Welcome to our second installment of the 2021 NLFRankings.com National Top 25 High School team rankings for the 2021 boys lacrosse season.
The 2021 season continues to show its resilience and prowess, as some states. leagues and associations conclude play, with others in their stretch runs. We continue to break down all the action from the National lacrosse scene, covering the top games, players, and programs.
Here is our second poll, with records, last week’s positioning, detailed thoughts, and our NLFRankings article links for our Top 25 teams, including our NEW next 10 up list.
The first column shows the bolded current team ranking and where the team was ranked in our last poll – right next to it.
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TOP 25 NATIONAL RANKINGS
| # | School | Rec. | Thoughts |
| 1 (2) | Deerfield (Mass.) | 12-0 |
The Deerfield Big Green concluded their undefeated 2021 season with two huge wins over Taft (Conn.), 7-5, and Belmont Hill (Mass.) 14-8, this past week. Senior goalie Michael Scharfenberger (LI Express / Georgetown), who turned away numerous shots, led the Big Green.
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| 2 (4) | Malvern Prep (Pa.) | 19-2 |
The Friars earned two convincing victories over Germantown Academy and then Haverford, the latter in the Finals, to win their third straight Inter-Ac League championship. Colin McGill (Dartmouth) scored four goals in the 14-5 championship victory.
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| 3 (3) | St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) | 7-1 |
St. Anthony’s remains our No. 3 team this week, despite an 11-10 overtime loss to rival Chaminade on Thursday. The Friars defeated Chaminade two weeks ago by a score of 15-11, and the teams will have a rubber match on Saturday for the Catholic state title. St. Anthony’s began its week with a 20-8 victory over St. John’s Baptist.
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| 4 (5) | Brunswick (Conn.) | 14-3 |
After dropping a 14-9 contest to No. 2 Malvern last week, Brunswick picked up two wins over Avon Old Farms (Conn.) to conclude their 2021 season. In Saturday’s 16-8 win, seniors Coulter Mackesy (Princeton), Tommy Quinson (Denison), Lucas Delgado (Eclipse/Michigan), and Blake Borges (Prime Time / Syracuse) all notched points and played well for the Bruins.
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| 5 (7) | Culver Academy (Ind.) | 13-1 |
Culver concluded their regular season with a win over IMG last week. The Eagles play No. 10 Taft in the Geico Nationals semifinals this weekend.
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| 6 (17) | Boys’ Latin (Md.) | 10-4 |
When you defeat the No. 1 team in the country, then follow that up by defeating the No. 6 team in the country, all while winning the MIAA championship – you make a major move up the ranks. NLF No. 47 ’21 Ben Smith (Crabs/Penn) guided No. 5 seed Boys’ Latin to their first MIAA championship since 2014, scoring three goals, and assisting on two more, as the Lakers defeated Archbishop Spalding, 9-8.
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| 7 (9) | Georgetown Prep (D.C.) | 10-1 |
A 14-9 IAC tournament semifinal win over Landon (Md.) sets up a finals matchup with No. 2 Bullis (Md.) today in Rockville. Hoyas’ goalie Peter Flannery was on fire in the second half, making 11 saves in the 2nd half alone, and helping lead the Hoyas to victory and a finals berth.
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| 8 (1) | McDonogh (Md.) | 12-1 |
Last week’s No. 1 ranked team lost a semifinal matchup to Boys’ Latin the MIAA A playoffs. A one-goal loss should not diminish a fantastic season by the standout play of midfielder Dante Trader (MadLax, NLF No. 5 ’21 and Maryland football and lacrosse) and McCabe Millon, the No. 1 player in the NLF’s ’23 rankings.
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| 9 (10) | Darien (Conn.) | 15-1 |
Darien just keeps winning, running their win streak to 10 games with recent wins over St. Joseph-Trumbull & Trumbull, by a 41-10 margin. The No. 1 seed Blue Wave have a big matchup with No. 5 Ridgefield awaiting on Wednesday. NLF No. 44 ’22 Matt Minicus (Eclipse/Loyola) continues to provide big goals in the Blue Wave in recent victories.
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| 10 (7) | Taft (Conn.) | 7-2 |
In a fantastic defensively-charged battle, Taft came up short to Deerfield, 7-5 on Wednesday, concluding its regular season. NLF No. 14 ’22 Thomas Ricciardelli (Eclipse / Notre Dame) was timely and sharp in the cage, making eight saves in defeat. The Rhinos head to the Geico Nationals this weekend, where they will draw Culver in the opener.
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| 11 (16) | Chaminade (N.Y.) | 5-1 |
The Flyers avenged an early-season loss to rival St. Anthony’s. NLF No. 21 ’21 Will Lynch (LI Express / Notre Dame) scored the game-winner in overtime to equal the record with their rivals with a 10-9 OT win.
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| 12 (6) | Archbishop Spalding (Md.) | 11-2 |
Spalding defeated Calvert Hall, 9-8, in the MIAA A semifinals last Tuesday, and lost 9-8 in the MIAA A finals to Boys’ Latin on Thursday, despite the standout play of NLF No. 47 ’22 Mikey Weisshaar (Towson), who scored three goals and added an assist in the loss.
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| 13 (12) | Bullis (Md.) | 7-3 |
The No. 2 Bulldogs picked up a victory over St Stephen/St Agnes on Thursday and will now face Georgetown Prep in the finals in the IAC championship – today.
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| 14 (13) | Mount Sinai (N.Y.) | 8-0 |
Three wins and they drop a spot?! An unfortunate reality of the state tournament season. Mount Sinai picked up their most recent win by way of a narrow 8-6 win over Westhampton. NLF No. 1 ’22 Joey Spallina (Team 91 LI/Syracuse) broke the Suffolk County single-game record with 13 assists in a win over Hauppauge.
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| 15 (11) | Belmont Hill (Mass.) | 11-1 |
Belmont Hill, playing without injured standout attackman Zach Travaglini (Laxachusetts/Boston U), battled No. 1 Deerfield for three quarters on Saturday, but ran out of steam, falling 14-8. A Wednesday battle with No. 24 St. Sebastian’s will be the third meeting between the two top teams in the ISL. BH has won both prior games this season.
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| 16 (14) | Victor (N.Y.) | 8-0 |
Victor has started its season 8-0 and has their last three opponents to just nine total goals. The Blue Devils look forward to a potential battle of unbeaten with Webster Thomas on Friday. Cal Lambert (SweetLax Upstate / Army) and Thomas Gravino (SweetLax Upstate) have provided the offensive spark, while Logan Callahan (SweetLax Upstate / Johns Hopkins) has been awesome at the dot for the Blue Devils.
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| 17 (15) | St. John’s (D.C.) | 7-0 |
The Cadets remain unbeaten at 7-0 and have their sights set on a Sunday matchup with Georgetown Prep at the Geico Nationals on ESPNU.
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| 18 (NR) | Manhasset (N.Y.) | 9-0 |
Manhasset remained unbeaten this week. Garden City and Cold Spring Harbor are the only teams to remain within 10 goals of the Indians. Senior Aidan Mulholland (Michigan) has 10 goals and four assists in the past two games, while NLF No. 2 ’22 Joey Terenzi (LI Express/Virginia) put a combined six goals and one assist.
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| 19 (19) | St. Ignatius Prep (Calif.) | 12-0 |
St. Ignatius also remained unbeaten this week, picking up a 12-10 win on Thursday over Sacred Heart Prep in California’s Central Coast League. The Wildcats play Menlo today in a rematch of a game that St. Ignatius won 13-4 earlier in the season.
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| 20 (20) | Lawrenceville (N.J) | 12-3 |
Lawrenceville earned two wins this week, including a 16-4 Mid-Atlantic Prep championship over the Hill School. The Big Red announced that junior Tyler Mininno (Harvard), NLF No. 23 ’23 Quintan Kilrain (Crabs), sophomore Hunter Chauvette (SweetLax Upstate), and sophomore Chris Matia (Crabs) were all named to the 2021 All-League team.
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| 21 (21) | Upper Arlington (Ohio) | 18-1 |
Upper Arlington entered state tournament play by rolling through the first two rounds with a 40-6 scoring margin in wins over Beavercreek and Westerville Central. The Bears will play in the OHSAA Region 3 semifinals tonight against Thomas Worthington.
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| 22 (22) | Summit (N.J.) | 10-0 |
Summit defeated Westfield, 11-9 on Saturday to win the Union County Title for the third year in a row. Michael Bonomo (Holy Cross) was excellent for the Hilltoppers in the win, netting four goals including their final two goals, while Luke DiNola (Penn) also had four goals in the victory.
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| 23 (NR) | Comsewogue (N.Y.) | 8-1 |
A pivotal and successful week for the Warriors, highlighted by a big 13-9 upset win over previously-ranked Shoreham Wading River vaults the Warriors into the Top 25. A 3-goal loss to Mount Sinai is the only blemish on their record. Jack Deacy (Marist) and Aidan McCaffrey (Team 91 LI/Delaware) had big weeks for the Warriors, who have won five games in the span of eight days, and seem to be hitting their stride.
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| 24 (25) | St. Sebastian’s (Mass.) | 8-3 |
Sophomore goalie Ryan Williamson (Laxachusetts) and senior attackman Tommy Armstrong (Laxachusetts/Bucknell) paced a pair of wins over Tabor. A Wednesday ISL rivalry matchup game with No. 15 Belmont Hill awaits to conclude 2021.
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| 25 (NR) | Bishop Guertin (N.H.) | 15-0 |
The undefeated Cardinals have demolished everyone in their path this season in the state of New Hampshire. BG, which usually plays a strong out-of-state schedule has been limited due to Covid scheduling and the inability to spread their talented wings. Offensive standouts Jon Krikorian (Trinity), Mike Kiely (Colgate), and Dawson Clark (Army) have been fantastic the past week, and faceoff midfielder J.J. Murphy continues to own the faceoff X.
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Next 10 Up (alphabetical): Calvert Hall (Md.) 8-6, Don Bosco (N.J.) 10-0, Episcopal (Pa.) 9-4, Haverford School (PA) 12-6, Kennett (Pa.), 20-0, Noble & Greenough (Mass.) 10-2, Salisbury (Conn.) 7-4, Shoreham-Wading River (N.Y.) 6-1, St. John’s Prep (Mass.) 5-0 & Torrey Pines (Calif.) 10-2.
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