final appearance, has committed to Division III Kenyon in Gambier, Ohio.

Congratulations to poster “ATTACK,” a laxer from Darien, whose post on our “Name the Top 5 laxers of all-time” thread was selected as the winner of our $100 Dick’s Sporting Good gift card giveaway. You can check out what he wrote by clicking on the link and scrolling down to Comment No. 23. Now though, […]

Ridgefield’s Matt White, Somers’ JoJo Marasco and Manhasset’s Connor English were ranked among the Top 10 incoming college freshmen in the nation by Inside Lacrosse in its annual recruiting issue. Inside Lacrosse also ranked the Top 50 rising seniors and Top 50 rising juniors at the high school level. • Joe’s MaxPreps.com column: Rye’s McCormack […]

St. John’s just landed a commitment from another one of the region’s top players. Rising senior attackman/midfielder Ryan Fitzgerald of Class C sectional champion Putnam Valley has given a verbal commitment to join the Red Storm next year.

Mahopac’s Okie Bernabo ended a busy summer of lacrosse by deciding on a college. (File photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com) Rising senior Okie Bernabo of Mahopac has made his college choice. The versatile midfielder has decided to join C.W. Post, which won the Division II title this past season.

Rye rising senior Cole McCormack, one of the top  all-around players in the state, is bound for NCAA finalist Cornell. (File photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com) One of the top rising seniors in the state, Rye midfielder Cole McCormack, just informed me that he has given a verbal commitment to attend 2009 NCAA Division I finalist […]

A “Dream Team” of former Syracuse stars that included Roy Colsey, the Powell brothers, Ric Beardsley, Rob Kavovit and Paul Carcaterra took on Rusty Red in the Division 1 championship game of the masters competition of the 20th annual Lake Placid Summit Classic this past weekend. Colsey had four goals for Burnt Orange but Rusty […]

Through the end of this past season, an amazing 51 West Islip players were playing college lacrosse. Look for that trend to continue. In a moment, we’ll recap all the Lions who will join programs this fall. But first, we have news of a rising senior commitment for West Islip, which has won three Class […]

FCIAC champion Ridgefield should have at least five college-bound rising seniors. Two have already committed and three others are weighing their options. Read more in the second page of this post, and be sure to check back here every day of the latest breaking recruiting news.

You guys have been great. The comments and info you have contributed to Joe’s blog here at LaxLessons.com since we launched this site in mid-March have been nothing short of amazing. In fact, since we started, there have been nearly 8,000 comments on this blog. So we’d like to show our appreciation.

John Brandofino of Mahopac is the latest rising senior from the region to commit to a college. (File photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com) Mahopac’s John Brandofino, one of the region’s top attackmen, has given a verbal commitment to attend Division II national power New York Institute of Technology.

Yorktown’s Remy Lieberman will be joining former ‘Husker teammates John Froats and Brett Cabriele at Division III power Wesleyan. (File photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com) Remy Lieberman, a two-year starting attackman for Yorktown, has made his college choice. The rising senior will attend Division III power Wesleyan, where he will join former teammates John Froats, the […]

Attackman/midfielder Bryan Annecchino of Darie is bound for Providence. (File photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com) Four rising seniors from five-time state champion Darien have made college commitments. For a rundown, check the second page of this post.

Yorktown rising senior goaltender Derek Koelsch, who performed well in several summer showcase events, has committed to Trinity in Hartford, Conn. The recruiting commitments continue to come in on a daily basis, folks. Just moments ago, one of the top rising senior goaltenders in the region, Yorktown’s Derek Koelsch, committed to attend Trinity College, an […]

Lacrosse was featured this morning on NBC’s TODAY show. In case you missed the segment, you can watch it here.

Well, I’m all lax-ed out, gang. Four consecutive games will do that. But that’s not to say I didn’t have a great time tonight at Purchase College for the Sound Shore Summer League championship games.

Somers all-section attackman Greg Petre just gave an oral commitment to attend Army. (File photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com) • Check the second page of this post for a Q&A with Greg Petre.

Brandon Merlino, John Jay’s standout midfielder, has made his college choice. (File photo by Jim Stout/MaxPreps.com) John Jay rising senior Brandon Merlino is on a family vacation to his grandfather’s native Sicily today. But that didn’t stop him from taking time out to make one of the most important decisions of his life.