In our inaugural effort to shake up the summer club scene by ranking, reporting and following the summer recruiting teams intently, we discovered that creating said rankings is the literal equivalent of ranking apples and oranges.

That’s because the variations between the programs tend to outweigh the similarities. Some teams play the competitive tourney style circuits. Other attend the lacrosse showcase events. There are programs who practice consistently, and some who just show up and let it rip. Some programs split teams strictly by recruiting age groups, some pull together the best of the best regardless of age. Many organizations want to actually win the summer club title, others are content to showcase their kids with the thought of winning coming secondary.

So, this is our attempt to gauge apples, orange, peaches, pears, kumquats and quinces. We looked at summer title records, final finishes, tournament competition and overall competitiveness. We took a stab at the summer scene, if you will, in these, our End of Summer rankings..

1. Long Island Express Central Team
Major Titles Champs - Tri-State National Tournament, Shootout by Brine Session II, Finalist - King of the Hill Session II

Players to Watch Will Mazzone, A, Ward Melville, N.Y.; Ryan DeSimone, A, Smithtown East, N.Y.; Greg Danseglio, D, St. Anthony’s, N.Y.; Mike Pellegino, D, Connetquot, N.Y.

Final Take The Long Island Express Central team, comprised of all rising juniors (and one rising sophomore), rolled through the summer with a 38-2 record. Though an All-Star team, they played incredible team ball, beating physical opponents like Boys’ Latin (Md.) and Tri-State Black for top title victories. Also took home some early summer trophies at the Tri-State Peddie and Juvenile Diabetes tourneys. Best group lacrosse skills in the summer circuit, with knowledgeable scorers across the board.

2. CRABS 2011s (BLC)
Major Titles Virginia Team Camp (5-1)

Players to Watch Logan Connelly, A, St. Mary’s Annapolis, Md.; Wells Stanwick, A, Boys’ Latin, Md.; Ryan Tucker, M, Gilman, Md.; Tyler German, M, Queen Anne’s, Md.

Final Take Another team made exclusively of juniors, Crabs 2011s (rising junior) team finished the summer with just three losses, did well in their home tournament and was the top team at the Virginia Team Camp. Had a few “out of the car” losses in various tournaments, but played strong after initial adversity. Again, a rising junior group that gets points for doing exceptional against teams with mostly rising seniors (though the 2010s won their own tournament, the Crab City Challenge, earlier this summer.)

3. Duke’s LC
Major Titles Champ Camp 2009

Players to Watch Seniors- Jordan Wolf, A, Lower Merion, Pa.; Andrew O’Connell, G, Malvern Prep, Pa.; Stephen O’Hara, D, St. Joe’s Prep; Juniors - Kevin Forster, A, La Salle, Pa.; Joe Sankey, A, Penn Charter, Pa.

Final Take Swept through Champ Camp with their mixed rising junior/rising senior Duke’s I team, beating a tough BELAX program 6-5 in the championship final. Also performed solid at the Tri-State event going 5-0 in pool play. Dukes II, a team comprised mostly of rising juniors and sophomores, also had a solid summer, finishing 6-2 overall.

4. Top Gun Lax
Major Titles King of the Hill Session II

Players to Watch Garrett Campbell, A, St. John’s Prep, Mass.; Jordan Greenfield, A, The Rivers School, Mass.; Frank Wheeler-Larusso, M, Catholic Memorial, Mass.; Geordie Carrick, D, The Rivers School, Mass.

Final Take Highlight of the season was taking the King of the Hill Session II tournament with a 6-4 victory over the Long Island Express and a final record of 6-0. They also finished a strong 5-2 at the Shootout by Brine and 4-1 at the MVP Tournament Session I.

5. Tri-State Lacrosse
Finalist Tri-State National

Players to Watch: Mac Davis, G, Glen Ridge, N.H.; Ethan Kibrick, G, The Peddie School, N.J.; Dean Dickey, Moorestown, N.J.; Matt Gilbertson, D, Rumson Fair Haven, N.J.

Final Take: Good year all around for Tri-State’s different teams. The 2010 Black team finished 24-5, losing just once in three of their four tournaments including twice to our No. 1 Long Island Express 2011s. Their 2011 Team (rising juniors) finished 16-6 with winning records at King of the Hill Session I, Tri-State National and Princeton Team Camp. A note, the best year in their program could be the 2012 teams.

6. Madlax Super Select
Finalist Crab City Challenge, Virginia Team Camp (3-1-1)

Players to Watch Garrett Swankowski, D, Loudoun Valley HS, Va. (Virginia); Chris Daddio, M, Loudoun Valley, Va. (Syracuse); James Malm, M, Woodberry Forest, Va. (Johns Hopkins); Hunter DeButts, D, Episcopal, Va. (Princeton)

Final Take Both the Madlax Super Select team, a collection of the top 20 players in the club regardless of position, and strictly rising junior squads did well this summer. They ran through the Crab City Challenge, losing to Crabs 2010s in the final. The Juniors Orange team did well at the Virginia Team Camp and the UP Lax tourney.

7. CT Bulldogs Red
Major Titles Shootout by Brine Session 1

Players to Watch Brendan Rotanz, A, Fairfield Prep, Conn; Todd Heritage, A, Cheshire, Conn.; Tobias Armour, D, Choate, Conn.; Alex Rose, D, Old Lyme, Conn.

Final Take Pulled off a big win in the Brine Shootout Session I, beating a tough Roadhawks White team in IL’s favorite championship game of the summer. Also tied a LI all-star team and beat West Coast Starz at their hosted Bulldog Jamboree. Other junior teams also performed well, with Bulldogs Grey making the final of the Junior AA bracket at Tri-State and Bulldog Blue winning the Junior A title.

8. BELAX (Md.)
Major Titles Finalist - Champ Camp

Players to Watch Tony Rossi, M, Calvert Hall, Md. (Maryland); Pat Powderly, M, St. Paul’s, Md. (Syracuse), Tyler Frederick, A, McDonogh, Md. (Ohio State); Juniors- John Kelly, D, Bullis, Md.; Bobby Gribbin, M, Georgetown Prep, Md.

Final Take A strong group of elite players from the Maryland and D.C. area prep schools, BELAX gave the Dukes all they could take in the Champ Camp final. Also rolled several top teams on the way to that title. Finished third at the Evolution Games in Philly.

9. Roadhawks White (Central N.Y.)
Major Titles Syracuse Shootout, Finalist - Shootout by Brine Session I

Players to Watch Billy Ward, A, Baldwinsville, N.Y. (Syracuse); Carl Zimmerman, A, Homer, N.Y. (Harvard); Connor Entenmann, A, Auburn, N.Y.(Cornell); Danny Eipp, D, Westhill, N.Y. (Harvard)

Final Take The Roadhawks’ premier team won 13 games in their final two tournaments, sweeping through the Syracuse Shootout before making the finals at the Shootout by Brine Session I. Their core of juniors (John Greacen, Ari Waffle, Stephan Basile) carried the team at UMBC before falling in against the CT Bulldogs.

10. NESLL U19 Black (New England)
Major Titles Semifinalists Champ Camp, Shootout By Brine

Players to Watch Josh Dionne, A, Avon Old Farms, Mass.; Sean Shakespeare, A, Noble and Greenough School, Mass.; Pete Bowes, D, Walpole, Mass.

Final Take The NESLL program finished the end of the summer with a strong run, finishing in third place at the Shootout by Brine Session II, losing to Landon and BL on their way through the third place game. Also dominated at Champ Camp before falling to BELAX in the semifinals.