Boys High School Week 1
Submitted by walax on Tue, 2006-03-14 12:26.
Features
Boys High School WEEKLY BEAT March 5-12, 2006 by Fred Wilmot
WALAX PRE-SEASON RANKINGS
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Conference
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Team
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In-Conference
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Overall
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Mountain
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1
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1
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|
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Metro
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1
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2
|
|
|
Mountain
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2
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3
|
|
|
Sound
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1
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4
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|
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Mountain
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3
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5
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|
|
Sound
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2
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6
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|
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Metro
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2
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7
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|
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Sound
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3
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8
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|
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Metro
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3
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9
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|
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Mountain
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4
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10
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|
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Metro
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4
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11
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|
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Sound
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4
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12
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|
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Metro
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5
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13
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Over the Weekend:
Vashon goes Down to Oregon
The Vultures found themselves in Oregon battling Claremont from BC, Centennial from Boise, ID, OES, and of course, West Linn. Great experience for the Vultures as they get ready for the 2006 Division I season.
Maple Valley
Battled for two one-goal wins against Oregon teams, Churchill, North Eugene and stronger win against Thurston 11-4. The Vandals gain great pre-season character in one-goal games.
Issaquah in Arizona
Traveling to Arizona, Issaquah beat Brophy Prep by a score of 6-3. Brophy Prep is the #3 team in Arizona. Beyond #1 Chaparral, the high school caliber in Arizona has a steeper drop-off than here in Washington. Issaquah defeated Saguaro 8-3, then dropped 2 to Desert Mountain 5-1 and Wester Reserve Academy 12-2 ending up 2-2 on the trip. Great Opportunity to represent Washington and get the young players pre-season playing time.
Prep scrimmages Bainbridge
With so much going on, a scrimmage format for warm-ups against rivals in the Sound conference makes sense. Somewhat coached scrimmage ends in a tie. Tonight will demonstrate whether Prep is a rival or not in Prep’s first showing against Lakeside.
PRE-CAPS
DIVISION I PREVIEW
PRE-SEASON (in order of overall Pre-season poll)
Mercer Island (23-4): Perennial powerhouse Mercer Island loses two of the best middies in the state in Chris Taylor and the best face-off middie out of Seattle, Ben York. A new goalie will grace the pipes for the Islanders who is yet untested in D-1, but will be anchored by arguably the best defensive combo in Adam Brazg and Brant Howell. There seems to be an endless supply of midfield talent rising every year. This year may be the “Year of the Mahony” at Mercer Island. Between Greg and Kevin, Mercer Island will have a strike team in both attack and midfield. Brazg and Howell are both pre-season favorites for 1st team All-state and Mahony for All-American. Dawson may be a help as well. Look for Mercer Island to lead the toughest division as the pre-season number one pick in the division, and the number one overall. Will they get the opportunity to defend their title?
Garfield: (13-6) This is the year for Garfield to make a run for the title. Garfield seems to be in the division that presents them the least opposition to the playoffs, so count on them focusing on the out of league games to gauge their ability to execute in the post-season. Here are a few players to watch: Face-off star Danny Hoffman who is a junior, All-American Drew Snider has the capability to control games, Jason Montoya, who will be attending Lafayette in the Fall, is the early favorite for All-state goalie status. Having lost Tyler Schwartz and Cam Moore hurts, but the next generation attack includes Sophomore phenom Caldwell Rohrbach leading the group followed by Jason Travis and Peter Ramsden. Last year’s young defense is a year older, a year stronger; look for Blackstone and Byrne to step up.
Issaquah: (14-2) Issaquah faces a younger list of starters, but will be backed by Goalie Garrett Johnson between the pipes and the solid defensive work of Mike Gerrard and Mason Smith. Campi will lead the attack as the leagues third leading scorer and midfield will be led by senior Andrew Morris. Issaquah will have to put a lot of stock in the freshman/sophomore class to offset the loss of 12 graduated seniors, and hope they bring midfield firepower. Travis Wright will be a big contributor at midfield, and look for up and coming freshman Riley Goodman, Jordan Goldstein and Joey Henderson to contribute at midfield. With such a young group starting their careers on Varsity, the talent may be there, but the experience may be lacking outside of the defense, which contending for the top in the league.
Bainbridge: (12-4) Losing the league’s top scorer in Vander Hoek will definitely hurt the Spartans 2006 hopefuls, but Massi returns as a major threat with the ball. Willie Delius will lead the young Midfield as a Senior, looking to find help from the rising sophomore class of mids including Max Olson, Lappi and Lund. On defense, filling Brawner’s shoes, Dayton Galbreath will lead the Spartans defensive squad, but the big vacancy will be in the cage. The two young keepers may be the Achilles heal for Bainbridge this year. Look for a solid flow of offense from Bainbridge this year, they are an early favorite to wrap up their division.
Bellevue: (3-13) Bellevue is the dark horse this season. Excusing last year as a rebuilding year for the Wolverines, they come with a very capable Defense led by star Taylor Platt and Goalie natural Spencer Schmidt. Both of these two are high impact players, and will be early contestants for 1st team all-state. Long Stick Rusty Haehl will be the story of athleticism, possibly playing some close as well. Midfield returners include Jeff Spengler, Jake Medwell and Jonah Crollard leading a young class of offense. Down at attack, look for Senior leader Jeff Spangler lead and Nic Larrivee and Andres Blumer to follow as the Sophomore young guns. Bellevue has lots of young talent, and they are hungry. Unfortunately, they are in the toughest division, but look for them to be late season bloomers.
Vashon: (12-0) Vashon makes its Division I debut with a strong cast across the field. Winning the Division II title last year, Vashon will look to returners Dane Loraas and Alex Craighead at Attack to re-light the flame. Vashon has a great senior midfield with Dylan Bowens, Patrick McMurdo, Serko, Wilks and Twietmeyer. These Vulture midfielders are dynamic players and should adapt well to Division I play right away. Defensive Captain Duncan Mayshark will lead a younger defense. Look for Vashon to push Bainbridge in the Sound conference and may surprise folks that have not seen them before.
Seattle Prep: (5-12) This year, Prep Panthers are anchored by the Class of 2006: Andrew Parietti, Shane O’Neill, and Andrew Bjorkman. All three are high-powered offensive weapons capable of dominating defensemen and midfielders alike. Shane O’Neill may be as pure a natural talent as Lacrosse has, but will have to really step up to drive his midfield with leadership. O’Neill, an all-state Attackman will return to attack seeing some action as the natural lefty in both the 1-4 and the 2-3. With several up and coming players ready to fill the Midfield space, O’Neill will have to help O’Boyle, Merrill and Nick Ritchey reach their potential. Look for Parietti to go both Attack and Midfield to help offset the mix. Prep may surprise folks this year with help from new assistant coach Zachy helping lead the team.
Maple Valley: (6-10) Maple Valley has the least amount of transition in their starters. Maple Valley returns six of their top seven scorers. Led by three Junior attackmen in Morris, Hutchinson and Gooch, the Vandals are balanced with their other returners at midfield Buskey, Tooley and Buckman. Vandals keep Helm in the goal, and return Adam Extine to run the Defense. Maple Valley may well battle with Vashon in the Sound for playoff contention.
Lakeside: (10-6) Lakeside will rely on a young class for 2006. Losing Van Dusen, Whitsitt and Axelrod will set them back, but Elliot Copenhaver will return at Attack. Look for some young blood to help carry the load in Elias Rothblatt, Tai Fukumoto and Dylan Holmes. Although losing Whitsitt hurts, Lakeside has a new coach and up and coming players, look for them to be in the mix this year.
Eastside: (9-7) Eastside loses Anderson, the Rowe brothers, Gallacher, and a total of twelve seniors. Riding the back of Greg Bearson, an early candidate for 1st team All-state Midfield, the Ravens have a face-off man and scoring threat. Eastside has some new blood in Freshman keeper John Olin, Kolby Kemp. The Ravens will have to develop this young talent early if they have some hope of division success.
Nathan Hale: (3-13) Hale loses Sulzbacher on Defense and really stays fairly well intact from last year. Attack will be strong led by Alex Springer, another early forecast 1st team All-state Attackman and younger protégé Rick Shiplett. Hale returns a bunch of middies including Mijail Benitez, and will need to develop a midfield threat to help Springer continue his scoring assault. Defensively, there is some talent to develop. Shiplett may be the rising star at Hale.
Curtis: (5-11) Curtis also graduated twelve seniors, but have six of their top ten scorers returning from last year. Lehr and Yergler captain the veteran attack, while Wood, Stewart and Grimstad will add strike capability from the midifield. Curtis is also returning a senior goalie to add leadership for a younger defense along side Tommy Evens. Curtis has one of the best rising classes of Freshmen in the league this year, look for this class to develop early capabilities and help out.
Roughriders: (1-15) The Roughriders have been working hard in the off-season. Jared Grose will lead the Attack, with Trevor Hennings and Jason Travis the leaders of a young Midfield. Roosevelt has a bunch of defensemen developing led by Tom Wheeler. Reid Truitt is a capable goalie which should better their record last year. Losing Derek Mills will hurt as their major offensive weapon, but several strong freshmen might help make a late season push for the Roughriders.
GAMES TO WATCH
3/14 8:00p Mercer Island at Issaquah Issaquah HS **a rematch of the state championship
7:00p Overlake at Skyline Skyline HS
3/15 4:00p North County at Stanwood Stanwood MS
3/16 4:15p Whatcom at Lynnwood Alderwood MS
5:00p Seattle Prep at Garfield Genessee Park
7:00p Maple Valley at Vashon Vashon HS Stadium
