PRESEASON - 3/27/12  CLASS A 1- Pittsford 2- Penfield 3- Fairport 4- Thomas  HM: R-H       CLASS B 1- Irondequoit 2- Canandaigua 3- Victor 4- Churchville-Chili  HM: McQuaid, Brighton       CLASS C 1- Penn Yan 2- Aquinas 3- HF-L 4- Livonia 5- Pal-Mac 6- Geneva  HM: East Roch NEW THIS YEAR This year, we have replaced the weekly rankings with a poll. About a dozen pollsters who represent all three classes and all four leagues have been supplemented by SportsFive reporters, Section Five officials and parents. EACH WEEK THE SAME QUESTION This poll asks the question: At the end of the season, who do you think will win each championship?

For a number of years we have used this space to try to pick the eventual winners in each of the three classes, and we have been pretty close most of the time. This year, however, we have decided to switch from our old "rankings" list to a "poll" of about a dozen very knowledgeable prognosticators. The group represents all three classes and all of the leagues and includes coaches, reporters, fans and parents. We may even add a player or two as the season progresses.

The question the pollsters are asked (and will continue to be asked) throughout the season is: "Who do you think will win the championships in each class?"

In the "Preseason Poll" the group has selected Pittsford in Class A, Irondequoit in Class B and Penn Yan in Class C. We will be running this poll each week during the season and will be interested to see how the pollsters do.

Section Five added another Varsity level team this year as Wayne Central takes us to a total of thirty-seven teams. The Eagles will be playing in the Finger Lakes League. Gananda, who joined last year also joined the Finger Lakes after a year as an Independent.

There was another large turnover of coaches for 2012. Ten new head coaches were appointed this year, so there have been eighteen new coaches over the last two years. Joe Hussar returns to the head coaching spot at Batavia where he started the program. Chris Stock takes over at Bloomfield-Honeoye for Jack Beaney. Joe Sidari is at Brockport. Jake Johnson takes over for Mark Sweeney at Gates Chili and Ray Gangarossa takes over for Corey Perry at Greece Arcadia/Olympia.

Former Assistant Dan James takes over the reins at McQuaid Jesuit from Paul Jordan. Ben Clement also moves from assistant to Head Coach at Midlakes. Joe Caraher has been replaced by Chris Clemenson at Mynderse. Chris won his first game last Saturday. John McGurk is the new Head Coach at Webster Schroeder. He is another assistant and is taking over for long-time coach, Matt Petz. Finally, we welcome Jeff Ugine at Wayne, who is moving up with last year's JV players.

The number of players learning the game in Section Five and continuing on to play at the college level continues to grow. Last year at this time we announced that forty-five players had made commitments to in college. At the writing of this story, fifty-five players have made commitments, and, as usual, there will be more as the spring progresses. The players come from twenty different Section Five teams. The number of former players now playing at the college level stands at just over three hundred. You can check out these lists and more information on the Players Page.

There are currently 1,034 players on the rosters of Section Five Lacrosse teams. There are 312 regular season games scheduled at this point and it is interesting to note that 97 are night games this year. There will be a large number of very exciting games this season. Lets hope there are many fans in attendance and let's hope that regardless of the score, that we all remember that this is a very special game.

The volunteers at SportsFive.NET have spent more than a month collecting and reviewing data that comes from this web site, the coaches and in some cases players and their families. There are stories about each of the leagues and each of the teams which can be found from the links below.