Statement Win

Academy New Church (Pa.) put an exclamation mark at the start of its season with a 10-9 overtime victory over St. John’s College (D.C.) on March 10. The win snapped the Cadets 23 game winning streak and should make national ranking outlets take notice. 

ANC was not ranked in either of the notable national polls, while St. Johns was No. 8 by USA Lacrosse Magazine and No. 9 by Inside Lacrosse. PhillyLacrosse.com started the season with ANC as the No. 4 team in its rankings but moved them up to No. 1 after the St. Johns win.

Hunter Aquino scored his third goal of the game in overtime to lead the team to the win over the Cadets. The Penn State commit led the team with five points in the victory. Goalie Brady Carver made 17 saves.

ANC followed up that win with a 15-2 victory at Penn Charter (Pa.), then defeated St. Paul’s (Md.) to start the season 3-0. Aquino (2g, 3a) and Lucas Flynn (3g, 2a) led the team with five points each, while Slater DeLaCruz led the team with four goals in the win.

Follow-Up Performance

A week after marking his varsity debut with an eight-goal game, Collins (Ky.) freshman Logan Huelsman broke the program record for most goals in a game. Huelsman scored 12 goals in a 20-8 victory over Anderson County (Ky.) on March 13. 

Huelsman broke the previous record of 11, which was held by Treves Solace, who set the mark in 2021 against DeSales (Ky.).

In addition to his 12 goals, Huelsman dished out five assists, to place him 2nd for the Most Points in a Game this season with 17. That point total also places him among the Top 30 all-time for most points in a single game.

Huelsman has 34 goals and 12 assists through the Titans first four games. Collins is 4-0 on the season.

Season Leaders

This is the first season in which LaxRecords historical data is integrated with Laxnumbers, so it seems fitting to highlight some of the early-season leaders in each of our usual categories. 

Christopher Dirienzo from Lyman (Fla.) set the mark for Most Points in a Game with a 19-point outing on Feb. 22. The junior scored 15 goals and four assists against Colonial. His 19 points places him in a tie for second all-time for the most points in a single boys high school lacrosse game. Jimmy Lewis from Uniondale set the record of 21 in 1961.

Dirienzo also has the No. 1 spot for Most Goals in a Game this season with 15. Huelsman holds the No. 2 spot with 12, followed by three players tied with 10 rounding out the Top 5.

Previously mentioned Malia from Fuquay-Varnia has the high-water mark for most assists in a game with nine. The senior set the mark on March 14.

Josh Smith from Green Level (N.C.) has the most face-off wins in a game this year with 25. The junior won 25-of-28 attempts during a March 8 game against Apex (N.C.). 

Two players have made been reported to have made at least 40 saves in a game this year with Palmetto Ridge (Fla.) freshman Brayden Brown taking the top spot. Brown made 41 saves against Estero (Fla.) on Feb. 20. 

Roaring Bengals

Fuquay-Varina (N.C.) senior Jacob Malia is off to a hot start this season. The senior has double-digits in points in five of the team’s seven games this year. He posted a season-high 12 points against Sanderson (N.C.) on March 15.

Malia posted four-straight games with at least 10 points in games against South Garner (N.C.), Garner (N.C.) and Willow Springs (N.C.) and Sanderson. The senior has 30 goals and 35 assists through five games this season. 

Bengal teammate Connor Castle is second on the team with 55 points and 29 goals this year. The sophomore posted a 14-point game (8g, 6a) in the 22-10 win over Garner. He also has a 10-point game against Millbrook.

Milestone Victories

Laxnumbers believes Blessed Trinity (Ga.) Head Coach Bobby Parker won the 100th game of his career with a 17-4 victory at Johns Creek (Ga.) on March 10. Parker’s reported record dates back to 2017 when he led the Titans to a 15-6 record. The Titans are 10-0 this season.

Loyola-Los Angeles (Calif.) Head Coach Jimmy Borell won the 200th game of his career with a 19-1 road win over Notre Dame Sherman Oaks (Calif.) on March 13. Borell is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Cubs where he has won 42 games. He spent nine seasons as the coach at Palos Verdes where he won 159 games. Borell has a career record of 201-52.

Springdale United (Ark.) Head Coach Dave McDaniel won the 100th game of his career with a 21-8 victory over Lees Summit West (Kan.) on March 11. McDaniel is 101-25 in his eight-year coaching career with stops at Northwest Arkansas (Ark.) and Bentonville (Ark.). Springdale is 4-2 this season.

Winning Streaks

LaxRecords has regularly tracked the longest winning streaks in the nation and as we head into the 2023 season, we will continue that tradition. Seven reported teams have winning streaks of at least 15 games.

Here are the other active streaks of at least 15 games as of March 19, 2023.

• 31 Mountain Brook (Ala.)
• 23 Middle Creek (N.C.)
• 22 Radnor (Pa.)
• 21 Forest Hills Central (Mich.)
• 21 Jesuit Portland (Ore.)
• 17 Culver Military Academy Prep (Ind.)
• 15 Corner Canyon (Utah)
• 15 Mountain Lakes (N.J.)

LaxRecords has 71 reported teams with at least a 30-game winning streak. West Genesee (N.Y.) and Sewanhaka (N.Y.) are tied for first with 91-game streaks

Quick Highlights

St. Ignatius Prep (Calif.) and Torrey Pines (Calif.) went to triple overtime to decide their intra-state rivalry game. St. Ignatius Prep came out on top 12-11 on Bruno Chapman’s second goal of the game (2g, 2a). Tristan Ghosh assisted on the game-winner to lead the team with six points (3g, 3a).

Chaminade Julienne (Ohio) senior LSM, Luke Mitchell, filled the stat line in a 15-13 loss to Beavercreek (Ohio). The Cleveland State commit scooped up 12 ground balls, scored five goals, caused four turnovers, and won 4-of-5 faceoffs.

Will Cole scored eight points (3g, 5a) to help McCallie School (Tenn.) to a 13-2 win over Soddy Daisy (Tenn.) last week. The win helped the Blue Tornado to a 4-2 record and the No. 1 spot in the Tennessee rankings.

Vance Charter (N.C.) junior, Gavyn Sandlin, reached 100 career goals last week. The attackman scored 10 goals in two games to give him 109 for his career. Sandlin has 162 career points through three seasons.

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Do you have a highlight or notable performance from a player, team, or coach you want to be included in a future notebook? Email Mike Loveday or tweet him @LaxRecords.