Back of THE CAGE Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM Preseason Nike/US Lacrosse HS Boys' Lacrosse National Top 25

I think Ward Melville will win Suffolk A.

Northport? Improved perhaps, but not beating WM or West...

Ward Melville graduated out all of their best players last year. I think it will probably be Smithtown West or Northport. Northport beat both at the JV level last year and has pulled up a lot of great talent.

Northport faceoff will beat S west EVERY TIME, not a contest! That gives them possession, and then....... we all know!

I don't know why some of these high school polls include the P.G. schools. Having post H.S. players makes you a junior college in my opinion. It would be nice to see a public school only poll as well.

Get used to the not so new reality. The balance of power in H.S. lacrosse nationally has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. Public H.S. lacrosse is an after thought now when talking about the best in the country. Even on Long Island, arguably the last of the Mohicans when it comes to nationally recognized public H.S. lax, there are only maybe 10 towns that matter on the local scene and maybe 5 on the national scene out of dozens of districts that play. And even the best on the Island are two privates. Far cry from what it used to be. Even traditional powers like Manhasset have fallen off the national map because they never schedule the national powers in PA and MD. Beating up on Floral Park and others like it may make the record look good but actually substracts points from their strength of schedule and their standing on a national level. Garden City recognized this years ago and added much more meat to their schedule and therefore remains on the national scene. In fact I would argue that GC's games against out of state national powers have become more important than the Woodstick.

If not the powers in MD and PA because of the budget problems at Manhasset, at least they could schedule Pequa, West Islip, St Ants, Ward Melville etc. That would make them relevant again. There's no excuse if GC has so many powerhouse games on its schedule that Manhasset can't do the same. They are both Nasssau Class B.

Get used to the not so new reality. The balance of power in H.S. lacrosse nationally has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. Public H.S. lacrosse is an after thought now when talking about the best in the country. Even on Long Island, arguably the last of the Mohicans when it comes to nationally recognized public H.S. lax, there are only maybe 10 towns that matter on the local scene and maybe 5 on the national scene out of dozens of districts that play. And even the best on the Island are two privates. Far cry from what it used to be. Even traditional powers like Manhasset have fallen off the national map because they never schedule the national powers in PA and MD. Beating up on Floral Park and others like it may make the record look good but actually substracts points from their strength of schedule and their standing on a national level. Garden City recognized this years ago and added much more meat to their schedule and therefore remains on the national scene. In fact I would argue that GC's games against out of state national powers have become more important than the Woodstick.