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BY DAVID McLAUGHLIN
Correspondent 04/11/2008

Correspondent

High school lacrosse in central Maine has undergone a major change. Four of the six boys teams in the area have new coaches, Cony has added a girls varsity team and Mt. Blue has dropped from Class A to Class B.

Here's a look, Class by Class, at how local teams stack up this spring.

CLASS A: Tom Sheridan returns for his 14th season at Messalonskee and fields possibly the best team of his tenure. Messalonskee graduated three starters, but still has a potent midfield led by Matt DelGiudice and Chris Pelletier. The Eagles also have an extremely tough defense.

"We return a solid lineup," Sheridan said. "We are pretty strong in the midfield with three solid lines and we return all but one defender."

Messalonskee will be looking to make a run at defending state champion Brunswick, along with a very good Lewiston team.

Andy Haskell takes over at Cony, where the Rams started to show signs of breaking out of their recent slump. Haskell, who doubles as the Thomas College women's lacrosse coach, brings a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the game that should help the Rams continue to improve.

The Rams feature two of the top players in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference in attackman Joey Gagnon and goalkeeper Cam O'Brien. Gagnon's quickness and ability to strike from any angle give the Rams a serious scoring presence.

CLASS B: One of Mt. Blue's all-time leading scorers and single-season scoring record-holder, James Black, returns to coach the Cougars this season. Black is working to revive a once-dominant program that has fallen on lean times.

"We are coming off two bad years and the program has lost some of its luster," Black said. "We have reinstated some things from the past. We're having fun and doing the whole team thing."

Moving into Class B will not be an easy task with Gardiner, Oak Hill and rising power Lincoln Academy ready to claim a league title. Oak Hill returns a lot of talent and is the early favorite.

"We have quite a lot of guys back," said first-year coach Dave Wing, who has been coaching the junior varsity the past couple of seasons. "We are decent defensively, we just need to find players who can score."

Gardiner, meanwhile, features the talented Zoe Fisk in goal, along with a strong defensive group.

"We should be in the mix," Gardiner coach KC Johnson said. "There is a lot of parity in Class B this season."

CLASS A GIRLS: Messalonskee continues to play as one of the top teams in Eastern A and will be joined this season by Cony, as the Rams field their first-ever varsity team after two years as a club.

"We are really excited about playing at the varsity level," Cony coach Gretchen Livingston said. "We have a lot of girls who are working hard."

Preseason numbers were impressive for the Rams, who had 34 players out for practice. That includes 14 freshmen, giving Cony a solid base to continue strengthening the program.

Messalonskee lost a number of outstanding players from last season but returns an excellent group of sophomores and juniors who can keep the Eagles competitive in Eastern A and in the KVAC.

Juniors Hilary Flynn and Anaise Williams have excellent defensive skills, while junior Miranda Tinsman anchors the midfield, giving the Eagles a shot at being competitive in every game.

MAISAD: John Brubaker takes over the reins as the boys coach at Kents Hill this season, where the Huskies will attempt to rebound to the top of the Maine Association of Independent School Athletic Directors Conference. The Huskies return a host of senior leadership that will give them an opportunity to succeed in a tough conference.

Senior attack Maria Youngman and junior keeper Sam Keisle are back to pace the Kents Hill girls, who continued to show improvement last season under coach Sarah Hunt. The Huskies have shown strength in the back.

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