Use this thread to discuss lacrosse topics tailored to High School Boys Lacrosse in New Jersey

Any takers on who plays in the TOC final?

Chatham vs. Ridgewood

Any early picks to which teams will win each conference?

Delbarton vs Mountain Lakes. Rematch.

Anyone know of any good showcases to attend this winter?

Does anyone know what NJ schools are doing for spectators? Can non-parents attend the Delbarton SHP game? If not, are NJ schools going to livestream games?

I do not think that there is any specific policy in place, but I imagine that at least parents will be able to attend, anything less would be ridiculous considering that parents were allowed to attend indoor winter sports. I know that the covid numbers were low last summer, and not trying to make any political statements about covid policies, but I attended a bunch of very crowded tournaments with no problems for the spectators or the players.

I think the person asked for real information, not speculation.

This post had to come from Mr. BBL, tossing out useless information.

Looks like LE daddy has the day off from work...perhaps we can get a more informative post, perhaps something about LE and their recruits

My son plays for Tri-State but nice try. Does anyone have real information on NJ High School other than this guy?

My understanding from the administration at a Shore High School they are going to hand out wristbands to parents similar to football. No idea how they are going to enforce or manage wristbands for 3 games in one week. Have not heard anything about livestreaming.

Then why all of the BBL chatter, did you have a bad experience with BBL (and for what it's worth my son does not play for BBL so I guess we are both wrong)...I do know that a few very talented kids moved to TS from BBL because they were not happy with BBL, plus there have been other defections to TS because of the link to SHP

As I tried explain earlier, there is no uniform state policy, other than applicable outdoor gathering limitations, therefore, each school will probably handle things a little differently, as they did during the fall and winter. Limiting to parents seems like the most logical. As far as livestreaming, some schools have the capability and do it quite often, depends on the school.

Anyone have predictions for the HS Season? Preps... SHP, Delbarton, could Bosco/St. Augustine finally be in the mix for #1? Funny to think lots of first time varsity starters at the top clubs. Only a handful Seniors would have gotten major time at those schools as sophomores.

How about Publics, Summit/Chatham/Ridgewood/ML/Central are always good with Bridgewater/Westfield/Shawnee lurking, Montgomery seems to be down.

the club chatter should be a a minimum during the HS season

I think it would be really funny if both of these guys are Tri-State parents lol.....the one guy could be deflecting though and still be BBL...

Manasquan has like 7 D1 commits...they are always tough but the lower grades are not as deep anymore.

They have a very talented senior class, the legacy of the Mad Dog National 2021 team runs deep on Manasquan, and to a certain extent, CBA.

Rumson Fair Haven beat Chatham...is Rumson that good or is Chatham not as talented this year?

Word is that Chatham is not that great...RFH does have some very good players, but not sure if they have the depth to be a legitimate contender

I wouldn't sleep on the top 3 shore teams. RFH plays Bergen Catholic today and Manasquan plays SHP tomorrow, it's still early but we will know more.

One of the lower-grade kids put up 9 points yesterday.

The comment was about overall depth, not that there aren't decent younger kids....I guess we can see how the lower-grade kids do tomorrow.

The comment was about overall depth, not that there aren't decent younger kids....I guess we can see how the lower-grade kids do tomorrow.

One down One to go.

True, and a good win for RFH, but big difference between BC and a nationally ranked SHP team...should be interesting.

RFH is better than Squan or at least right now. Squan missed the first two weeks because of Covid.

I guess we now have a better idea about Manasquan...the top of the Shore Conference is good, but they are not going to run with SHP, Delbarton or Mountain Lakes

Is it Chatham's talent or is the coach the issue? They might be lucky to win 7 games this year.

Does a town like Chatham suffer from kids going to Delbarton or SHP. Obviously, it doesn't really affect programs like Summit and Mountain Lakes that are typically top 5 every year.

Awfully quiet in this forum considering the results from last week.

Might hear even less after Delby drops their 3rd game tomorrow.

Son was looking at several prep schools to play at on the future. Nice to cross one off the list after Saturday

Can someone post the link for the NJ State Boys HS Lacrosse Rankings....I am having trouble finding it.

https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports...fling-and-new-occupancy-established.html

I am assuming that this is a joke

It's simple. Go to Don Bosco if you want championships next 4 years. Forget the rest.

This is a ridiculous discussion started by somebody that obviously has an axe to grind with Delbarton. How about you send your kid to the best school where he can get a great education. If you are so interested in pursuing lacrosse over everything else, and your kid is such a stud, send him to boarding school where he can sit on the bench and watch the PG's play.

By the sound of that guy, my guess is they can't afford it. Town HS is always a good option and better chance of making varsity as a freshman.

The poster should go look at the talent on the SHP JV team, those parents also thought that their kid was a lock for varsity.

Now there's the Delbarton douchiness we are used to seeing.

It was a joke. Relax. Good luck to your son and hope you pick the right school.

No TOC but there’s always Essex County championship next year to dream of.

"Awfully quiet in this forum considering the results from last < >" - this didn't age well. Hope you learned your lesson OP. Not too late to pull out of of that prep school you chose for your son. Although they were the best in NJ in April. Can you send us the link to the rankings again. I'm having trouble finding it.

Actually, the posters are not the same, the original; post was not meant as a dig, it was just intended to express my surprise that the forum was so quiet considering the past back and forth regarding the two schools. The prep school comment was a different poster, and I agree that the statement was ridiculous. As for the game yesterday, that was simply a failure to appreciate the fact that, despite having less than expected success this year, Delbarton should never be underestimated. While I have no love for Delbarton, best of luck to them in the finals, it will be a tough game.

100% Disagree^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Going to be a smoke show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But we'll know for sure in about 20hrs!!

Which part do you disagree with....that SHP should not have underestimated Delbarton, or that it will be a tough game for Delbarton vs. DB...there really wasn't anything to disagree with in the post. If you are referring to Delbarton vs. DB, I agree that DB will probably dominate the game. Ironically, not too long ago Delbarton was the team that would have dominated the game, DB is on a good run with a solid group of players, but as Delbarton found out, it doesn't last forever.

Winner tonight will win TOC. There you go.

I see that we have moved on to a new topic, but agreed...I guess that importing a few player paid off

RFH/Summit winner takes the TOC

It’s tough to repeat so RFH would be my pick.

Summit will be a good test for RFH, they have a handful of good wins, but not against the likes of Summit. Either way, I think that Don Bosco will be hard to beat if they get past Delbarton.

I think the DB/Delbarton winner and the RFH/Summit winner will be the two top seeds in the TOC. Chatham will win Group 3, ML group 1, Pingry Private B and Group 4 is more up in the air. Should be a real good TOC.

Makes sense, but if RFH beats Summit, I think ML will be one of the top 2, assuming that they beat Manasquan

When I disagreed it was in reference to "tough game" statement. But it looks like I over estimated Delbarton's abilities!!! 11-8 I'd say they kept it respectable!!!

Actually, all the games were respectable, Manasquan and RFH also kept their games close.

Group 4 is not even a game.. top shore teams beat Southern by 10. HC will not lose a faceoff.

1. DB
2. Summit
3. ML
4. Ping
5. Chatham
6. HC

First-round games should be very interesting but DB & Summit in the finals. Summit defence wins the game, they handled a very physical RFH team last night so they can handle DB physical play.

Wait till they face DB’s fogo. I like your analysis though. This is Summit’s year to win TOC.

See this is why you gotta LOVE the interwebs!!!!!!!!!! You guys down in Jersey do it right!! I had no idea about TOC. Thats AWESOME!! See I'm a NY guy but the kids play travel in Jersey and will Attend Jersey Catholic HSs. Great stuff!!!

DB vs Ping fogo on Wed should be outstanding.

Welcome to NJ Lax. Your kid will love playing Jersey HS lax. Heads up, the non pubs are ultra competitive. NJ ToC setup is great. Winning it is the ultimate goal for every player in the state. Does NY have something similar?

Do you know if Wed games will be live streamed?

So this year NY phucked up the HS sports for the kids. But basically lacrosse speaking they did section championships. There are 11 sections in the state not including NYC, they do their own thing. Under normal conditions the section champs will go and play in the state tournament. The schools are broken up by size, A/B/C/+D. "A" being the bigger schools to "D" being the smallest. So essentially there are 8 state champs ever year, 4-boys and 4- girls. Some of the other sports get super notIntelligent like for instance wrestling and football. Wrestling champions get broken up in to big school little school champs and they added wild card wrestlers in each weight class. In football there's a what I call continental state champ or main land NY champ, a NYC champ, and a Long Island champ. Again all broken up by school size. Really convoluted IMHO!!!!!!!!!!!

But yeah thank you I really feel at home in NJ. My wife and I love Bergen!!!!!!!! I'd love to move to Jersey but I'd have to get a real job and give up my hobbies, lol. The sports are really competitive in turn the travel clubs offer lots of training. Obviously the Catholic HSs are the carrot and I've explained to the kids that its more then just wanting to go to them, its more then just being good athletes, and that the schooling and grades are paramount!!!! Luckily they are smart like mama bear, so time will tell!!

Not even a contest if the box score is correct. DB 15 for 18 Wow!

Would be a real shame if Bosco loses this game after having kids reclass and get recruited from Canada...

Is this true? Which kids?

Chatham coach is leaving for St. Joe’s Metuchen.

Is anyone going to give Don Bosco a game this year? Is Delbarton going to turn it back around?

Like travel lax....the teams on the HS level are starting to catch up....Bosco and SHP are probably at the top...not sure about Delbarton anymore but they will still be a really good team.

The landscape of the Non-Publics is certainly changing and this is a direct result of what has happened on the club level in my opinion. Delbarton is a good example. The head coach transition inevitably meant the disruption of the club pipeline the team benefitted from for so many years, of course I'm talking about Patriot lacrosse. By playing for the Patriot youth teams, top players were given early exposure to the school through Ruebling and the other Delbarton assistants, alums, parents etc. who were associated with Patriot. This ensured by the time it came to choosing a high school, these players knew the Delbarton coaches but more importantly, the coaches knew who they were and could then advocate on their behalf during admissions decisions. Then once in high school, having the majority of each class concentrated in the same club allowed the players to develop additional chemistry in the offseason, an especially important factor for a private school where kids did not play together growing up. Then when it came to recruiting, the process was streamlined through Ruebling since he served the role of both varsity coach and club director. Therefore the concurrent success of Delbarton both on the field and on the recruiting trail was very much intertwined with the success of Patriot. The numbers speak for themselves; according to their alumni database from 2006-2022 over 100 Patriot players who attended Delbarton played collegiately. Thus far STEPS has been unable to replicate Patriot in this regard, instead it seems Leading Edge has become the new preferred club destination for the top players at Delbarton. It seems the days of Delbarton producing 10+ D1 recruits a year are over regardless of the club situation. The fact is the sport has grown on a state and national level so more players from more clubs are competing for the same number or even fewer roster spots due to covid. Delbarton's athletic priorities have definitely shifted away from lacrosse in recent years as well, I never thought I would see Delbarton beat Don Bosco in football and lose in lacrosse in the same year. It is no secret that Delbarton is investing big time in the football team, just look at the new field house they're building. The culmination of all these factors was a disastrous 10-7 season in 2021 with the only silver lining being the surprise upset of SHP in the semis. For reference the team had only lost 7 games over the previous four seasons combined. As for the 2022 season I expect the team will be better, but they will need big contributions from mostly unproven underclassmen in order to compete with the other top teams in NPA. SHP and DBP both return very strong and experienced senior classes but I would give the early edge to DBP to repeat. SHP's coach on the other hand is trying to turn Tri-State into his own version of Patriot and seems to be doing a decent job. Whether or not the Tri-State connection will ultimately translate into a championship for the pirates remains to be seen, however they are clearly bringing in the necessary talent level to compete each year so I expect they'll eventually break through. If last year is any indication, the door is wide open for teams not wearing green and white next year.

Boys Recruiting Thoughts and Help for the Masses

I posted this in the Northeast “Boys High School Lacrosse” forum but it was suggested I post this in some of the other regions. None of this gospel; just thoughts and opinion and trying to help out parents who may have been as clueless as me in the beginning

I apologize ahead of time as this is a VERY VERY long post so I left a TL;DR summary at the top. There are also likely errors in this so I welcome any corrections. I also suspect these thoughts may hold true for the girl’s game but I don’t know anything about girl’s recruiting. Yes, I have too much time on my hands now the kids have moved on.

I am posting this as anonymous – I’m not notIntelligent (haha). This may generate a lot of thoughts, positive or negative but the point is to get a discussion going because I find there is very little actual recruiting help on these forums. I am sure many of the replies will be “bitter parent” “Ok Rebel Parent” or “team91 parent” or “Stunad” or “legacy dad” or “your kid graduated, why are you still on these forums you creeper”, etc. This is just one person’s opinion as someone who has gone through it (kid was a middie, on-age who ended up in a good D3 school) but had some D1 looks / offers so maybe this can be used to help others (or maybe I’m a coach……..). If you feel the need to comment, try to post something constructive. If you don’t like the post; scroll on by.

You may agree with 0%, 50% or 90% of it. It is important to note that these are just generalizations on a Bell Curve; there are always exceptions to the rules: there are some who got recruited way above their pay class and there also talented people who fell far in recruitment. This should apply to most but there are definitely outliers where people have forged their own paths. Tell us your stories!

For those whom this is TL;DR

1) Talent and connections trump everything, which leads into…
2) … being realistic about your kid’s ability as many parents cannot be “objective”
3) Be cognizant of how much you are projecting your own hopes and dreams onto your kid – don’t be that parent.
4) Some of you feel like you are running on a “Hamster Wheel” when it comes to recruiting. Find out what “Hamster Wheel” you want to be on – don’t be afraid to change wheels midstream
5) Have “fun” – but to be perfectly honest, if you are at the level where you are hoping to be recruited, I am not going to sit here and say having fun is the only thing that matters because that is BS. That being said, having fun is still important whether it be lacrosse, long road trips with your kids, having a meal with them, visiting colleges – all are fun.
6) Whatever college or trade school you kid ends up in, it will be perfectly OK in the end
7) Don’t believe what everyone tells you (including me). What may have worked for someone else may not work for you as I can guarantee you kid is so very different from everyone else.
8) Lacrosse is finite – don’t make short term decisions with long term consequences. It is Ok to sacrifice saying “my kid got into a low D1 school with poor academics” just for the sake of being D1. It will be better in the long run to apply to a better academic D1 school that has club, the MCLA’s or better academic D3 schools

Soooo, moving on these are the factors that I think of importance (from most to least) to get recruited:

1) Talent – trumps all – if your kid is already a superstar, most of this does not apply to you. If he/she don’t have as much talent, try to be realistic about their high level D1 / D3 dreams. Be very realistic about how your own child grades out. You may think they are superstar but if they haven’t competed on the national stage where the competition is the best, you cannot really know how good your kid is, even if everyone tells you they are the best. Be as objective as possible; rate your kid on a 100 point scale. Most players who are 93+ have a decent chance at a high D1/D3 school. Anything below that, it is going to be more difficult to get into the top schools and don’t punch way above you kid’s weight class when it comes to recruiting as it will lead to disappointment. However, there really is a lock for every key and if your kid really wants to play lacrosse, there are 400+ schools out there to play at. If you don’t have connections or talent, you will have to market the garbage out of yourself – go to showcases, prospect days, make good videos, email (the appropriate amount), sign up for recruiting services. But honestly, most of those all have minimal impact unless you have the connections but it’s all you got at that point.
2) Connections (High / Prep School or Club) – my kid went to several prospect days for schools as well as sent several emails to schools and he never heard a peep from any of them until a coach reached out on his behalf. I truly believe that this is the most important beyond talent. Coaches at all levels are getting hundreds of videos and thousands of email. They simply do not have the time to review them all or even open them. Having a coach call or email, allows you to jump to the top of the food chain (think Chutes and Ladders).
3) Grades – how could I leave this out in the original post! If you don’t have the grades, you aren’t getting into an elite school. Sports will help somewhat but you do have to have some sort of baseline decent grades.
4) Your kid’s High School prestige – there is line somewhere that separates the elite schools for lacrosse from the run-of-the-mill lacrosse high schools. If you are below that line, unless there is an individual connection, your chances of an elite D1/D3 school are slim to none without that connection. That being said, your high school play is still very important for recruiting for the other D1/D2/D3 schools because it is your high school coach that knows you best.
5) Your kid’s Club – same facts hold true as it does (#3) high school. I often get asked what club team should I chose. Do not balk at driving distance as a barrier. Sometimes you will have to drive far to get to a better club. To be honest, I would choose the best, highest ranked club because they play in the best tournaments (NAL, NLF, Crabfeast and Naptown, Great8) and try and get on their A squad at as young an age as possible. That way the club knows your child over time and will go to bat for you eventually. In addition, if you don’t make the top team, it gives you a chance to: work your way up to the A team or look for another club that may suit you better. That brings up the topic of A vs B. In reality, most B teams are not sending players to top D1/D3 schools (some are but that is not the norm). If being at a top lax school is not your goal then A vs B doesn’t matter as much because plenty of B players play college lacrosse. My kid was on a team that did not think much about his game. He was at a small local club and so he made the jump to a national club. He started on their C team and worked his way up to started on the top team so it is possible. Finally, understand these clubs are in the MONEY MAKING business as most are for-profit. They will sell you a bridge to nowhere as long as they get your tuition checks. Here is how I break them down:
a. Some are outright frauds. They don’t care and they just want your money
b. Some put together some half -hearted attempts at recruiting – they go through the motions but are not really making phone calls on your kids behalf
c. Others really only promote their best players. These are also fraudulent as they put all their time and effort into marketing their best players only, while the rest remain tution check to support those best players.
d. Finally, there are some truly excellent programs who will do their best to place a kid anywhere whether it be the best D1 program to the worst D3 program.
e. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention National teams and National tournaments – on paper, it is a very good idea but part of me says there is a money grab aspect. You can even see multiple clubs joining together to make national team (eg CLCA). I think it is the next evolution and I would not be surprised if National tournaments become the norm with local tournaments still existing but becoming second fiddle.
Coaches will tell you they will help you with recruiting but the reality is they do not want to put their name out there to back you if there is a lacrosse:talent mismatch. So if your Johnny rates as an 80, don’t ask your coach to get you into Syracuse because they won’t do it. It is a shame that some clubs promise you the world but don’t help you even though are paying $2000-4000 for your club; for them to not help you is just fraudulent. How to tell if a club is real or not? Look at their website. A good one would post a list of ALL their commits, not just the ones who get into top D1 schools which usually means they had a favorite player. Look at their social media. Are all of their posts only about 1-5 of their top kids? Finally, word of mouth – talk to the older kids and kids who have moved through the program; not the superstars but the average ones who had college lax dreams.
6) Prospect Days – this is the best way to get in front of a school on an individual basis. However, many of these are pure money grabs. We have been to several where no one was filming, coaches had no paper or they were not writing anything down. Clearly no evaluation was going on. It does allow you to get in front of the coaches and look at the campus. But I am somewhat cynical because if you were not already on their radar, a coach didn’t send you, or you were not invited, it is unlikely to be helpful.
7) Showcases- There are so many showcases out there. Many of them are money grabs and really garbage showcases. How do you know what is a good showcase? I wish I knew the answer to that but I can say that if the showcase has a good list of head coaches then it is going to be pretty good. If the communication is pretty good, then that is also a good sign. I will throw it out there and say good ones are Showtime, The Players Series, Spotlight, ECD, Lacrosse Masters, Main Stage, NXT Fall, The Show, Juniors Open, Main Stage. Then there are the average showcases (3D, adrenaline, my lacrosse tournaments, Elite 100, Elite 180, GFW, Q4, Victory, Maryland Showcase). UA and National All Star Games are very good but very political. 1%, FiveStar and Apex are very heavily marketed but have found them to be more glitz than substance. What is important to know is nobody is going to be “discovered” at most of these so do not think your kid is going to show up and “kill it” and get recruited by Duke. Coaches usually have a list of players they are there to see and if the kid does well, then they reach out. Finally, no one cares about wins and losses at showcase so don’t be that parent.
8) Recruiting video – coaches are getting hundreds of video so they may never even open your video or emails. That being said, video is still 100% necessary in this day and age of recruiting. If they do open it, you want your intro to be brief and you want to front load your 5-star highlights. Some say don’t use music; my feeling is they can always mute it. Try to film your own video even though it is a pain in the arse. Much of the paid tournament videos offered are expensive and very poor quality. It is a pain in the butt to film your own highlight video but you will have a much higher quality video that is zoomed in appropriately. Iphone and imovie work perfectly fine or invest in a cheap HD camcorder. Some of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen: inappropriate offensive music, not zooming in on your child, including highlights that aren’t highlights, not highlighting /circling your player in the video (you know your kid so it’s easy to pick out for you but most coaches, it’s pretty hard to pick up to the player in that 4 second clip). Some say, don’t make it longer than 2 minutes; my feeling is most coaches aren’t watching past 1 minute (if they open it) and if you give a 6 minute highlight video they can always just shut it off.
9) Position – kids are specializing more and more (SSDM, FOGO, LSM and goalies). If you are really good at your position, you stand a very good chance. If you are mediocre, you better show that you can do other things. At the Prospect Days, I have noticed more and more defenders and less middies which stinks for defense, that stinks because I think that is also the hardest position to get recruited at. Goalies always fill first so get in early. If you are not looking high level, none of this is as important
10) Recruiting profiles (NCSA, SportsRecruit, ConnectLax, CaptainU) – these are likely only helpful for the mid-lower Tier D1, D2, D3 schools. The top schools will not or do not use these services – they do everything through connections.

Additional comments, myths and facts?

1. I am assuming that most people “try to punch up” with their recruiting (ie they will try and overachieve with their lacrosse ambitions) so be patient, be realistic and don’t be disappointed. There is a “lock for every key” as there are over 400 lacrosse colleges. If you really want to play lacrosse, you will find a school.
2. Re-class – there is so much detest on this forum about re-classed players. Unfortunately, it is here to stay until colleges and clubs change their mind (USA Lacrosse has zero ability or desire to change this). Colleges and clubs don’t want to change because they want the most mature and physically gifted players so they could care less that your kid is on-age. Some kids re-class for legit reasons (maturity, academics). But some also re-class to try and get into a better school. IMHO, re-classing is destroying the sport but it’s here to stay. It is completely unfair but totally within the rules. Why on earth would someone re-class for lacrosse reasons only is beyond me. I can’t imagine how dominant my kid would have been if he was going against kids 1 -3 years younger.
3. Lacrosse players are not getting a full scholarship: Full scholarships are uncommon and most will only get a very small amount of money
4. Lacrosse is finite: I think lacrosse carries on forever whether it be a playing in beer league, coaching, raising your own kid, etc. But in terms of a career, very few people go on to make a living out of playing lacrosse. Lacrosse has a finite end and for some it ends after high school; some after college. Don’t make short term decision with long term consequences
5. Commit vs Preferred-Walk-on vs Walk-on – I know very little about this. All I can say is that if you are a preferred walk-on you are on the team but you don’t always travel. If you tryout and walk-on (not preferred), there are generally very little chances or spots at the high collegiate level but probably plenty at the lower caliber schools
6. Prep vs Private vs Catholic – depends what part of the country you live. Not all preps are lacrosse powerhouses nor are all catholic schools. There are a few public schools that carry a lot of weight but chances are your high school does not; you will know
7. PG – from what I have been told, do not PG unless it is arranged ahead of time with a college who specifically said you should PG. There are plenty of PG’s who PG but do so without a college talking to them. There are even PG schools out there. They still eventually get into lacrosse schools but it usually is not a step up to playing for Duke / Virginia / Syracuse / Yale etc. That being said, some need to PG for academic and maturity reasons.
8. How often should I email a coach – I believe coaches are getting hundreds of emails. Chances are, they are not going to read or even open your email (at least at the high D1 or high D3 level). That being said – maybe once a month and always have some sort of update whether it being lacrosse or academic.
9. Don’t be that lacrosse dad or mom. Honestly, be quiet. Don’t coach your son on the field. Don’t yell “wheels” “ward” “offsides” and ride the refs. Coaches do actually notice this. They don’t care so much at the collegiate level because they can limit the parent’s sphere of influence but somewhere in the back of their mind, they are wondering if the apple doesn’t fall from the tree when they are recruiting. No one cares that you were once a superstar or failed athlete. Everyone can see you are projecting who you once were or wanted to be onto your child
10. The Grass is Not Always Greener (See Clubs above) – it’s OK to be a club hopper – we jumped clubs and it worked out for the better but it doesn’t always. Just make sure you are doing it because there are faults with the club and not faults with you or your kid. Most parents cannot tell the difference sadly. If you do go club hopping, make sure you latch on to one before high school because making the change after high school is very difficult
11. The New England region and Long Island used to be center of the lacrosse universe. That is no longer the case. I believe it is currently the MidAtlantic (re-class) but areas such as the South (Fl, GA, TX), Midwest (Il, MI) and West (CA, CO) are producing amazing players along with New England and LI still being very good
12. D1 vs D2 vs D3
a. D1 – I think a lot of kids can play D1 as there are some D1 schools that are not as competitive out there and would be happy to take all sorts of talent. The only thing I would advise is don’t go D1 for the sake of going D1. D1 is also a full time job so they have to juggle academics with their lacrosse.
b. D2 – they do offer scholarships. Some are great schools and great lacrosse programs but academically I have found they are not as good as some of the D1 and D3 schools
c. D3 – I do not believe they offer sport scholarships but will offer other scholarships. Even though D1 is a full time job, D3 is also very busy especially in the spring. The main difference is the 20 hours in the fall that D1 has that D3 does not but D3 still practices in the fall. D3 probably has the largest cohort of schools from incredibly competitive to very mediocre.
d. MCLA – do not overlook these schools. Some are top academic institutions (Stanford, Rice, GaTech, etc)
e. Club lacrosse – also do not overlook this. Totally OK.

Timeline – don’t get sad if all your friends commit on 9/1 of their junior year. D3 doesn’t make offers until later and sometimes D1 makes commitments as late as December of your senior year. Patience, young grasshopper.

D1 - You cannot be contacted by anyone for recruiting until September 1 of your junior year. That being said, they can reach out to you with camps and prospect days but not personally. Now obviously kids who verbally commit on 9/1 must have had some contacts with the colleges but most of it is through high school / clubs

D2 – June 15 after the sophomore year

D3 – I believe they can talk at any time but some of the NESCACs adopt D1 rules. D3 offers do not go out until June (or July?) 1 after their junior year

Choosing a school: it will be a multitude of factors but this is what I think plays into it (in no order)

1) Academics – imho, don’t sacrifice this for lacrosse, but that being said, you will probably be fine at any school depending on what you make out of it
2) D1 vs D2 vs D3 – similar to above – don’t get caught up on the D1 Hamster Wheel – plenty of good options out there
3) Starter vs bench – some kids just want to be part of a process; some need to be the superstar. Find out where your kid is and if you are realistic, it may open doors and don’t shoot for the stars, it may open up a lot of schools.
4) Conference they play in and level of competition
5) Money – it matters. There are some very rich people on these forums who don’t realize that. That being said, most are not getting full sports scholarships.
6) Coaches and their coaching philosophy – this has to be the right fit
7) Lacrosse is finite – don’t choose a school because of a lacrosse

Well I am sure I left a lot out. Let the detest begin (haha). But seriously, try and help out your fellow lax members with something constructive. Everyone enjoy the ride though. It was great for me, my wife and all our kids.

I like your post and agree with basically all that your saying....my only question is I don't really see a lot of LE kids at DB?? Maybe this is something they are trying to cook up but I believe there are around 5 players there with the LE grabbing two 24's which only gives them two years co-joined. I think DB is kind of a mix of clubs. Lastly, what is the make up of Don Bosco? I know of a few travel kids from teams but who all goes there?

Is DB Delbarton or Don Bosco?
Bon Bosco has a lot of box kids from O2.. they did lose their faceoff kids to Lawrenceville. Not sure how much that is going to hurt.
LE has a handful of 22, 23, 24, and a lot of 25 at Delbarton.

I think he was referring to DB as Delbarton for the LE connection and then referred to Don Bosco. Delbarton has some LE 25's but kinda light at the 23 and 24. 22's are old news already lol. I know we don't talk travel in this hs forum but I think these were posted and answered with meaningful insight.

Any preseason ranking come out yet?

Any rough guesses on a top 15 in the state or by area?

Shore Conference
CBA
RFH
Manasquan
Red Bank
Southern
Wall
Shore
Howell

DB
SHP
Westfield
Summit
Mountain Lakes
Delbarton
CBA
Ridgewood
St Augustine
Bergen Catholic
RFH
Chatham
Hunterdon Central
Montclair
Manasquan

Ditto to this one. The top five here is pretty accurate. Only change I would put Wall in over Chatham and CBA as they are both on down years. HC will not lose a face off the entire season so they could go a little higher.

What about Lawrenceville? Best fogo in the state and stacked with Canadian recruits and Culver transfers.

Creter will lose some faceoffs when they play Pingry's Duke FOGO. Will be a great matchup. Speaking of Pingry, they should definitely be in the top 20, if not the top 10. They lost the LSM but tons of studs coming back. And I'd be surprised in Bridgewater doesn't find their way into the top 20 with the 2 x Kurdyla Rutgers' commits and great coach.

Lawrenceville isn't really a NJ High School team.

Since it is located in Lawrenceville NJ pretty sure it is a NJ team.

Replace CBA with Pingry and move RFH up to number 8.. Wall still TBD, they lost a big player last year, the coach is still untested, and didn't they lose kids to the football.

They are number 1 and would beat everyone in the state. Do you feel better? Now we can talk about NJ High Schools.

Teams who have PG players aren’t allowed in the state tournaments, for good reason. So Lville should be on a separate list which includes the other PG schools like Deerfield and Brunswick

Agreed...

What!!!! I don't have a kid at Lawrenceville -- but I can tell you that every single school you have listed has multiple holdbacks and or reclasses. What's the difference?

The difference is that some of those PG kids already were holdbacks so now you have double holdbacks on the field.

Not the point.. We all know that Lawrenceville is the best lacrosse school in the state. move on!

Not the point.. We all know that Lawrenceville is the best lacrosse school in the state. move on![/quote]


Rutgers or Princeton may have something to say.

Rutgers or Princeton may have something to say.[/quote]
"High School Boys Lacrosse - New Jersey"

Not the point.. We all know that Lawrenceville is the best lacrosse school in the state. move on![/quote]


PG School maybe. Not best HS lacrosse team in the state. Not the same as a HS that can participate in the NJSIAA.

PG School maybe. Not best HS lacrosse team in the state. Not the same as a HS that can participate in the NJSIAA.[/quote]
Again, every high school on that list has kids who are reclassed or were held back. Yes. They are a New Jersey school.

Again, every high school on that list has kids who are reclassed or were held back. Yes. They are a New Jersey school.[/quote]

Yes, every school has their list of reclasses however Lawrenceville has kids that are above the age limit (think 2x reclassers) to participate in the NJSIAA post season which is what all other NJ HS in NJ participate in. There is a reason these schools can not participate in the post seasons. They are not eligible where other schools are even with reclasses.

Yes, every school has their list of reclasses however Lawrenceville has kids that are above the age limit (think 2x reclassers) to participate in the NJSIAA post season which is what all other NJ HS in NJ participate in. There is a reason these schools can not participate in the post seasons. They are not eligible where other schools are even with reclasses.[/quote]
So then the discussion should be about what are the best New Jersey team in the NJSIAA.

So then the discussion should be about what are the best New Jersey team in the NJSIAA.[/quote]


Lawrenceville*
DB
SHP
Westfield
Summit
Mountain Lakes
Delbarton
Pingry
Ridgewood
Hunterdon Central
St Augustine
RFH
Chatham
Montclair
Manasquan
Bergen Catholic

*not eligible for NJSIAA

You happy now?

Lawrenceville*
DB
SHP
Westfield
Summit
Mountain Lakes
Delbarton
Pingry
Ridgewood
Hunterdon Central
St Augustine
RFH
Chatham
Montclair
Manasquan
Bergen Catholic

*not eligible for NJSIAA

You happy now?[/quote]

Not the guy your debating but...LOL

i get lawrenceville is in NJ, but i'd be willing to say the majority of the players there are not from NJ. they're a great team. i don't consider them a NJ HS team.

as for the top teams, i'm expecting westfield, lakes and chatham to take a step back. westfield and lakes both graduated TONS of talent. lakes, obviously, is probably still the favorite in group 1 north, mainly cause it's so weak. i'd expect them and chatham to battle it out behind delby in the morris county tourney though. chatham takes a step back due to their coaching. the old coach that left was a heck of a coach. from what i've heard not many people are big fans of the new coach, knowing him from club. talent is also a question there.

of course, bosco is probably the best team in the state.

Your assessment on Chatham is not fully true. The old coach was not a fan favorite and many in town are glad he’s gone. He has always had a ton of talent to work with.

You are correct that the talent is questionable there now, however .

You can't count Bosco as a New Jersey team because they recruit from outside of the country.

Any good scrimmages this week?

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agree to disagree i guess. 3 state championships and a team constantly in the top 10-15 during his time there. but i guess 3rd most active winning coach in NJ isn't wanted. kinda like the state of the US now. brink of collapse here but glad we don't have the mean tweets, right?

i believe wednesday is SHP @ Lawrenceville.

For SHP just curious how many boys turned out for freshmen team tryouts? My son is attending SHP in September.
Assuming its gets harder each year.

Would also love to know that. Over under is 40.

A little less than 50 freshmen tried out this year.

Anyone have the score on this game or any other scrimmages?

Delbarton 7 Bergen Catholic 4

Wall 9 CBA 5 (approximate) down year for us but in two years we will probably be the best team in the Shore with a strong Freshman class.

Wall's best player didn't play

The Navy or Rutgers kid?

Top Sr..

Ramapo 5, MKA 5

That would be the Rutgers kid..

Any good early statement match-ups opening day March 30th? .. I love the smell of lax in spring.. good luck to all this season,

lawrenceville not looking so hot their first few games. they wanna play with the big boys, got knocked down QUICK!

Overrated. Bosco would beat them.

SHP 10 Mountain Lakes 3

Maybe NJSIAA should just let them in

SHP will be tough...ML is good just much smaller pool.

Any good Day 1 matchups today?

chatham/delby
caldwell/westessex
bergen catholic/christian bros
northern highlands/ramapo
bosco/ridgewood
st.joes montvale/lakes
rumson/lenape
pingry/montgomery

Can't speak to all of those games, but I'll tell you that Rumson and Pingry win each of those games by 10+ goals. Won't be competitive.

Bosco goes down to Ridgewood 7-6.

Ridgewood, nice win

Hello? Anyone home? What happened on here lately?

Anyway, SHP dominated chatham I see.

Its been quite recently. Early in the season. Lots of new names. Only a handful of relevant games.

Summit SHP tomorrow afternoon

Any read on how many took advantage of the Covid rule and reclassified back to their public schools? Bernard’s has one. Any other notable ones?

I don't know of any others....the goalie from Rumson but he went post hs grad.....mostly college kids and I think it will lower the total amount of kids on college teams come the start of college for 2024...right now there are just to many kids on college lax rosters.

Huge win for summit. 8-3 final.

Call me crazy…. SHP is absolutely stacked in terms of talent, but coaching could become an issue.

We will see …

I watched the whole game. SHP had no answer for Summit’s zone. The SHP attack was very quiet which was a surprise. Summit face off game was great, probably 75% or better. Great game overall and close until the 4th quarter.

Summit beat SHP 8-3. Pretty dominating win, shut down zone.

I was expecting more from the UNC attack commit on SHP.

For a very stacked SHP team, yes coaching is certainly called in to question. On to westfield for them, which could very well be another loss.

Can't be a BBL kid at SHP.. The coach doesn't let him score

Come on man. That’s a lame excuse. The kid has the green light to go I’m sure.

He is a great kid and a great player and will do just fine.

First of all SHP has great coaching so let not go there. Summit had a superior time of possession and won most of the face offs. I really believe SHP has less talent on offense this year than in years past. I think they are just realizing that now. Likewise, they are still really good, probably still in the top 5, but its a rarity for a sophomore to be playing a quality minutes there on offense. Lastly, I think at the high school level a lot teams struggle with really good zone defense.

Please keep Club Lacrosse out of this forum.

do they? i've heard things that seem to beg to differ. they have TONS of d1 talent and can't even get to a non-public final. can't beat delby in the playoffs.

I watched the whole game. SHP had no answer for Summit’s zone. The SHP attack was very quiet which was a surprise. Summit face off game was great, probably 75% or better. Great game overall and close until the 4th quarter.[/quote]

I was expecting more from the UNC attack commit on SHP.[/quote]

First of all SHP has great coaching so let not go there. Summit had a superior time of possession and won most of the face offs. I really believe SHP has less talent on offense this year than in years past. I think they are just realizing that now. Likewise, they are still really good, probably still in the top 5, but its a rarity for a sophomore to be playing a quality minutes there on offense. Lastly, I think at the high school level a lot teams struggle with really good zone defense.[/quote]

do they? i've heard things that seem to beg to differ. they have TONS of d1 talent and can't even get to a non-public final. can't beat delby in the playoffs.[/quote]

Considering all of the talent on the team, the fact that they have struggled with the zone is pretty surprising, that is how RFH kept the game tight.

SHP need shooters and guys to move off ball to unlock their offense

This is to the TONS of talent post...they have a Sophomore playing attack which is very rare for them.....I think they have less talent than they have had in the past...the UNC kid is probably their "super player"....as a whole they are still good and will be top 5 which is still huge!!!

SHP coaching is not even close to “great”. That comment alone shows you have no idea what you are talking about and should just not chime in anymore.

#2 Summit falls to Delby

Summit lost to Delbarton. Problem was they started reading their own press and forgot to play offense. I think they won exactly ONE faceoff!

Looks like Summit/Delby played a soccer game today. Bring the shot clock to NJ lax! What a boring brand of lacrosse.

Shut down zone only works if you can score goals on the other end. Pretty amazing that they held SHP and Delbarton to a combined 7 goals tho.

Agree with this but I don't see NJSIAA ever implementing it. One option is to give clear guidelines to the refs to call stalling sooner.

I have zero affiliation to Summit. Have heard about their defense for years and just watched them play versus both SHP and Delbarton in the last week and I really enjoyed it. If you appreciate strategy and lacrosse in general watching Summit play is extremely impressive and not boring at all in my opinion. They are discipline, so well coached, and the kids are tough, smart, skilled. They do not have the depth of most of the privates but still remain one of the top teams every year.

Watching them execute game plan/strategy with minimal mistakes is really fun to watch and should be appreciated in my opinion. Their #1 to #3 guys are as good or better than most kids in the state and the supporting players are very good as well but they just do not have the overall depth which makes it even more impressive of their results.

Yeah right...you just attend two games then break down the team like a coach would. Read your post again....your somehow affiliated...either a coach, parent or some kind of connection.

And by the way....they are a good team...still top 5 in the state just like SHP, DB and Delby...there is a lot of talent in this state and teams will win and lose to each other.

0.0 Affiliation. For real. Also thanks for compliment as I am only a novice lacrosse fan. I realize I may have sounded a bit over the top so I so apologize and agree with your last sentence. Really just enjoy watching most of all and like to shine the positive light rather than being so critical.

Summit defense is elite but offense is overly patient and hard to watch. You need to score 10 goals or more to beat great teams. I once saw them win a game 3-1. It stifles individual creativity That is primary reason that you almost never see a big time D1 offensive player from Summit HS. I think the last Summit HS player to make noise in the offensive end in D1 was Johnny Sciossa at ND. Please correct me if I’m missing anyone other than Goalies, poles, or fogos.

Summit O is boring and Summit D sitting in a zone is just as boring. I personally think that the style of play does kids a disservice at the next level. To someone else's point, it could be a reason that summit never has prolific offensive players in college.

I agree with last two posts but Summit HS players do get recruited well because college coaches know that they have been well coached and are system type kids and all colleges players must play within a system. That said, I detest zones and think they are not good to prepare kids for college despite the success Summit has with it.

I also agree with the last two posts in regards to Summit. I do not know all the names but I believe the poster is correct that there is not an abundance of kids making playing D1. Disclaimer: I do not have the numbers so I am not sure, their just not known names on the travel circuit; but they do have a sophomore who will probably be high level D1.

Maybe Summit doesn't have a ton of D1 studs is because they are a relatively small town that can only produce so many kids with the size and speed to play D1. I think that makes their success even more impressive. The reason they can beat teams like SHP with high level D1 kids all over the field is BECAUSE of their "boring" offense and defense. I don't think that "boring" system hampers the development of potential D1 players . . . it enables a team with less D1 athleticism to beat teams with more D1 athleticism.

Two sides to every coin. You could also say that their coach does more with less relative to other programs, especially private schools and bigger public schools. Think the biggest example of this is ML, who to their credit, has churned out two big time players in Smith and Cuccinello over the last 7-8 years. Lack of depth and talent has forced Summit to play a more deliberate brand of lacrosse on offense than most people would like to see, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. To that point, Summit and Davidson and are in a similar boat to Flynn and ML, while also losing a handful of the best players from their town to the private schools in the area each year (and more than just about any other town that is competitive).

All true and I agree with all of the above, but the offense stifles creativity and is boring to watch IMO. And not one D1 offensive player in the last 10 years who made any noise in their college careers could be a result of that. ML regularly turns our D1 offensive studs with less players than Summit.

Q: This year being the last year for TOC, do you think good players from publics like ML and Summit would look more to private so that they can play in competitive environment since there's nothing left to play for besides States which in ML's case is terribly not competitive at all.

Why? ML and Summit still play the best teams in the state and will win their state titles.

#1 ML beats Delby yesterday. Much better game to watch than Summit. The way ML moves the ball. Fun to watch.

The word of the year for NJ lacrosse is Parity.....at the HS level and from the 2023's and below in travel. Enjoy the ride, we have a lot of talent spread out thru this state!!!!


https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports...-is-secure-in-this-season-of-parity.html

This is exactly right. I can certainly understand the competitiveness with the high school teams when it comes to rivalries, but the constant back and forth about which team/club is better is mind numbing

Down go the Hilltoppers. Scotch Plains pulls off a crazy win.

Trap game for Summit for sure but SP is a very good team this year so not as surprising as you might think.

Everyone is beating everyone this year. Yogi Berra

Let's hope this continues the rest of the season and into the future.. it's good for everyone in the state. Saying this, I still think Bosco is ahead of everyone and will win the last ToC.

RFH was impressive yesterday. Is this the year they get past Summit?

They may beat Summit, they may lose to Summit...c'mon with these questions.

Random question but what happen to the top boys clubs forum chat. It has been deleted. Very "sus" as my teenager says.

It probably got bored of the who's better comments and simply deleted itself

Pingry cancels a game because their goalie is sick and they don't want to play a freshman. Wall's faceoff kid is a freshman and Prigry's is 19 but the public school was ready to play.

Their goalie is very good but they could have still won the game with the Freshman.

Do you have any insight into why anyone might care about this?

I don't know the story - but that's not what happens in the real world.

I think he is just complaining that Pingry cancelled the game at because they did not want to use a back up goalie because he is a freshman and then he compared how Wall's face off kid is a 14 year old freshman who would have been going against a 19 year old Duke commit. Probably just venting.

You cared enough to ask the question

Outside of the goalie vs. FO comparison, this is one of the more interesting posts on this forum. If the goalie story is true, Pingry should be pretty embarrassed, and not really great for the freshman goalie's confidence. It also would have been a great opportunity to challenge the D players to step up and support their goalie.

Agree. Just play the game. Don't overthink everything. Coddled.

Posted in another forum:

AS high school comes to an end, which is more fun for your kid (or you), Club or High School lacrosse?

Most favored high school citing factors such as:

-Games meaning more to them especially wins and losses. They didn't care as much about W-L's in club
-More team camaraderie with high school. These are kids they (obviously) go to school with and know better. Club sometimes feels like hired mercenaries
-If you are the better player, then you play more whereas with Club, since everyone is (presumably) paying the same, playing time is split more evenly
-Spring lacrosse after a barren Winter season feels more refreshing where summer club can be a slog sometimes
-High school coaches care more than club coaches about the kids?
-Cheaper than club (unless you pay for private school)
-Less traveling
-Playing against a team of holdbacks may be less prevalent in high school (except Prep schools)
-More emotional investment in the town you live in or (the school you are paying for for Prep). True rivalries seem to mean more in high school and thus,there is more emotional investment

Those who favored Club cited factors such as:

-the level of competition is better and teammates are usually better, at least at the higher levels of Club lacrosse
-traveling around the country with your kid is a (sometimes) rewarding experience
-some like the national exposure of some of the high level Club lacrosse
-even playing time as some players may get buried on a high school bench

Recruiting-wise, it was a wash but I feel that High School recruiting is better than Club recruiting. I have heard stories of Club making a million promises but never delivering when it comes to recruiting, unless you are the superstar of the club. I have been told (but could be mistaken) is that colleges value the high school coach opinion much more than the club coach.

There seems to be a temporal nature to it. Youth club was much more rewarding than youth town lacrosse but as the kids get older, high school becomes more important to kids. I would even venture to say that club has much less meaning to 22's, 23's and maybe 24's.

It also seemed that this logic does not apply to the outliers such as the top national high school teams in the country or the bottom lower clubs. In addition, most of this logic may not apply to the superstars (top 0.5% of players in the country).

Just curious to everyone's thoughts. There truly are no right answers as it is only an opinion that can be formed wholly dependent on your own experience.

Is there any possibility they didn’t have a 3rd goalie to be a backup? That could be the only reason I could think of.

I agree with most of the benefits of HS. And I would add the benefit of playing in front of fans (extended family, other students, etc) and playing against kids you know from neighboring towns.

I don't necessarily agree with the recruiting comments. It depends on the reputation of your HS program/coach vs the reputation of your club/coach. If you're playing for Leading Edge/Tri-State/BBL and a HS team not in the top 20, the college coaches are going to value the opinion of the club coach. If you're playing for Delbarton/ML/etc, the college is going to respect those coach opinions over some B level club coach.

Actually I don’t care at all. I was asking because it seemed like a meaningless game in the bigger picture of the season. Was I missing something?

I think that this is right on point.

TOC Predictions:
Group 1 - ML
Group 2 - RFH
Group 3 - SPF
Group 4 - HC
Non-Public A - DB
Non-Public B - None of these teams would 2 games in any group outside of maybe Group 3 & 4 South

I mostly agree but Pingry is better than usual this year and can win on a given day.

They are Non-Public A..

Pingry beats Delbarton on Wednesday.

TOC: Summit wins Group 3 again. RFH is very good, but so is Summit when they play there best. Too many Summit haters out there. In TOC most years and will be there again until proven otherwise.

Had to toss in 1 South School.. the top south public schools are all in group 2

i agree that the only chance the south has of getting a school into the TOC is with RFH. i wouldn't be shocked if they beat summit. the rest are pretty accurate - Bosco in A and either Gill St. Bernards, Rutgers Prep or MKA in the B.

Summit beats RFH by 5 or more.

Watch out for RBC, they might close out B. Still not sure how they are a group B school.

You obviously do not have a lot of background regarding the Shore Conference, RBC is definitely a Group B school

Pingry was totally outclassed today. The score doesn't tell the full story. It wasn't that close. Their excellent 2 players (Duke/Rutgers commits) can't do it all for their team and shouldn't have to. They will do great in the next level. I give Pingry credit for moving to NPA.. group that's miles ahead of everyone else.

Well it’s all by enrollment, that’s why pingry moved up. Nothing to do with performances.

After today, NPB most likely comes down to MKA, Rutgers Prep or RBC! Princeton Day upset Gill St. Bernard’s.

I think what he is saying is based on enrollment numbers, it seems that RBC should be in Non Public A.

No affiliation to Pingry but would like to note after watching Ryan Palmer yesterday from Pingry I am excited to see him play at Rutgers. He has the hardest shot I have seen at the HS level and I have seen all the top Northeast HS teams this past season - NJ, LI, CT teams. He will be fun to root for at Rutgers!

Was at the game yesterday.. 100% hardest/fastest step down in the state. Also plays 2-way. Let's go RU! win it Sat.

according to the NJSIAA classifications, RBC is at 195 enrolled. Pingry is 227. not far off. SHP is the biggest in A at 764. Dwight Englewood is the largest in B at 205

You obviously do not have a lot of background regarding the Shore Conference, RBC is definitely a Group B school[/quote]

I think what he is saying is based on enrollment numbers, it seems that RBC should be in Non Public A.[/quote]

according to the NJSIAA classifications, RBC is at 195 enrolled. Pingry is 227. not far off. SHP is the biggest in A at 764. Dwight Englewood is the largest in B at 205[/quote]

Curious as to how they come up with those numbers, SHP definitely has a bigger student population, I think 900+, CBA and Don Bosco are up there as well. Arguably, from a pure numbers perspective Pingry should be B

I think what he is saying is based on enrollment numbers, it seems that RBC should be in Non Public A.[/quote]

according to the NJSIAA classifications, RBC is at 195 enrolled. Pingry is 227. not far off. SHP is the biggest in A at 764. Dwight Englewood is the largest in B at 205[/quote]

Curious as to how they come up with those numbers, SHP definitely has a bigger student population, I think 900+, CBA and Don Bosco are up there as well. Arguably, from a pure numbers perspective Pingry should be B[/quote]
CBA & Don Bosco are single-gender schools so enrollments are doubled for classification purposes. From the NJSIAA General Classifications RBC is 540 and Pingry 434. So Pingry would have won Non-Public A again. Good for them for moving up.

according to the NJSIAA classifications, RBC is at 195 enrolled. Pingry is 227. not far off. SHP is the biggest in A at 764. Dwight Englewood is the largest in B at 205[/quote]

Curious as to how they come up with those numbers, SHP definitely has a bigger student population, I think 900+, CBA and Don Bosco are up there as well. Arguably, from a pure numbers perspective Pingry should be B[/quote]
CBA & Don Bosco are single-gender schools so enrollments are doubled for classification purposes. From the NJSIAA General Classifications RBC is 540 and Pingry 434. So Pingry would have won Non-Public A again. Good for them for moving up.[/quote]

Agreed, good on Pingry for moving up, just didn't understand the classifications.

Curious as to how they come up with those numbers, SHP definitely has a bigger student population, I think 900+, CBA and Don Bosco are up there as well. Arguably, from a pure numbers perspective Pingry should be B[/quote]
CBA & Don Bosco are single-gender schools so enrollments are doubled for classification purposes. From the NJSIAA General Classifications RBC is 540 and Pingry 434. So Pingry would have won Non-Public A again. Good for them for moving up.[/quote]

Agreed, good on Pingry for moving up, just didn't understand the classifications.[/quote]
No one understands NJ sports.

Again - groups are based on enrollment, not performance.

SHP. Outcoached. Choked. Again. Out.

Who was it that said SHP was well coached a couple months ago? Come back to eat some crow brotha!

Any idea where the group finals are being held?

NPA Final (Delbarton/St Augustine) Wed June 1 4pm @ Hopewell Valley HS

DBP is at the jersey shore right now working on their tan

Delbarton will be heading down this weekend.

One thing I’ve learned is to never doubt delby in the playoffs. They’ll handle Augustine.

Picks for group finals:

NPA: Delbarton vs. St. Augustine
Pick: Delbarton - Never bet against the Green Wave in June. Playing great ball right now, getting hot at the right moment. Wouldn't be surprised to see them as the last team standing in a couple of weeks. Would be fitting for the final TOC crown to go to the program with the most of them.

NPB: Rutgers Prep vs. MKA
Pick: Rutgers Prep - Don't know a lot about either of these teams compared to the rest of the field besides the fact that Rutgers Prep won the Prep B title earlier this year and MKA is coached by the former SHP coach (great guy). Rutgers Prep won 11-7 in their first meeting and I expect it to be a similar game. MKA playing much better than their 5-13 record as of late, but it won't be enough. Whoever wins this game will likely see their season end in the TOC QF's barring any miracle on ice type of upset.

Group 1: ML vs Haddonfield
Pick: ML - Haddonfield has put together a nice season and has some great players but this is Lakes group to lose. Simple as that. Expect it to be the closest game Lakes has played in the tournament but guessing they pull away and win by 7 or so.

Group 2: RFH vs. Summit
Pick: RFH - This is the year the Bulldogs finally pull through and beat Summit. Unlike previous years, RFH is probably favored going into the game. They have some studs on offense that should worry the Summit defense. Summit has some nice pieces on offense and their goalie has been playing great, but it might not be enough. Summit also suffered a few key injuries vs West Essex and also has some guys banged up. Then again, you can never count out Jim Davidson. However, RFH will eek one out tonight and South Jersey gets a team in the TOC.

Group 3: Shawnee vs SPF
Pick: SPF - Welcome to the big leagues SPF. The program is only 10 years old but has made great strides lately. Shawnee has been in this spot before but can't seem to get over the hump. That trend continues for them. Raiders have some impressive wins and close losses on their resume (Summit W, Westfield close L 2X, Chatham W, blowout wins vs teams who good teams are supposed to blow out), and even beat Shawnee down there on 4/30 10-6. Tough to beat a good team twice, but the Raiders advance to their first, and sadly last, TOC.

Group 4: BR vs. Southern
Pick: BR - Another historic program and mainstay in the group finals, the Panthers should cruise in this one. They've been playing great lacrosse since blowing a 2nd half lead to Pingry in the SCF. The Kurdyla brothers are two of the best in the state. Southern has some good players and that program always seems to hang around in Group 4, but with the exception of a few programs, the southern schools just can't compete with the boys from up north. Expect BR to win by 5+.

Conclusion:
NPA: Delbarton
NPB: Rutgers Prep
G1: Lakes
G2: RFH
G3: SPF
G4: BR

TOC Seedings (unsure if they still use a site like LaxNumbers.com for these. If so, these would be different. Just my guesses):
1: Lakes (Bye)
2. Delbarton (Bye)
3. RFH
4. BR
5. SPF
6. Rutgers Prep

QF:
#3 RFH rolls #6 Rutgers Prep
#4 BR just gets by #5 SPF who will walk away leaving a lot of people impressed despite the loss.

Semis:
#1 Lakes pulls away from #4 BR by 4 or so.
#2 Delbarton continues to roll and puts a nail in the coffin for RFH early winning in similar fashion to their game vs DPB over the weekend.

Finals:
#2 Delbarton gets revenge on #1 Lakes, winning the final TOC in NJ.

This is all just for fun and purely speculation/my predictions. Congrats to all of the players on making it this far. Good luck!

They didn't. Nice win for St. Augustine.

So Delbarton will be at the beach this weekend..

Delbarton was anointed to win by many people...don't get me wrong....they were still good but look how the top ten was this year....constant change and any team can beat any other team at a given point in time.....this is how it is going to be moving forward....there is a ton a talent in NJ lacrosse right now.....the 2024 class is the first class with a large number of high end players up and down the State and it continues right down to the 2028's....this was all built upon by the older kids 2016-2023.....parity is here to stay and NJ is going to have a lot of kids playing in college!!!!

SPF is going to win the whole thing.

I am going with Summit or Rumson. Both SHOULD NOT WILL win against any of the other teams.

Great season - was rooting for them but man, they didn’t show up.

Very impressive season. I don’t think many people had them doing what they did this year.

Outstanding coach..

I think people had them winning group 3 for sure. With calandra leaving Chatham it was theirs for the taking.

Bergen Catholic's new Head Coach: Ric Beardsley.

Wow.

Ric Beardsley hired as the HC at Bergen. Anyone have any insight as to his departure from CBA in NY?

Very cool. He is literally one of the best lacrosse players ever to play the game. No BS. For anyone not familiar watch his old video's. Amazing player and brought some serious fun, innovation, and style to defensive position.

that's all well and good. the majority of the checks he teaches are highly impractical and probably useless but look cool on Instagram. i'm more concerned with him stepping down 6 games into his season in 2021 at CBA in NY.

Jersey Strong was nice event at St. Joe's Metuchen yesterday. Well organized, nice fields, great overall atmosphere. From what I saw it appeared most of the Top D1 and D3 teams had representation there including all the very high academic schools.

Given TOC is no longer it would be idea for event like this could replace it beginning next season. NJ high school football has a few special events at beginning of season, I would hope lacrosse could do something at end of the season under NJSIAA for schools that want to participate especially after two non-public (one with small and other with medium size enrollments) made the finals.

Spring Season 45 days out.. Any surprises out there?

Rumor they are dropping RFH to Group 1, so they will face ML for states because there is no TOC. RFH is just on the Group 1/2 enrollment cutline.

So basically they will get rolled by ML in states instead of TOC

That's a better match-up than Haddonfield. No TOC is really bad.

Agreed, it gave every team in the state the opportunity to prove themselves, now we will just be left with a bunch of group winners. This is not football, schools with smaller enrollments can be just as good as the bigger schools, and they should be able to compete equally,

but more kids get trophies now!

Looking forward to the spring HS season.

I think Summit will be tough as per the usual.

Westfield looks loaded on paper this year

SHP has the talent, they seem to have a bunch of let down games each year, compared to the number of kids they send to college.

What’s the word in RFH.

And is scotch plains a flash in the pan or are they becoming a upper tier public program. Those guys seem to have laid a good foundation.

Good luck to all.

Westfield beat Liverpool by ten or so yesterday
Chatham best west genny by a few
Bridgewater scrimmages both today

confimed by njsiaa that rumson is now group 1. i guess group 2 south will come down to squan and wall.

SPF graduated a TON of talent. plus they moved up to the Fitch-Pitt with delby, shp, chatham, west essex, summit, montclair and westfield. might be a tough year for them.

Summit over Mt. Lakes 8-4 in scrimmage.

It's a scrimmage; let's see what happens on Thursday when Summit plays Westfield.

Summit over Westfield 7-6. Good game from both teams. Westfield probably more skilled/talented but Summit and Coach Davidson just seem to always find a way to do more with less. UCT Finals rematch should be another good one

Summit freshman goalie was lights out. Made a few huge saves down the stretch.

Thanks Summit goalie daddy, please keep us up all season on every game and save!

Not the goalie poster, but I appreciated the information. Good to hear what happened in one of the marquee games from last week.
The chatham Seton Hall Prep game was closer than I thought it would have been. Some good one coming up.

For folks interested in NJ HS lax, the Q4 Play Fast podcast is a fun listen. Not affiliated with the Q4, but I enjoy it. Any other good lax podcasts, blogs, forums, etc that you guys recommend?

Just started listening to Inside Lacrosse Tailgate and the Jamie Munro pods. Pretty interesting as well.

Ridgewood beats westfield 7-6 in four overtimes. Wow

Every top 20 teams has played another top team. BR might be a little, but everyone will know after they play RFH. Gotta love the scheduling by the top teams.

Can someone explain the county championships? They run concurrently, while the teams are finishing up their league schedules?

most schools devote a week to the county tournaments. started this past saturday, usually ending this upcoming saturday - morris county ends tuesday

is the Kirst Cup happening?
any idea on location? looks like from the fundraiser it has enough funds, which is great.

Lakes vs. RFH should be a good game today. Any other games of interest?

So Shawnee bails ? What is that [Censored]?

Ridgewood wins it all!

Congrats to them. Glad they held the championship and I hope they continue to do so. Wish it ended first week of June however

Chatham needs more size. Some little (under 6 feet) middies in F and Soph.

well seems like beardsley is moving on - saw speculation of him going to be the DC at syracuse... anyone have any insight?


also, any news on Bosco HC interviews?

so apparently bosco hired Dan Keating, guy just accepted the HC job at new D2 Holy Family down by philly, already left before the first fall. philly guy, coached a bunch of years at st. joseph's prep down there. was also the OC at St. Joe's University for a while. we'll see - odd that he's coming all the way up to north jersey.

BC hired former player/AC Frank Feaster, who leaves Cedar Grove HS after 1 year of being their HC. can't fault him for jumping ship there to BC. BC has a TON of talent but from what i've heard the parents/community there is a bit much. maybe having an alum lead the program will right the ship - Beardsley just wasn't a good fit there - heard some pretty nuts stories.

Beardsley was an impulse hire spurred on by a frustrated group of parents. I do not fault the parents, as the team consistently underperformed considering the talent, but I was definitely surprised that the team was even worse under Beardsley, unless that was simply a result of graduating a very good class the year before. I have no insight as to the inner workings of the team under his leadership, but when my son's team played BC, I felt that every coaching comment coming from the sidelines was spot on. I would imagine that some parents did not like that their kid was being called out in such a public manner, I certainly would not, but that is simply the way he coaches. Truthfully, in some respects, I wish that my son's coach had the same sideline energy. I suspect that BC can do great things with the right coach..

John Naslonski, long time HC at Randolph, is the new HC at Manasquan HS.

Nice addition. Should see some immediate results.Drills will sharpen them up.

Is he going to put up with the Squan parents? Sean worked well there because he was laidback and let parents get involved in coaching. As soon as he yells at one of the 5 golden boys their parents will be asking for a change.

Time to give BBL a atta boy with 2025s

i think that's the reason squan hasn't been as good as of late. you can't let parents dictate your program. Nas is a great guy, tons of experience. he had talent at randolph but squan is superior in that category. i'm excited to see him there.

I'm not from NJ and I'm just checking to see how public school teams operate with uniforms.

My son is 2027 and in our public school we have received an email about ordering game shorts. Seems that our school district requires the players/parents to pay for game shorts.
I already asked the coach and his response was very concise; it's the players responsibility, not the schools to order shorts.

I'm guessing that he doesn't want to be bothered in collecting/distributing and inventorying shorts.

So, just wondering how uniforms (shorts specifically) are managed in other public schools?

FWIW, our school operates the same way. Be thankful you don't have to pay for the helmet instead

Our public HS took a similar approach. The kids had to buy their own helmets and the booster club bought balls and other basics including uniforms. The HS covered the coaches, refs, fields, and buses. Everything else was on the families.

the school i coach at provides game uniforms. if you need we also can provide helmets. pads, practice pinney are your responsibility. practice pack (sweats, shooting shirt, etc) are STRONGLY recommended but we can't force kids to buy them. usually we open a team store in november or so with a helmet purchase option, glove/pads purchase option, as well as the "mandatory" practice pack and other apparel options.

Bosco just added another heavy hitter to their coaching staff. Stephen Rehfuss from the PLL Cannons. All American attackman at Cuse. He'll join head coach Matt Lane (Cuse) and defensive coordinator Brian Kavanagh (PLL Archers Defensive coordinator and Princeton Alum).

Squan should win Group 2 south this year. RFH in group 1.. Wall [Censored] coach thinks he sill has all americas, they might not make the payoffs.

Who are your top 3 Boys HIgh School Teams this spring?

Mountain Lakes, SHP Delbarton

Interested to find out if anyone has insight on the scrimmages that happened over the past week.

scrimmage wise i heard bosco torched SHP. been hearing rumblings SHP's defense isn't so great.

season started yesterday with the usual winners. summit, delby, squan, etc

Any big socking news out of high school lacrosse is Westfield for real or SHP down? Did anyone think Mr Lyght, and yes we should call him Mr, was going to be that good at ND?