Next month, the Darien Boys Lacrosse team will be in for a
treat. For the first time ever, DHS will be competing against a team from
California. Be ready to welcome last year’s California State Champions, Torrey
Pines High School Falcons.
On 4/14/12, Torrey Pines will be in Darien on an East Coast trip to play some of the best teams around, to begin the battle between the
East and West. Lacrosse is an ever expanding sport, and for the first time
ever, California is a contender among the nation’s best. As of now, Darien is
ranked between #10 and 21 (according to a variety "Lax Power", "Inside Lacrosse",
"Underarmor", ESPNHS, etc.) in the
country. But of course, this is preseason, and with a young and inexperienced
defense as compared to last year’s exceptionally strong unit (the exception being seniors Tony Britton and Tommy Lyons), we know little of the Blue Wave’s
capabilities out back. With two or more returning seniors in each position,
however, the boys team looks strong enough to live up to its expectations.
But the top teams in the nation are no longer all in the
east coast. More and more, the sport of lacrosse is spreading, all the way out
to California. And there are few better teams in California than that of Torrey
Pines High School in San Diego. Last year, The Falcons won the California - San
Diego CIF 1 Championships, one of the best leagues on the West Coast. With
their two returning superstars, Seniors Sean Doyle and Lucas Gradinger, who
together, scored 4 out of the 10 goals needed to defeat Poway High School 10-7
in last year’s San Diego CIF 1 final game.
Doyle and Gradinger are 2 of the 6 Torrey Pines players committed to
play on Division 1 college lacrosse teams. As compared to our 7 D1 commits, and
many other D3 commits, this is shaping up to be a good fight.
The main weakness of DHS is that the team is young,
especially in the defense and second line midfielders. Torrey Pines has the
experience, with many returning third year senior and second year juniors.
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