When Yorktown and Lakeland/Panas square off next season in the 2012 version of the annual Charlie Murphy Cup, the game will have a definite Springfield College feel to it.

That’s because two of the top players involved — both of whom are midfielders — will be playing their college lax there.

We told you earlier this week that Yorktown’s Joey Raniolo committed to the Pride.

Tonight, on our “Updated recruiting review and commitment rundown,” we reported that Lakeland/Panas’ Tony Laguerre, who is also a senior, has selected Springfield.

The 5-foot-11, 165-pound Laguerre, a righty, is a strong player in transition who has good stick skills and a competitive streak that makes him a tough matchup for opposing teams.

Now, here’s a Q&A with Tony on his choice:

What were the main factors in your decision?
I was looking for a school that had a great reputation in the health sciences such as Physical Education and Therapy, as well as a competitive and traditional lacrosse program. I found all of that in Springfield and when visiting I immediately felt that it was a perfect fit for me.

What other schools were you considering and what schools did you visit?
I visited Western New England and was also considering Union, Keene and C.W. Post.

What are your strengths as a player and how would you describe your style of play?
My lacrosse IQ, off-ball play and ability to initiate and redodge.

How are some current and/or former Lakeland/Panas players you looked up to and learned from while making your way up through varsity?
Growing up watching guys like Drew Collins and Keith Rodriguez encouraged me to get better and one day make my own name for myself at Lakeland. In the past few years, playing alongside great players and guys like Conor Prunty, Rob Caffrey and Shawn Honovich really helped me learn and grow as a player.

When did you first realize you had the potential to play at the college level?
Making varsity as a sophomore on a team of that caliber really gave me confidence. Then right after my sophomore year, I filled a spot at Hotbeds in Delaware for the WestRock team. I played well and got some attention from college coaches.

What were some of the big summer showcase events you’ve competed in the last couple of years and how did you do?
Over the past few years I’ve played for WestRock at the UMass Mid-Summer Classic and Hotbeds at Delaware. Playing well at these tournaments earned me attention from coaches and a chance to play in front of schools I had been considering.

* For more info on Tony, check out his player profile by clicking here.

Have a recruiting commitment to report? Be sure to email us at info@laxlessons.com.

Follow Joe Lombardi on Twitter @joe_lombardi or by clicking here. Follow LaxLessons @LaxLessons or by clicking here.

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Posted In: Recruiting Rundown, Section 1

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23 Responses to “Lakeland/Panas standout Laguerre selects Springfield”

  1. Rebel Yell says:

    Good job TL. Congrats.

  2. RockLax says:

    Congrats Tony and all the best at Springfield.

  3. Recognize says:

    Tony is very, very Good.Another local guy going to Springfield. And another local WestRock guy who recieved exposure at Umass and HotBeds. Other L/P guys should scratch their head???????

    • lax says:

      Lew, stop with the shameless Westrock plugs everytime a kid signs that happens to play for your program. What does scratch their heads mean? You saying that your the end all be all to kids getting recruited? Maybe if you spent as much time preparing your Somers teams as you do selling your summer product you might have made it past the Semis last year.

      • gimme a stick says:

        Whether or not that is Lew is besides the point, however not sure why there would be anything negative directed at the man. He runs a terrific program that does in fact get kids seen, recruited, and playing the game in college. If you asked me to come up with one negative comment about Lew I would be at a loss. Westrock and Lew have been terrific for my son and family.

      • the mighty lobe says:

        Huh? This is a thread about Tony.

        Besides, how do you know that was Lew?

        Hey, fact is, Lew helps put a lot of guys into a lot of college programs and players should consider whether they’re hurting their recruiting exposure by playing on their school’s summer team instead of a team that exists to get guys looks – and succeeds – and has succeeded for ten years.

        Rutgers, Siena, Army, Providence, Western New England, Springfield, Nazareth, St. John’s, C.W. Post, Franklin & Marshall, Albany, Binghamton, Brockport, Syracuse, Skidmore, Maritime, Wittenberg…and that’s just the past few years and isn’t even close to being HALF of the list…tip of the iceberg….

        Coaches – Lew Sectional Champ, Empires medalist; John Jez national championship coach; Frank Vitolo asst. national champ; Adam Gerber professional player, Brian Dalton asst St. John’s…

        WR is a high profile team at UMASS with a strong following of coaches and it’s there that coaches often first spot players they’re going to study further at…

        Hotbeds! Hotbeds Allstar game!… not too shabby. Did the Pleasantville team play there? Arlington? Three Tribes? Mahopac?

        Mahopac were section champs and they put three guys in college? Four? Vinny Perrillo and TJ Foley I know…oh, wait, they were Westrock guys for years and started getting recruited a few years ago. Could it be?

        The be all and the end all? No…highly effective
        …indisputable. One of the best around (even in this watered-down talent pool)…indisputable!

        Whoever wrote that post has a valid point – Playing with your school’s summer team protects your playing time on a team that might not go to UMASS, does not go to Hotbeds and does not get noticed by coaches even if it does go. You will do more for your career in one weekend at UMASS and/or Hotbeds with Lew than you will in four years playing at a no name high school the college guys have never heard of.

        I wish Joe would do a story about club programs and the changing landscape and how ot’s hurting a lot of guys. It would be a great thread. Ask the guys from Briarcliff, Mamaroneck, Ossining, White Plains, Croton, etc if they would have caught on at a college without Westrock…no way…so maybe Westrock is the be all and the end all for those guys.

        …case closed…

        Oh, and Tony, have a great career at Springfield!

        • Pac Lax says:

          Lobe, why don’t you use your lobe and get your facts straight. Not realy sure why you brought up Mahopac but the Pac has 8 kids from last years team playing in college. Bota – WNEC, Foley -Drexel, Carey – Keene ST., O’Keefe – Assumption, Wright – Pace, Parrillio – Naz, Verde -Springfield, Berardis Stony Brook. Worry about your own program……

          • The Watcher says:

            Well put! Not sure why the Lobe has to call out other programs, especially when he’s got his facts straight. Not only that, but I’m pretty sure that all those other programs were at Umass the past few years, not just WestRock. Hotbeds is overrated, one coach per field, way too many teams, and making the All-Star is incredibly hard. Lobe, maybe you can tell us how many WestRock kids actually made the All-Star team at Hotbeds?

          • the mighty lobe says:

            Sure, Watcher:
            2011 – 2
            2010 – 3
            2009 – 3
            prior years I don’t know. You’re lack of knowledge about how HBeds works is obvious. One coach is paid to monitor the games by the tournment while the other 100+ coaches go to see whichever games they choose – including many players they have on a ‘must see’ list they’ve compiled along the way. Westrock routinely is well-attended in every game they play at the university complex and even has coaches attend their off-campus games. Not many teams do that.

            Pac lax…didn’t your kid graduate already? What’re you doing here?

            My goodness, I made a mistake about the Mahopac program. Heaven forbid, after all they are the new prima donnas in Section One. Touchy Touchy. I’m glad to hear they had more guys catch on than I previously knew about. Mahopac rules and everything I said is null and void because I made a mistake about Mahopac and was simply using them as an example while not properly informed. Furthermore, all of the recruits that Lew has put into college programs are not only declared ineligible to play, but their recruiting is hereby expunged from the world so that Mahopac’s thin skin is protected.

            I should know better than to mention the name without permission lest a horrible mistake be made and duress be caused to Mahopac. Btw, I don’t need to worry about my program, it’s fine and now we’ll see if you can muster the focus to respond to the original point regarding Lew.

            Calling Hotbeds overrated and losing site of the unbelievable success of the Westrock program can only come from Mahopac.

  4. springfield dad says:

    Welcome to the Pride. A great place to play and always a pretty good team. See you in 2012

  5. here_here or there says:

    Congrats TL. A good player going to a good school and a team that is always solid…a team that likes recruiting Section One. Last year they beat Bowdoin, played Amherst tough, played WNE tough and lost a heartbreaker to Endicott in the tourny. Good season good team.

    Plus, add to that the fact that all lacrosse players there get free cars…jk.

    Have a great time!

  6. SirLaxalot says:

    Was impressed by Laguerre in the Suffern game I watched on TV. Nice player.

  7. Beach Lax says:

    I guess the big difference is most of the other summer teams send a lot of their playas to D1 programs and they get ships to play. Any Westrock kids who play in college wind up at D3 schools like Keene St and West New England. Not that there’s ne thing wrong with that …Just saying.

    • RedBird says:

      Not sure where you’ve been getting your info but over the past 3 years westrock has sent kids to plenty of D1 schools. St. Johns, Rutgers, Fairfield , Army, Colgate, Siena just to name a few.

      Lew does a good job for his players…so does superstars and primetime. All three programs help get kids into great schools D1,2 and 3

  8. laxon says:

    i believe this is a post not about summer teams, mahopac, or hotbeds, am i mistaken?
    hey, congrats tony and best of luck. springfield got some player!

  9. rlaxfamily says:

    Tony – best of luck to you. You will love Springfield and all that it offers to its students.

    And I must say as I read and lol, I couldn’t help but remember Tony as a young player who played his first years with the Bombers over at the Sports Barn field with Brian Dooley and Tim Schurr as the club coaches. Our kids in the Section I are lucky to have had some of the most talented coaches around the game at their fingertips. I guess all I have to say is that it takes a village and that our Section I players have been taken care of over the many years they have been playing. WestRock, No Limit, Superstar, Bombers, Renegades, Prime Time. It may be a money business but they have made available to our kids talented coaches and talented players who have stuck around the game and have given back to the sport. What they share with the younger boys…it’s all good.

    Kids jump from club to club to club and others remain steadfast. It’s what is best each player and there should be no judgments as to who they play for or why.

    Section I players have been touched by so many of our talented coaches. Let’s leave the competition and the smack talk for the spring season when its team against team. I for one am eagerly awaiting the start of the 2012 season!

    It’s a privilege to play lacrosse.

    • slacrosse says:

      WELL SAID

    • Sect1 says:

      rlaxfamily,

      right on! i drove by john jay hs tonight lights were on, and expected a football thing – but i saw laxers going at it.

      pulled in – not sure what it was exactly, but kids from all over were practicing very hard. young kids, old kids – big kids, little kids. green, red, and purple helmets. and coaches that looked like they knew what they were doing (including Mr. Schurr).

      More power to them – I’m sure someone is getting “paid”, but to see that on a November night – good stuff, for an old lax guy.

  10. kdog says:

    When can everyone, parents,kids and most importantly these private summer coaches realize that what lacrosse has turned into is very similar to AAU basketball. All about the dollor.Being a former college coach let me tell you all that if your good your good! Regarless of who you play for over the summer! Ideally if all HS coaches would do it the right way for the bettermint of their program, at leeast in ny (wherre you can coach your own kids) they would put the extra time in and kee[ their team together. It’s not brain surgery y West islip and ward melville are on top every year. THwe prob exists now with the lower teired programs who’s coaches don’t do anythin agter may. So people are making money on those kids telling them they can be recruited. Well I got news for those people if your good you willl be recruited!!!!

    • Wow says:

      WOW, WOW, WOW,,,,can you say embrassing, that what your comment is. Maybe you should take a few classes at that college that you coached for, and learn how to spell.. You maybe taken serious then……LMAO

      • NYmike says:

        Is this a joke? I count 6 english errors in your own short 35-word comment – “embrassing”, the word “that” with no “is” or ” ‘s ” that is needed, missing the “is” in your second fragment, a comma splice, ending a subject with an improper preposition (before the comma splice), and “maybe” improperly used in the last fragment as opposed to “might be” which you intended.

        Mightbe you shud go bak too skool to. You’re english teecher must be prowd.

  11. Wow says:

    Kdog

    Please tell me where your from and what college so My kids do not go anywhere near there. I want them to be able to Spell!!!!

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