"Friendly Rivalry" Pits Wyckoff LAX Against Franklin Lakes

If you were at Pulis Field on Tuesday evening you got to witness a great cross-town lacrosse rivalry between Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes...times five.

Five games were played in Franklin Lakes yesterday in which the hometown War Eagles met the Raiders in what Wyckoff eighth grade Coach Jim Hogan called, “a friendly rivalry.” 

With many of the players also playing on club teams and other squads together, it meant bragging rights were on the line for kids who are friends both on and off the field.  Friendly rivalry yes, but “it’s competitive” Coach Hogan added.

The third graders all the way up to the eighth graders competed, with the exception of the fifth graders who had their game rescheduled.

In attendance to watch some of the great young talent was Ramapo boys head coach Tim Roy.

“We’re blessed to have one of the best youth programs around,” said Roy.  “I think between Emilio DiScola and Sal Sassano they do an excellent job running the programs.”

Coach Roy believes that a lot of the talent in the area can be attributed to the Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes programs; not just Ramapo and Indian Hills but the parochial schools as well.

He said the coaching is a big positive when it comes to teaching kids at a young age how to do things the right way.

“It’s a definite benefit. They start early and it allows them to do some things that are more advanced than other programs,” said Coach Roy. 

Coach Hogan has been with the program since its inception a decade ago and has seen it grow and thrive every year.

“It’s a very good, established program,” said Hogan.  “It has taken ten years to build it to where it is. You have great coaches, you have over 250 kids that are in the program, and we now have a girls program.”

The program has continued to grow thanks much to the players that have come out of it.  Chris Colaneri went on to become a four-year starter with Ramapo and will now take his talents to Delaware next fall.  Many of the older players will look to perhaps follow in his footsteps as they become stars in the Ramapo program in the coming years.  Coach Roy sees a lot of upside in the players he has coming his way next year.

 “There’s some talent here and we’re happy to say that a lot of these guys are actually coming to Ramapo next year.  It makes a big difference,” said Roy.

 “We’re starting to turn out really good lacrosse players," said Coach Hogan.  “And now they’re getting to Ramapo, and based on Coach Roy and what he’s done and other coaches before him, we’re starting to have a competitive program.  Now we just need to keep the kids and keep them to go there.”

Results

8^th Grade: Wyckoff 11 – Franklin Lakes 6

7^th Grade: Franklin Lakes 2 – Wyckoff 1

6^th Grade: Wyckoff 10 – Franklin Lakes 1

4^th Grade: Wyckoff 10 – Franklin Lakes 6

3^rd Grade: Franklin Lakes 6 – Wyckoff 5