New Canaan's fantastic four: Lacrosse Rams sign D1 Letters on Intent

Written by Dave Stewart
Monday, 28 November 2011 00:00

The road to the future for high school athletes is typically muddled. There’s no Google Maps or MapQuest to help a student find his way to the ideal destination.

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For four members of the New Canaan boys lacrosse program, the road to college became a lot brighter last week.

Last Tuesday at NCHS, seniors Peter Kraus, John Brainard, Tom Carey and Matt Blasco all signed National Letters of Intent to play for Division I men’s lacrosse programs starting in the spring of 2013.

Kraus, a midfielder/attack, will head to Michigan; Brainard, a midfielder, will play at UMass; Carey, a goalie, will go to Bryant College in Rhode Island; and Blasco, an attack, will be heading to St. Joseph in Philadelphia.

“It’s awesome and it’s a credit to those players for working to get there,” NCHS head coach Alex Whitten said. “Along with those four, we’ve got a bunch of other guys who are going to go D3 and that’s great as well. The growth of the sport at the collegiate level is awesome in terms of the opportunities for high school players.”

For Kraus, the chance to get involved in the Michigan Wolverines’ athletic program was too much to resist. He was being recruited by Bucknell, but emerged as a target for Michigan during the summer. The staff came to a couple of tournaments, invited Kraus for a visit and he liked what he saw.

“It’s amazing,” Kraus said of the facilities, including the famed “Big House,” football stadium, where the lacrosse team will play a couple of games each year. “They’ve got so many fields — two indoor fields, one specifically for lacrosse and one for football — and they’re building a new outdoor stadium, and potentially a new indoor facility, for lacrosse. Their facilities are just out of this world.”

Michigan lacrosse is in its first year as a Division I program, with head coach John Paul at the helm. Paul, a former Michigan player, coached the Wolverine’s club team to some great successes during his tenure.

“This year is their first Division 1 season, so there might be a little adjustment,” Kraus said. “But part of the reason I decided to go there was that it would be pretty cool to be in the first D1 recruiting class at Michigan. It’s really coming in on the ground floor.”

“The facilities at Michigan are unbelievable,” Whitten said. “A lot of kids want to go to that school and they’re going to be able to recruit nationally. I think in the next few years, they’re going to be an awesome lacrosse program at the D1 level.”

At Bryant College, Carey will be joining head coach Mike Pressler of Wilton. Pressler was the head coach at Duke, where he was a National Division I Coach of the Year.

Pressler also coached Alex Whitten at Duke University, and played for Whitten’s father, Guy, at Wilton High School. Whitten said he talks to Pressler frequently.

“Mike Pressler is one of the best in the business,” Whitten said. “He’s just a great guy and a great coach. He’s someone people want their kids to play for. Jameson Love, from Darien, is the goalie right now, so he’ll graduate and that’s an opportunity for Tom to step in right away.

“Mike Pressler’s a really good friend of mine, so I talk to him all the time. Tom better do well or else I’m going to hear about it,” Whitten added with a smile.

Carey stepped into the spotlight as a sophomore at NCHS when starting goalie Jimmy Joe Granito went down with an injury. He made an immediate impact, with several outstanding performances in the postseason.

“It really started off my sophomore year,” Carey said. “Jimmy Joe (Granito) was injured, so I had an opportunity to play and got some looks at the end of the season. Coach Pressler has a great relationship with Coach Whitten, so that was the connect. I went down and visited, liked Coach Pressler, and I really fell in love with the school and the program.

“He’s an awesome guy and he’s a really great coach. I think I can excel and play for him.”

Whitten called Brainard a “tough kid going to a tough program” at UMass-Amherst. UMass is led by head coach Greg Cannella, who will be in his 17th season at the helm next spring.

A UMass grad, Cannella was the USILA National Coach of the Year in 2006, when he led the Minutemen to their first berth in the NCAA D1 championship game.

“Greg Cannella is the coach there and he’s a tough guy and John Brainard is a tough kid, so he’ll fit well into their system,” Whitten said. “John’s a big, strong, athletic kid which is what they’re looking for at UMass.”

Brainard said he first caught the eye of the UMass coaching staff during a tryout for an Under Armour lacrosse team.

“I got interest from some of the Colonial League teams, so I went to visit at UMass and went to a couple of games, and it seemed like the right fit,” Brainard said. “It seemed like I clicked with their style of play. They play a physical style game and they’re a team working together. It just fits my style of play”

Blasco was the last of the four to commit. After nearly choosing Lehigh, he shifted gears when Lehigh assistant Taylor Wray was hired as the head coach at St. Joseph.

“He had recruited me and I was probably going to go to Lehigh, but then St. Joe’s was in the picture,” Blasco said. “It’s a whole new program with a whole new coaching staff.”

St. Joe’s was 0-12 last year and hired Wray, a graduate of Duke, to help change the direction of the program.

“They didn’t have the strongest seasons the last few years, so now it’s a totally new team,” Blasco said. “They’ve got a bunch of really skilled recruits coming in. I think I can help a lot and get a chance to play right away.”

“You’ve got a young coaching staff that’s been on the recruiting trail a lot and they liked what they saw with Matt,” Whitten said. “They’re going to do some great things there and it’s a good fit for Matt.”

As for the immediate future, all four players will be looking to have the New Canaan Rams back in contention for the FCIAC and State championships in the spring.

“We’ve got a lot of returning starters and we definitely have chemistry on the field,” Blasco said. “Last year, it took us a while to find our rhythm, and in the end, we kind of blew it. But we had some really good moments and I think this year, we’ll be more team-oriented.”

“We lost a couple of guys who had key roles, but I think this year we’ll be a more team-oriented,” Carey said. “That’s going to be big for the seniors who started last year and I think it’s going to be a great season.”