On Thursday the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which governs high school sports in the state, published its post-season podcast and yours truly was one of three guests with moderator and CIAC spokesman Joel Cookson. I spent about 20 minutes breaking down the CIAC boys and girls lacrosse tournaments (interview done just prior to the girls quarterfinal round games). Dave Ruden of the Stamford Advocate is another guest and tells the story of a generous baseball player and talks softball and baseball and Timothy Gaffney of Litchfieldcountysports.com breaks down the top teams in his region. Here is the link to the podcast:
ciacsports.com/site/?p=3182

The CIAC released the pairings for the Class L, M and S boys' lacrosse tournaments and one noticeable item is Cheshire being in unfamiliar territoy - in a qualifying round in the Class L tournament.
No. 16 seed Cheshire, 8-10, hosts No. 17 Simsbury today (Friday) at 7 p.m. in the qualifying round game.
The Rams haven't had a complete team until recently with several players out due to injury and sickness. But the Rams have gotten healthy at the right time and should get to the first round where they would potentially face top seed Simsbury on Wednesday at Simsbury at 4:30 p.m.
The Rams have the talent front to back to pull off an upset or two. The wildcard could be goalie Will Devine who has talent.
Fairfield Prep and defending champion Ridgefield, both  among the top five in the Register's Top 10 poll all season, are the teams to beat in Class L. Ridgefield recently had a huge win against No. 1 ranked Darien (competing in Class M). Prep will be facing Hand today at 3 p.m. in the Southern Connecticut Conference final at Branford High.
In Class M, Darien is on a mission to win it all and will likely take no prisoners. The Blue Wave have nearly a dozen players headed to Division I-II colleges led by Case Matheis, ranked the No. 1 rectruit in the nation this season. Matheis has committed to play at Duke.
Locally, Guilford and Hand have the best shot to advance far in Class M but both are in very difficult brackets.
In Class S, Barlow, Weston and Granby are the teams to beat. Weston, ranked No., 10 in the Register's Top 10 poll the last two weeks, has the depth on both ends of the field to win it all.
Locally, Old Lyme and Notre Dame-Fairfield could pull off an upset or two in the first two rounds.

HAMDEN - Hamden Hall boys' lacrosse is experiencing one of its most successful seasons in the history of the Hornets' program and coach A.J. Raccio has been recognized by his peers for the success.
Raccio has been named the Western New England Secondary School Lacrosse Association Division II Coach of the Year as selected by the coaches in the league.
"I really haven't talked about it much, but it is a special honor," said Raccio in an interview at Hamden Hall on Thursday morning. "The thing is the honor really isn't about me. It's about every one of our players who have put in a lot of hard work and effort to make us successful this season. They play their hearts out every time they walk onto the field."
The Hornets are 11-3 this season and defeated fierce rival Hopkins 9-8 on Saturday. It was the second straight season they beat the Hilltoppers but only the fifth time in the last 30 years according to Raccio.
Hamden Hall has qualified for the WNESSLA D-II tournament and competes in the quarterfinals today at St. Luke's in New Canaan  for a 4 p.m. game. The Hornets also qualified for the Fairchester Athletic Association tournament and lost 13-4 to Kingswood-Oxford in the semifinals on Monday.

The Shelton boys' lacrosse team and Shelton head coach Steve Kennedy recently received the 2011 Sportsmanship Award from the Connecticut Lacrosse Officials Association.
John Matthews, president of the Connecticut Lacrosse Officials Association, presented the award to Kennedy at the 51st annual CLOA banquet on June 15 in Southington.
The officials that officated all high school and prep school lacrosse games for the 2011 season make the selection for the coach/team sportsmanship award.
According to a press release, Matthews stated at the banquet the award for the Shelton team was almost a unanimous decision by the officials.
"We officials look at the teams and how they represent themselves during the course of a contest," Matthews said. Matthews also stated that the Connecticut Lacrosse Officials Association acknowledged that the Shelton boy's lacrosse team has improved not just in playing the game but by the respect that they showed their opponents.

Quarterfinals - Monday, May 23 @Higher Seeds

No. 8 West Haven at  No. 1 Hand - 5 p.m.

No. 5 Hamden at No. 4 Guilford - 7 p.m.

No,. 7 Sacred Heart Academy at No. 2 Cheshire - 5 p.m.

No. 6 Amity at No. 3 Branford - 7 p.m.

Semifinals
Wednesday, May 25
@Hamden HS - 4 and 6 p.m.

Championship Game 
Friday, May 27
@Branford HS - 4 p.m.

The Register will host another live lacrosse chat on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and the special guest on the chat will be Joe Lombardi.
Lombardi writes for Inside Lacrosse and Laxlessons.com focusing on New York and Connecticut lacrosse. He is also an analyst for MSG Varsity television network and has written the book "Lacrosse for Dummies."
Join us for an informative chat.

The Fairfield Ludlowe High boys’ lacrosse team and the local boys’ lacrosse community will host the fifth annual Sticks for Soldiers Thanksgiving Charity Invitational Charity Lacrosse Tournament on Nov. 27 at Fairfield Ludlowe High’s Taft Field.
This year’s fund raising efforts will benefit Army Specialist Brendan Marrocco of Staten Island, N.Y. who was severely wounded in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On Easter Sunday 2009, 22-year-old Specialist Marrocco’s vehicle sustained a direct hit by an Explosive Fired Projectile (EFP) in Iraq and he became the first veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to lose all four limbs in combat and survive.

Varsity teams from area high schools will participate in a 7-on-7 tournament game format. Team entry fees, raffles, silent auction and other proceeds raised will be donated to Specialist Marrocco in order to build an accessible home. The tournament opening will start at 9 am and each team should play at least 3 games. All are welcome to come, support and watch lacrosse.

Mike Voucas, the event founder and chairman, said "Fairfield Ludlowe Lacrosse has been proud to host Sticks for Soldiers and grateful to the camaraderie found among participating teams from Connecticut and beyond. As a lacrosse community, Sticks for Soldiers is our way of showing respect to those veterans who have sacrificed so much for us.
"We encourage all players and teams to add to the fund-raising efforts, help us raise the bar for Brendan, and add to the over $44,000 raised since the event’s inception."

More than 14 teams are expected this year and committed high schools include Fairfield Ludlowe, Fairfield Prep, Ridgefield, Weston, Brien McMahon, Joel Barlow, Staples, Westhill, Greenwich, Newtown, Guilford, Hand, New Jersey’s Ridgewood and other regional programs.
In addition to team entry fees and other event day fund-raising, organizations and individuals are also encouraged to participate in the "Sticks for Soldiers" charity event. Donations may be sent to: Tom Mason, c/o Fairfield Ludlowe High School Lacrosse-"Sticks for Soldiers", 134 Old Orchard Park, Fairfield CT 06824.
To learn more about fund-raising efforts for Specialist Brendan Marrocco visit www.brendanmarrocco.org. For updated tournament information, schedules, location and tournament history, go to http://www.stickforsoldiers.org/.

http://www.laxpower.com/

Among the local boys' and girls' teams in the New Haven area, the Southern Connecticut Conference has the biggest presence in the boys and girls state rankings by Laxpower.com as of today (May 7).

Among the top 20 in the boys rankings, Fairfield Prep (10-1) is No. 2, Cheshire (9-1) is No. 6, Xavier (8-2) is No. 18 and Guilford (7-4) is No. 19. St. Joseph (8-2), which competes in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Conference, is No. 9.
FCIAC power Darien (10-2) is No. 1.

In the girls rankings among the top 20, Hand (9-2) is No. 5 and Cheshire (8-2) is No. 8. FCIAC power Darien (10-1) is No. 1