umassGames at today’s Mid-Fall Classic at UMass were played
on 13 adjacent fields in Amherst, Mass.

It’s known as the Mid-Fall Classic. And that’s an an important thing to remember as far as today’s annual event at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Mass., is concerned.

After all, it’s mid-fall — not mid-season — and it’s impossible to expect teams to be playing as cohesively today as they are likely to be in mid-spring.

At times, the play was choppy and almost appeared to be in slow motion. At otyher times, there were flashes of the form we are used to from the regular season.

That’s exactly what you would expect though at an event at this time of year that did not feature many committed recruits and included a large amount of entries from the same club.

From the Hudson Valley, for instance, Moonlight Lacrosse fielded three three, WestRock two, the Renegades two, Brewster one and the Hudson Valley Express one.

All told, there were 46 teams, most of which played three games apiece. Action started at 9 a.m. and ended right at 4 p.m.

Three teams that impressed me the most were Ward Melville, the Bridgeton Academy and the New England Select Lacrosse ‘A’ team.

It was apparent all three teams had good chemistry, cohesion and desire — not to mention plenty of talent.

And there were  coaches from more than 30 college programs in attendance to evaluate them.

Feel free to post any info, thoughts, comments or questions on today’s action.

Reach Joe Lombardi at joe@laxlessons.com.

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7 Responses to “UMass tourney features wall-to-wall lax”

  1. dee-up says:

    Any thing to give on section one teams standout etc… teams records

  2. Joe Lombardi says:

    All the Westchester teams had their ups and downs. Moonlight’s Blue probably had the best assemblage of talent, with a few standouts including Mike Daniello, Forrest Walter, Jake Weil, Billy Pray, Jesse Troy, Evan Chen, Mike Lupinacci, Malcolm Winter, Kevin Duffy and Andrew Nicol.

    WestRock’s Orange team got off to a slow start in its first game, but played better the rest of the day. Some of the players on that team were Chris Longo, Rob Cegielski, Cole Daddario, Cole Partenza, Jake Thorp, Luke Dellasandro, Connor Ferguson, Anthony Lombardo and Matt Cirieco.

    The WestRock Blue team’s best game was its second game of the event vs. the New England Development team. Members of that WestRock team included Connor Lindsey, Mike Dallessio, Mike Zavarella, Nick Carpentieri, Mike Bertoline, Kris Alleyne, Sam Christiansen, Mike Donovan and Anthony Carpenter.

    The Renegades had two teams as well, including players from such programs as North Salem, Mamaroneck and Scarsdale. Their rosters, along with those for the Hudson Valley Express, Brewster and many of the teams at the tournament, were unavailable unfortunately.

  3. lax090 says:

    I know that Weiner from mamk was on the renegades team with a bunch of guys from Trinity Pawling. They went 3-0

  4. BU33 says:

    As the parent of a Renegades player I’m disappointed that you couldn’t get copies of the rosters. Do you know why this was the case?

  5. Minutemen says:

    Prime Time, and Westroc played the toughest competition. Renegades and Hudson Valley s opponents were much softer. Prime Times offense played very well together, and showed some good athleticism. Westrocs Goalies, Longo on one team, and Alleyne from the other were two of the best goalies on the day. You can definitely see that many of these teams were not used to playing together.

  6. Gonzo says:

    Rust and conditioning were also a factor. Westrock’s Blue team had a hard time with their passing/turnovers in the first half of their first game and fell behind 4-1 by halftime. In the second half they played much better with the ball and their defense stiffened, playing their opponent to a 1-1 tie. Then in the third game, they were actually tied 2-2 midway their the first half but completely ran out of gas and got wrecked from then on. A lack of a real faceoff specialist really hurt the team; they didn’t win too many. It is kind ironic that these tournaments are so important for recruiting purposes but some of the teams didn’t even have a single practice and alot of kids haven’t really played that much since the end of the summer tourney season. Some teams/kids obviously had though and it showed.

  7. dee-up says:

    bu33–relax. There is usually more to it then meets the eye. maybe you don’t want to hear it all .. Sorry not looking to give you a hard time but you can’t make everyone happy.

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