QuickStick CT High School Top 10 Poll – Week 4

The season rolls on. Teams are beginning to hit their strides, other beginning to falter. We’re basically at the midway point in the CT High School Lacrosse season and it’s safe to say, nobody knows how things will shape out in June.

The biggest headline coming into this week, will Darien’s 64 game winning streak end against St. Anthony’s? We’ll find out!

The rankings below have been determined based off of results through 4/30.

1. Darien – If the rumors are true, the Blue Wave will have gotten through Wilton and New Canaan without their best player (Logan McGovern). The game on Saturday against NC was a classic. Darien isn’t as crisp and well, perfect, this season as in years past. NC gave them a run for their money but in the end, you need more than one horse to take down the wave. I hope McGovern is back when Darien takes on St. Anthony’s this Thursday. 64 wins in a row is insane but without McGovern I’m not sure Darien will be able to take down St. A’s. Of note, St. A’s beat New Canaan by 9, Darien beat NC by 2. Then again, every time we’ve said this over the past 3 years, Darien finds a way to win. Even if McGovern can’t play, you know Minicus, Joyce, Pokorny, Pfeifle, and co will be ready to roll.
2. New Canaan – Boy is Quentin O’Connell a stud. The kid had a heroic effort where he scored four straight goals to tie the game at 6 for the Rams. Everything runs through him offensively, when he’s not on the field it’s noticeable. Despite OC’s efforts, NC fell short once again to their neighboring rival. A couple days prior the Rams took down Greenwich. NC had this game in hand from the opening whistle, as at times Greenwich would get within 2 or 3 but NC would then separate. One thing to note coming out of this week, it looks like NC has solved their goalie competition as junior Carl Mazabras played for the whole Darien game and quite frankly kept them in the game with 14 saves in the game, with many notable in the first half. NC takes on Prep this weekend.
3. Wilton – Is this team beginning to live up to the hype? It was a strong week for the Warriors as midweek they took down John Jay (maybe the best team in Westchester) by three and followed it up with a convincing win over Staples, who came in riding high off of their OT win against Ridgefield. What’s impressive about Wilton’s two wins this week was their offensive distribution. Nobody on this team is putting up gaudy numbers, but rather the team looks to be clicking as a unit and getting production from a variety of players. If this team continues to get hot and their defense stands tall, look out. Wilton heads to Greenwich this week, a game they can’t overlook.
4. Ridgefield – A week ago the world was saying praises about the men from Tiger Hollow being the #2 team in the state. A week goes by and times have changed. The Tigers fell to John Jay by 3 and then traveled to Westport only to be upset by Staples in OT. The Tigers will add some wins to their resume this week with Westhill and McMahon on the schedule. Anybody know when Gatto is coming back? I’ve been saying it from the beginning, without him the team has no offensive identity. They’ve done well in his absence and taken advantage of unsettled situations but Weston Carpenter and Reid Kagan can’t do all the initiating on offense. Defense continues to anchor Ridgefield. Parson, Gaydos and Isaacson keeping their boys in games.
5. New Fairfield – Some thought Barlow would challenge NF in the SWC. Then the Rebels beat then 13-1. Marty’s Playground (saw this on Insta – not our own words) is turning into a buzz saw. They followed up the beat down of Barlow buy torching Xavier. NF will once again make it through a week unharmed but don’t look now, they’re games on the horizon against Glastonbury, Fordham Prep and Newtown that could challenge the boys from Candlewood Lake.
6. Fairfield Prep – The Jesuits fall back in the polls after nearly getting upset by Cheshire, a loss that would have looked bad given how Cheshire fell off the tracks a bit last week. Prep then ran into a tough St. Anthony’s squad where the Friars took then down 11-4. Coach Neimi’s boys bounced back nicely with a dominating SCC win over Xavier. The Jesuits take on a pesky Guilford squad tomorrow and then New Canaan on Saturday. Circle the NC game as it will be a great opportunity to see how FP stands against the CT top tier.
7. Staples – Wreckers go 1-1 in their “FCIAC Judgement Week” but how a team is able to build an FCIAC schedule and not include Darien and New Canaan is beyond me. Coach Mac, challenge your men! You’ve got talent. Nonetheless, a great win for the Wreckers over Ridgefield. As noted last week, these two always seem to find themselves in thrillers and the 2018 version didn’t disappoint. Staple’s D stood tall and in the end Blake Runkle got the winner in OT with the long-pole laser. The story wasn’t the same a couple days later on Route 7 as Staples well to Wilton 11-6. Matt Garber stood on his head, if he wasn’t in cage, the score could have been worse. IMHO, if Staples wants to compete in the FCIAC Tournament (something they can do) they need to find someone else to compliment Zinn. Similarly to New Canaan with O’Connell, for Staples it all goes through the Hopkins bound senior. He played great against Wilton, 4 goals, but he can’t do it all.
8. Greenwich – I don’t think anyone can figure out this team. We know they’re young and don’t have much defensive depth, but you have to wonder who showed up to beat Staples 9-6 last week, and who came to play against Chaminade. The Flyers won 21-4. If common scores are anything to take into consideration. Chammy beat Wilton by 1. I don’t think the Cards will lose to Wilton by 17, I just don’t think they’ll win. So why rank a team that sits at 5-6 eight in the state? Well, their Staples win holds a lot of value, but also the Baby Cards play a tough FCIAC and OOC schedule. Greenwich and Wilton are the only FCIAC teams this year to play all the big boys (ie Darien, NC, Wilton, Ridgefield and Staples).
9. Trumbull – Coach Kammerman’s boys crack the Top 10 this week after absolutely dismantling Cheshire. This was a great midseason OOC win for the Golden Eagles and a subtle statement. There’s no doubt, they’re the pride of the second tier FCIAC (they may not like how that sounds). Trumbull takes on Darien today but finishes the week with two winnable contests against Shelton and North Haven before a big week where they take on Ridgefield and New Canaan. I don’t think Trumbull is done making noise. In the HAN Network season preview, they said they wanted to beat New Canaan. Look out Rams, Luke Kammerman and company are coming after you.
10. Weston – Excited to add these fellas to the Top 10 as they’re a team I’m familiar with after working with them during the off-season. Weston is 10-1 and looks to be on a crash course with New Fairfield in the SWC. Coach Thornton has them playing fast and making use of all their assets. Ryan Werner and James Goetz are two studs offensively and Jason Baisley anchors the defense. The Trojans ride into this week coming off a nice OOC win over Daniel Hand and then a dominating out of state performance against North Rockland (NY). They take on Newtown today in a HUGE SWC game. Newtown is coming in with a lot of momentum. This one should be a classic.

Others Considered: Glastonbury, Newtown, Daniel Hand, Fairfield Ludlowe