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Elite Lacrosse Invitational Standouts


Empire 2021 midfielder James Araneo

 

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The first Elite Lacrosse Invitational is in the books. 

Top programs from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland and Michigan played in front of 45 college coaches, including those from programs like Duke, Notre Dame, Virginia, Albany and more. CLICK HERE to see the photo gallery from the event. 

Here are some of the 2020 and 2021 players who stood out on Sunday at the Sachem Sports Complex

Elite Lacrosse Invitational Standouts 

James Araneo '21, midfield, Ward Melville (N.Y.) / Long Island Empire 
Araneo physically looks the part of a next-level midfielder, and man, can he shoot like one, too. He has the confidence and range to pull up from anywhere, and he can rip it either lefty or righty. He's also a good wrestler, which helps him stay low on defense and gives him a certain mentality that helps him. Araneo is also a solid defender. 

Keith Boyer '21, defense, Yorktown (N.Y.) / Prime Time 
The younger brother of Notre Dame freshman Jose Boyer, who might start for the Irish this year, Boyer is a shutdown defender with a penchant for takeaways. One of the top '21 defensive prospects nationally, he showed that he's got the chops to play either LSM or close defense, and he's quick to get his stick on opponents' gloves to rip the ball out. 

Kyle Connor '20, defense, Sachem East (N.Y.) / Team 91 Orange (Highlights)
Rare are the times where you'll see Connor play out of control. He's very smooth and excels at fundamental defense. He matches feet very well with attackmen and doesn't throw a ton of checks, but they're efficient and accurate when he does. Connor has flown under the radar a bit, but you don't often see 6-2, 190-pounders with his range and mobility. He excelled in 1v1 coverage all day. 


Legacy 2020 midfielder and Army commit Dylan D'Agostino

Dylan D'Agostino '20, midfield, St. Anthony's (N.Y.) / Legacy - Army (Highlights)
D'Agostino had an absolutely filthy time-and-room far-side rip on the man-up early in the day, which seemed to help set the tone for a strong all-around day. He's athletic and elusive enough to make defenders flat-out miss him, and he can let also let it fly on the run. It seems like West Point got a good one. 

Cameron Delcristo '20, midfield, Hopkins (Conn.) / Prime Time (Highlights)
Delcristo is really starting to come in to his own out of the midfield for Prime Time. He got up and down the field with ease and took a number of quality on-the-run shots. He can stretch a defense out with his range, and he's well put-together physically. 

Tommy Dolciotto '20, midfield, Syosset (N.Y.) / Team 91 Crush 
Dolciotto tends to fly under the radar on the best 2020 team in the country because his game isn't super flashy, but he's the type of two-way midfielder that every coach wants and every team needs. He's tough, seems to understand defensive concepts well and pushes the ball well in transition. In an early-morning game, he showed the ability to get into traffic and come away with tough ground balls. 

Vincent Gandolfo '20, FO/M, Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.) / Long Island Express (Highlights)
A scrappy and tenacious faceoff man, Gandolfo had a strong day at the X for Express. If he doesn't cleanly win the faceoff, he'll battle to make it a 50-50 ball, and he does a pretty nice job of using a variety of moves and allowing his wings to help out. Once he adds more strength and fills out his body, he'll be a load to handle at the X. 

Bobby Kittleberger '20, LSM, St. Anthony's (N.Y.) / Legacy (Highlights)
Kittleberger excels off the ground. If a ball hit the ground, he was the one gobbling it up and pushing transition the other way. He also had a handful of impressive takeaways for a very good Legacy team

Stephen Krug '20, goalie, Iona Prep (N.Y.) / Express North (Highlights)
Krug has always been excellent on low shots, but he's put in the effort to become better at standing tall on high shots. He would sometimes dip and get beat on high shots, but he's adjusted and become more sound all-around. He was particularly excellent in the cage against Prime Time, and he's very comfortable outside of his cage in the clearing game. He also communicated well with his defense and guided them through slide packages. 

Will Lynch '21, FO/M, Chaminade (N.Y.) / Long Island Express (Highlights)
A tenacious faceoff man who's the latest standout out of the Chaminade factory, Lynch is a tough competitor who's also a legitimate scoring threat out of the midfield. He's played well at prospect days throughout the fall, and he was strong at the X for Express throughout the day. 

Nick Rossi '20, attack, Iona Prep (N.Y.) / Express North (Highlights)
With a nose for the net, Rossi has always been able to finish really well, but it's his passing that has recently improved. Express North coach Rich Reda implored him to look more for others, and he did that well this weekend, tossing a couple of great feeds to teammates for goals. He still has the ability to finish, too, and adding the passing to his repertoire makes him that much more of a threat. 

Johnny Schwarz '21, midfield, Shoreham-Wading River (N.Y.) / Team 91 Blaze (Highlights)
Schwarz is a physical specimen out of the midfield, and his size, shooting and feeding ability make him an awfully tough matchup for anyone. He can thread the needle with a perfectly-placed pass, but he also asserted himself offensively by ripping a couple of shots past the goalie. He's poised and confident with the ball in his stick, and he had a sweet sequence where he stripped an opponent in transition, got the ground ball, ran by some guys and set up a goal that really embodied everything that he can do. He'll be in very high demand next fall. 


Team 91 Crush faceoff midfielder Kevin Sweeney and LSM Chris Bardak

Kevin Sweeney '20, FO/M, Mount Sinai (N.Y.) / Team 91 Crush (Highlights
With teammate Koby Ginder (Brunswick, Conn./Princeton) out, it was Sweeney who took the bulk of the draws for Crush, and he performed admirably. He and LSM Chris Bardak (St. Anthony's, N.Y.) set the physical tone early against the Juiced Cherries, and Sweeney was a beast on ground balls all day. He's worked to refine his stickwork and seems more comfortable with the ball in his stick, and he's got good hand speed. 

Jayson Tingue '20, goalie, Bay Shore (N.Y.) / Team 91 Crush (Highlights)
You need to be confident to be a successful goalie, and Tingue has it for days. He's always poised in the cage and rarely looks flustered, and his quick feet and speedy hands help him take away a lot of shots. He was strong on low shots, and his communication skills and outlet passes were on point, as usual. It was particularly impressive to watch Tingue command a Crush defense that was down a pair of its stalwarts. 

Jake Wilson '21, defense, Shoreham-Wading River (N.Y.) / Team 91 Blaze
If it even exists, the list of '21 defensemen better than Wilson is incredibly short. He's the total package of size, footwork and stick work, and loves to set the tone early with a well-placed, heavy strike on the gloves. His aggressive temperament serves him well on the Team 91 back end, and it doesn't take long for attackmen to realize that they're better served moving the ball along than trying to dodge on him. Wilson has the capability to erase anyone, and he also showed that he's a menace in transition, where he can pull away from opponents with relative ease. 


Prime Time 2020 midfielder Cameron Delcristo

Honorable Mention

Ryan Aljader '20, goalie, Chaminade (N.Y.) / Team 91 Orange (Highlights)
Ben Bonafede '21,
midfield, Chaminade (N.Y.) / Long Island Express 
William Byrne '20,
attack, Berkshire (Mass.) / Express North (Highlights)
Chris Cappelmann '21,
FO/M, St. Anthony's (N.Y.) / Team 91 Blaze (Highlights)
Jack Dowd '20, defense, Ridgefield (Conn.) / Prime Time (Highlights)
Ronald Durante '20, goalie, Lindenhurst (N.Y.) / Team 91 Orange (Highlights)
Leo Johnson '21, attack, Avon Old Farms (Conn.) / Eclipse (Highlights)
Chris Kavanagh '21, attack, Chaminade (N.Y.) / Long Island Express (Highlights)
Jake Kuhn '20, defense, Berkshire (Mass.) / Express North (Highlights)
Christian Mercado '20, attack, Shoreham-Wading River (N.Y.) / Legacy (Highlights)
Dane Reda '20, midfield, Mattituck (N.Y.) / Team 91 Crush 
Tyler Schwarz '21
, LSM, Shoreham-Wading River (N.Y.) / Team 91 Blaze (Highlights)



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