Who Can Beat Sallies?

[DELax100]

First - congratulations to Sallies on a terrific victory at Georgetown Prep yesterday. Georgetown has bounced in and out of the National HS Top 25 rankings this year - Sallies is approaching that level.

Can a DE beat them this year? Whenever a game played, there is a chance. But let's look at the last two times Sallies lost to a DE team - the 2008 championship game and the 2010 championship game.

In 2008, Sallies played all but one game in state, and 7 DE teams kept the game within 10 goals before the finals

In 2010, they lost their two out of state games, and again 7 DE teams kept their game within 10 goals before the finals.

This year, they have beaten Top 10 teams from Maryland and California, and their only losses (close games) are to Malvern (currently #11 in the country) and St Agnes (currently #8 in MD).

So far this year, only one DE team has kept their game within 10 goals.

Anything is possible, but the 2013 Sallies team is far better than the 2008 and 2010 teams.

 

[biglaxfan]

The better questions is - who but Sallies can put 10 legitimate lax players on the field for an entire game? All but a few Delaware schools have trouble coming up with 5 or 6 legit players, and the ones that do have a hard time keeping all of them on the field for the entire game.

Until recent years, the Sals have been a sleeping giant in lacrosse. With seats for more than a 1000 boys they can attract and enroll from a 3 state metro-suburban area without restriction. For perspective, look at what first Tatnall, and next Tower Hill accomplished in lacrosse with less than half the male enrollment of Sallies. Also, remember what Ruly Carpenter did with Tower Hill in baseball in just a few years. Or how about Sanford Prep in basketball until other privates followed suit and began offering scholarship arrangements to players from lower income families. Success in high school sports is about having enough of the right players at the right time, and a coaching staff capable of managing them. Public schools (with the exception of tech and charter schools) usually have to wait for that to happen, while the privates can MAKE it happen with just one or two good recruiting classes. There may be exceptions like Cape, with a 30+ year history of varsity boys lacrosse and where scores of 7 and 8 year-olds begin playing organized lacrosse every year, but they will be the exception. (Are the Native Americans in the Cape area Nanticoke or Iroquois?)

That said, Delaware should not change anything until a team has proven that it will dominate UNFAIRLY for a decade or more, as during that time the dominant team will effectively motivate all to higher achievement - something all too rare in high schools today.

 

[Cheebacca12]

Unbelievable win for Sallies over Prep. Honestly thought it was a typo on LP. That's a statement win. A national statement. Every player in DE should be encouraged by wins like that because you can't buy that kind of publicity when it comes to college recruiting.

Developing youth lax programs is honestly the ONE AND ONLY way that DE, as a whole, will improve to the point of being as competitive as Sallies.
The people who post on here all the time would probably make excellent youth coaches. Volunteer to help. HS players should figure out a way to do clinics for the 1st-5th graders at the local school. You have no idea how beneficial it could be 10-15 years down the road.

When I was in HS, sallies didn't play in a single state championship. They've always had that many guys and have always pulled kids from PA. The difference now is Coach Healy. Plain and simple. He's shaping up to be the best HS lax coach ever in DE. That success is now building on itself and as long as Healy is steering the ship, they will only get better and better. Hats off to Coach Healy and the Sals. Epic win

This post was edited on 5/1 8:13 PM by Cheebacca12

 

[outside view]

First, congratulations on the BIGGEST lacrosse win the state has ever had! The entire state should be happy that Sallies stood up and represented everyone so well - be honest, outside of DE no one thinks Delaware lacrosse is any good. (in fact, our own in-state college program seldom recruits Delaware kids!!)
Anyway, I agree the change is Healy. He's taken the same number of kids, the same players from in and out of Delaware and built a program! Not only does his success draw lacrosse kids to the school, the list of schools the players are going to next is equally as impressive to parents: Boston U, OSU, Colgate, UMBC, Washington College, Mt St Mary's, the list goes on.
Appears the other big change (because of Healy) is seen in the many players leaving the private schools (Tower Hill, Tatnall, Friends and Archmere) after 8th grade to move to Sallies. Sallies' success is pulling the better lacrosse players away from the "traditional" in-state powers (outside of Cape) who appear to want the best lacrosse program and an outstanding academic environment. It wasn't so long ago that these private schools were crushing other schools with their "out of state" players....
Hope the state doesn't move to split lacrosse divisions. Delaware teams are finally making progress and noise outside of DE and split divisions will only ensure continued mediocrity. Rather than compete, seems like some schools would rather go back to the "good old days" to again be a power......
Still thinking Sallies and Cape in the final.

 

[biglaxfan]

Agreed, Coach Healy deserves all the credit. The talent wasn't there when he arrived, and talent alone at the high school level won't succeed with a mediocre coach. To that point, watch out for Coach Coveleski and Dover High over the next few years. With their new building and facilities I expect Coach Cov will have them in the quarterfinals by 2015.

 

[DELax100]

Sallies is ranked #10 in the Mid-Atlantic region this week on Inside Lacrosse - the first time I can ever remember a DE team being there, in a region that includes NJ, PA and MD.

 

[laxdeusa]

La Costa Canyon who the Sals beat 12 to 5 is number 4 in the West Region.

 

[D-Cleater]

Only Themselves

 

[Broomstreeter]

No one in Delaware. Just too much talent for the Sals. Public schools will rarely ever be able to gather the All Star talent that end up wearing the blue and gold.

 

[hoosiersde]

Wow what a program Sallies has built with only 900 boys to choose from,,,how do they do it? I mean look, they barley beat a bad Gtown Prep (450 students) team and got crushed by Malvern Prep (600 students) . So basically every year Sallies has the best team in Delaware competing against local private schools with 100 to 150 boys and every year they play medium size Inter-Ac and other out of state teams and get crushed. Laughable parents pounding their chests about small fish in a tiny bowl! Why don't they man up and join the Inter-AC?

 

[MGpie]

Georgetown Prep is 17-5 got beat by Paul VI 18-2 Gonzaga 18-2 Gillman 12-4 St Pauls 15-4 all teams ranked in top twenty in country at some point this year. You are entitled to say what you want but trto control your Sallies hate and at least play pretend you have a clue you know what you are talking about you. Malvern third in country bet you did not see game
or you would know how game played out. Tell the truth you must be a hiller.

 

[hoosiersde]

Don't be mad just pointing out when you play bigger schools you loose. When you beat the big boys let us know. Sallies cant even beat schools half its size. Stop dreaming Georgetown Prep not even in top 50. Let me know when you get your first win in against the Inter-Ac been holding my breath for five years!

 

[chuck256]

Gtown prep was formally ranked 24 in the nation in the nike/uslacrosse poll and has been seen in the inside lacrosse poll (not sure which week though). Also, Sallies did not get "crushed" by Malvern Prep. The final score was 9 to 5 with a late 3 goal swing by Malvern in the last 6 minutes. Please tell me what other school in DE would be able to have a good game with Malvern or St. Stephens + St. Agnes? Malvern is ranked 5th in the nation by inside lacrosse right now and St. Stephens + St. Agnes was ranked in top 25 previously.

 

[chuck256]

Gtown prep was formally ranked 24 in the nation in the nike/uslacrosse poll and has been seen in the inside lacrosse poll (not sure which week though). Also, Sallies did not get "crushed" by Malvern Prep. The final score was 9 to 5 with a late 3 goal swing by Malvern in the last 6 minutes. Please tell me what other school in DE would be able to have a good game with Malvern or St. Stephens + St. Agnes? Malvern is ranked 5th in the nation by inside lacrosse right now and St. Stephens + St. Agnes was ranked in top 25 previously.

 

[laxdeusa]

I was at the Malvern Sals game. Sallies had a goal taken away on a questionable call that would have tied the score mid way through the 4th. Ref said the shooter was in the crease. The video I saw showed the refs were wrong. Of course he was on the field and the videographer wasn't. Then Malvern scored one man up then two men up. Sallies did not play great and were flagged at least 12 times. If someone has access to the stats they can correct me. The Sals did not play great that night but the difference in the game was at face off. I remember the Malvern kid winning 8 of the 1st 9 and dominated all night. I don't have access to the face off stats but except for face offs the kids from Sallies were every bit as talented as the kids from Malvern. To say Malvern crushed the Sals shows a lack of knowledge of the game.

 

[WoodenStick]

Your logic escapes me, Hoosier. The best programs in the country don't necessarily have the greatest numbers of kids. Excellence is based on location, tradition and dedication. Remember, it wasn't that long ago when the smaller DE private schools dominated DE lacrosse for these reasons. That was before and in the early years of Coach Healy's presence at Salesianum. When he arrived, so too did the desire and focus to build a superior program based on tradition and dedication. You build a strong program and good stuff happens. Numbers of students is irrelevant as an excuse.

As for this year, Salesianum has played just 7 DE schools, 7-0, with 115 goals for and 30 against with most Sals goals scored in the first half. They played 8 out of state schools, 6-2, with 88 goals for and 27 against. Not bad. Ranked 23 nationally, 5 in Philly and 10 in the region. Tough to argue with these numbers and this success.

And, one more thing, La Costa Canyon has over 2500 kids - I assume, more than 1000 boys.

This post was edited on 5/11 9:36 PM by WoodenStick

This post was edited on 5/11 9:50 PM by WoodenStick

 

[heresathought]

Wooden Stick, I like your logic and appreciate your research. Your numbers make the sals look really good. no stats involved here - just my gut tells me that this team has so much talent they could be so much better. I did not see the out of state games except for malvern. the last few games were not the well oiled tight team that they were early on. lots of selfish plays and the attack looks lazy. I am being blunt but just saying what I see. Someone needs to explain the concept of riding to the attack. Opposing coaches have caught on to the idea of putting their poles on the sals midfield since that is their offensive strength but sals midfield could avoid the ineffectiveness they are showing lately by playing as a team. The posted stats - when there are any - tell you nothing since they only show goals and assists and the accuracy of them is questioanble. tehre are no turnover, ground ball or face off stats, to name a few. Turnovers are a problem that could be avoided because a lot of them are due to stupid shots to the goalies glove and trying to barrell through two and three defenders - not all middies are guilty just two or three and the coaches should know who they are. A team with that deep of a bench should be able to rotate ina second or even third face off guy. After a ill timed time out by the sals when they were playing st. Mark's the players they brought in turned over the ball and St. Mark's scored three or four unnswered goals due to losing the face off. Lastly, when the defence has to work hard for a while the offense needs to understand they need to hold the possession to give their d a break. this is basic but I am not seeing it, maybe because of the selfishness noted earlier. This is a team that can control the ball well enough to play at a higher level that is why I am pointing these things out.
Sals are better then they have ever been this year. They have a ton of talent and I am just pointing out where they could improve. If I listed the positives the post would be just as long.
Cape is the only team that could give them a run for their money in the tournament. I hope to see these two in the championship game.

 

[WoodenStick]

Good observations and certainly the weaknesses that Salesianum opponents tried to exploit al season. Having seen most of their games, they often played inconsistently and far less skillfully against the less challenging teams. Always room for improvement. Wish the season was longer to see this group continue to grow and improve.

 

[Coach Joe73]

Coach Healy - Plan and Simple!

He has done and unbelievable job. He is putting together a Dyansty that they state of DE has never seen and may never see again. Enjoy it while you are in the moment.

With Sallies I equate them to Mike Tyson in his prime....

Everyone had a plan for Mike Tyson until he PUNCHED THEM IN THE FACE!!

Same goes with Sallie Lax!

Too good, too strong and well coached!

Go Sallies!

 

[heresathought]

Wooden Stick, just saw the sals play Friends. I am not seeing all this vision and team playing from Giampitro that you mention. Friends played with alot of heart and there stick skills were actually better than the sals. Goalie Max Davis had the game of his life - lots of great saves. Graham Seafert was the Sals most productive player - again. I think he had 3 goals on 3 shots. Bailey Martin - all season have watched dropped shots, poor passes, no defensive playing, on and on. The officials really dictated the pace of the game and were JV level at best. They are one of the reasons I feel as though I must go to Pa to watch good high school lacrosse. starting to question Healy's game management ability. Were you there? would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[heresathought]

forgot to mention Friebott -great as usual!

 

[Hornet'07]

I went to the game.
Agree Giampetro could have played more controlled, but it's tough to judge in a game like today - Sallies pretty much had their way with Friends.
Give credit where it's due, the Friends kids were pumped up and ready to play, but outside of the goal keeper the Sals are too dominating. Giampetro and Reeder were able to work their way through the defense and to be honest if the keeper wasn't so good the score would have been much worse earlier. My point is, Giampetro is the best player in the state and it must be hard for him and the entire team need to stay pumped up to keep playing hard in lop-sided games like these.
Most surprising to me was the dominating Sals defense, you mention Freibot, but Cowan and Kelley each also shut the offense down - Friends scoring came with midfield let downs and I stopped counting defensive take aways in the 3rd quarter...
Brett Tracey is the best LSM in the state - I think the game today highlighted the top 4 poles in the state.
Good effort by Friends, just not enough to stay with such a loaded Sallies team.

 

[D-Cleater]

Looked to me that The Big S just took it easy.They are the best team ever!

 

[laxdeusa]

I thought the Sals play was lackadaisical and Friends play was inspiring. The Sals had too many turnovers, too many passes at the ankles of cutting attack men and too many shots off the mark. Sals led by only two, 6 to 4 with 3:05 left in the half. Then it seemed like the offense decided to play and just like that it was 10 to 4 at the half and the game was over. Friends started the 3rd a man up but it remained 10 to 4 with 6 30 something to go in the 3rd then the Sals scored 3 goals in under a minute to make it 13 to 4. At 15 to 4 the Sals went deep to their bench. On a side note Friends is the only team to score double digits on the Sals. The final 6 goals were against the back ups but Sals backups are better then most teams in the state so Friends should be applauded for a fine effort.

 

[laxdeusa]

Typo in my last post. It was still 10 to 4 with "8" something to go in the 3rd. After Sallies 3 quick goals it was 13 to 4 with 7:48 left in the 3rd

 

[despur]

This post was edited on 5/19 6:13 AM by despur

 

[hoosiersde]

Good luck today Sallies lax! Hate to have you spit the bit as you did in 2010. If you recall that was the year coach Healy intentionally left the runners up trophy on the field. Stay classy Sallies!