Chaminade’s Pursuit of Lacrosse Crown Begins Anew in 2013

Jimmy Carvalo made it a point this year that once the lacrosse season started for Chaminade, to keep reminding his friend Jack Moran the onus was now on him.

“We embrace that; we kind of feel like it’s always on us,” the grizzled Flyers coach said after an 11-2 preseason scrimmage drubbing of Farmingdale on a chilly Wednesday afternoon at Ott Field.

In what has turned into a banner year for Chaminade on the athletic fields – league championships in soccer, football, basketball and a trip to the hockey finals and predictions of a good year on the baseball with a loaded rotation – you can see why there some of the upperclassmen want to complete what has unofficially become known as the “Senior Sweep.” The only missing link being a lacrosse championship, which has eluded Chaminade for the past four years thanks to arch-rival St. Anthony’s.

While the Friars will not be any pushover – insert Moran’s axiom that has been trotted out so often that it has become his unofficial sound bite – how tough it is to beat a team three times in a season, Chaminade, ranked No. 2 in the country behind nearby Garden City according to Inside Lacrosse, will be sending out numerous Division I players in pursuit of the crown.

“We’re blessed, we have kids that can play that are really good students as well,” Moran said.

Indeed the roster reads as a short-list for every top lacrosse destination you would dream; even the junior midfield that is going Harvard, Princeton and Villanova.

“Playing these guys is a great way to open because they’re really, really good, they’ll school you on some stuff,” Farmingdale head coach Bob Hartranft said.

This after the Dalers lost all 11 faceoffs to the Flyers.

“Chris Clarke, he’s as good as anybody,” Moran said of his faceoff man. “We go to battle I’m happy to go with Chris Clarke. We’re trying to do some stuff to make his, what he does so well to even enhance that in some predetermined things that we want to do assuming that he’s going to win.”

“Our faceoff guy is out until the beginning of April, middle of April so hopefully that will help us back,” Hartranft said, explaining. “We got a good chance to work defensively against a really, really good team so that’ll help us out playing in the league.”

While scrimmages like this are nice and help fill out the regular-season schedule, the Catholic league is the one on Chaminade’s minds and the eventual showdown with St. Anthony’s once again for the crown.

“I was part of football which was an unbelieveable experience, I think Bobby Paul did a fantastic job with his group – he’s one of the people I really admire, so I’m happy that everyone thinks we’re going to (win) yeah, we do,” Moran said. “Hopefully by May 23 we’re ready to go.”