Brad Alexander carries onto attack for Ridgefield during last week's game against perennial NYSPHSAA contender Yorktown.
Photo by Matt Dewkett
The
Ridgefield boys lacrosse team has progressed in recent seasons to elite status in one of the nation's most competitive conferences, the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
The Tigers jumped out to a 9-0 start last season and finished 17-4, falling in the semifinals of both the FCIAC and CIAC Class L tournaments. This came after back-to-back state title-game appearances, with the Tigers winning it all in Connecticut in 2011.
This year's Ridgefield team lost its leading scorer, attackman Brett Baker, who had 76 goals and 92 points and is a freshman at NCAA Tournament participant Bryant University. The Tigers also lost several other current Division I players to graduation: midfielder Cal Dearth (Boston University), longstick midfielder Sam Gravitte (Princeton) and goaltender Conor Shannon (Richmond).
But coach Roy Colsey's Tigers have risen to the level of a program that reloads and doesn't rebuild.
That’s proven to be the case in 2014 more than ever. The Tigers have picked up a pair of attention-grabbing interstate victories, beating both two-time New York Class B state champion Garden City and six-time New York state champion Yorktown. They lost to New Jersey power Summit High on Monday, and currently stand at 8-2. Their only other loss was in four overtimes against FCIAC rival Greenwich.
Colsey, a Yorktown native who now in his sixth season at Ridgefield, is a member of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame, a former three-time first team All-American at Syracuse and four-time MLL all-star. He is often mentioned in the same breath as all-time lacrosse greats such as Jim Brown, Gary and Paul Gait, and Casey and Mickey Powell.
Coach Roy Colsey, Ridgefield
Photo by Matt Dewkett
“We believe that we can play with anyone and we’ve always believed that,” said junior attackman
Ryan Dunn, who had three goals and an assist in the win over Yorktown. “When we step on the field, no matter who the opponent is, we believe we can take them.”
The Tigers’ 8-2 start is especially noteworthy since their star returning player, University of Maryland-bound senior midfielder
Will Bonaparte, missed five of those games, including the wins over Garden City and Yorktown, first with a bruised sternum, then with sinus surgery.
“We pride ourselves on not being about one player,” fellow senior midfielder
Micky Carbone. “Will is an unbelievable player. I think everyone in the state and everyone in the nation knows that.
“For us to come out after the injury and the surgery he had and being able to rally around that and have some guys step up in big-time games and get that confidence and have some big wins, I think it sends a statement to everyone. We don’t need him to have big games. When he comes back, we’re going to welcome him with open arms and keep rolling.”
One of the key ingredients to the Tigers’ success this spring has been a defense that allowed an average of 4.6 goals per game through the first 10 games.That defense is anchored by a first-year starter in goal, junior
Brendan Winne.
“The D is keeping the shots way outside,” Winne said. “”It’s crazy how well they’re doing. You can see by the amount of goals we’re giving up.”
Ridgefield’s success is creating a stir in the lacrosse-crazed community of Ridgefield, with large crowds supporting the team at Tiger Hollow Stadium. Carbone said the Tiger faithful helped give his team the intensity it needed in its win over Yorktown, which was played under the lights.
“We wanted to come out and out-intensify them,” Carbone said. “We wanted to come out with a lot of energy. It was a home game after playing there (at Yorktown) last year and I think we had an unbelievable crowd here. Coming out of the tunnel with all that energy and seeing all those people, we knew it was time to step up.”
Winne thinks Ridgefield can keep it up. The Tigers still have a major FCIAC challenge awaiting them against Darien (May 17), as well as a game at neighboring New York Section 1 kingpin John Jay-Cross River this weekend.
“When Will comes back, we’re going to jump on the bus and keep rolling,” Winne said. “We’re looking really good right now. We just have to keep our confidence and just keep rolling along.”
Joe Lombardi is media director and co-partner of LaxLessons.com, a color analyst for the Time Warner Sports Network, and the primary author of the most recent edition of "Lacrosse for Dummies." Follow Joe on Twitter @joe_lombardi
