Iron Sharpens Iron: Cape Cod high school boys lacrosse rankings

The boys lacrosse teams on Cape Cod have some of the best talent in the state.

Out of the four Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association State Finals games last season, Cape Cad had two teams play in the end with Falmouth (Div. 3) and Sandwich (Div. 4).

This season is no different as 11 teams are in the playoff mix right now, with a chance for more by season's end. Four teams are ranked in the top 10 in their respective divisions, while six teams have four or fewer losses on the season so far.

Presenting the first Cape Cod high school boys lacrosse rankings:

*Records in parenthesis as of May 8.

1. Nantucket (9-1)

The Whalers are the number one team in the Division 4 MIAA Power Rankings, and are in the top spot on this list too. Their defense has been one of the best on Cape, allowing more than six goals in only one game, and have only given up 45 games over their first 10 games.

They have a well-balanced team, the offense just as solid as the defense. Players like Colton Chambers, Paddy Carroll, Nolan Mosscrop, Colby O'Keefe, Jack Halik and Ryan Davis lead the offense, but like Nantucket head coach Sam Aloisi said "they have no superstars" so any player can step up on at any given time.

The Whalers' only loss was to Falmouth (more on them in just a minute), in which they gave up 13 goals, but they avenged that loss, beating them 8-4 at home. Nantucket is currently on a seven-game win streak and will be a tough team to take down as the season goes on.

2. Falmouth (10-3)

The Clippers made their first ever state championship game last season , and have carried that momentum into this season. Falmouth has lost two of their last three games, but all their losses this season have been on the road to top teams in Nantucket, Marshfield (3rd, Div. 2), and Boston College High (4th, Div. 1).

They are unbeaten at home, which included handing Nantucket their only loss of the season and beating Norwell (2nd, Div.4). The Clippers know how to find the back of the net, scoring a minimum of 12 goals in seven of their nine wins. The Clippers have a good all-around team to make another run at a state title.

3. Sandwich (10-2)

The Blue Knights are looking to make their third straight State Finals game, although they fell in the end the last two seasons . Sandwich is right back in the mix with their depth. Daniel Oman, Jack Connolly, Cole Rodgers, Sullivan Gaffney, Kurt Moniz, and Harrison Delman have been some of the leaders for the Blue Knights, while Shane Corcoran has been one of the best goalies on Cape.

At the beginning of the season, the Blue Knights lost back-to-back games to Marshfield and Nauset (6th, Div. 3), but outscored Hull and Middleborough by a combined score of 30-0 over the next two games. Those two shutout wins started a current seven-game win streak, which included a win over Norwell (2nd, Div. 4). They also beat Scituate (3rd, Div. 3) in their season opener. With their playoff experience, Sandwich is a team no opponent wants to face the rest of this season.

4. Nauset (6-6)

The Warriors do have a win over Sandwich, but I put them behind the Blue Knights because they have lost five of their last five games. Now that may sound bad, but the Warriors played some tough competition during that stretch, which is why I still have them high on the list.

The losses during that stretch have come at the hands of Nantucket, Falmouth, Billerica (5th, Div. 2), Scituate (3rd, Div. 3) and Bridgewater-Raynham (12th, Div. 2). They also lost to Mansfield (7th, Div. 2) in their season opener. They have been competitive in those losses, having lost four games by four goals or fewer.

The Warriors were the second seed last year in the Division 2 state tournament, and made it to the Elite Eight . They returned a lot of key players like Logan Poulin, Joey Berardi, Ryder Holm, Riley Meehan, Sawyer McCutchen, and Michael Flynn. The Warriors are 6th in Div. 3 for a reason.

5. Monomoy (10-2)

This last spot was a tough decision, but I'm going to give the edge to the Sharks because they beat Bourne and Cape Cod Academy twice. They dropped a game to Martha's Vineyard, but defeated them as well.

The Sharks are led on offense by Tamer Khalil, but players like Jackson Rocco, Jed Zimmerman, Aidan Stone, Joey McKeen, Noah Metters and Owen Ramler are also key contributors. They know how to find the back of the net, scoring in doubles digits in eight of their 10 wins.

The defense is led by goalie Jake Giorgio, who is supported on defense by Max Barrett, Jackson Morneau, Braeden Darling and Max Ramler.

Honorable Mentions

Bourne (8-4)

The Canalmen have lost to Monomoy and Apponequet (10th, Div. 3), and twice to Fairhaven (14th, Div. 4). With 167 goals, the Canalmen are the highest scoring team on Cape Cod over the first 12 games. They have scored at least 17 goals six times. Brett Lucier, Sean Kelley, Ryan Haden, Ty Hawkes and Brady Banks have been some of the main scorers. Max Beals has played well in goal.

Cape Cod Academy (7-2)

The Seahawks are a really good lacrosse team, but I put them as a honorable mention only because of their strength of schedule. They played only one team in the top 32 — Monomoy — which handed them both their losses. To their credit, they were competitive in both games, and this could be a different rankings list. Eighth grader Landon O'Neil has been the go-to-guy for the Seahawks , already racking up 100 career goals. Tripp Germani and Harrison Barbieri have also played a part in the success of the Seahawks' offense, which has scored in double digits in every game except one.

Martha's Vineyard (3-8)

The Vineyarders are on this list because of the opposite reason of Cape Cod Academy. Their strength of schedule is one of the toughest on Cape. They have losses to Fairhaven (14th, Div. 4), Falmouth, Monomoy, Nauset, Nantucket, and Canton (20th, Div. 3).

Barnstable (3-9)

The Red Hawks and Vineyarders (25th, Div. 3) split the regular season series, but Barnstable arguably has the hardest schedule on the Cape. So far this season, the Red Hawks have faced Plymouth South (17th, Div. 2), Cohasset (4th, Div. 4), Nantucket twice, Silver Lake (30th, Div.2), Falmouth (2nd, Div. 3), Dartmouth (33rd, Div. 2), Whitman-Hanson (27th, Div. 2), and Nauset (6th, Div. 3).

Contact Courtney Jacobs at cjacobs@capecodonline.com . Follow him on X/Twitter: @CJ_Journalist.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Iron Sharpens Iron: Cape Cod high school boys lacrosse rankings