Show of hands, who here would’ve paid to watch Iona Prep and Mamaroneck go head-to-head this season?
This certainly would’ve been the year to set that one up.
Mamaroneck is the best team in Section 1 right now. Iona Prep is the best CHSAA team not currently in the national rankings. The schools are less than four miles apart. Both programs got an honorable mention shoutout in the latestUSA LacrosseHigh School Boys' National Top 25 ranking. Both programs are likely to again have multiple players on the 2026 USA Lacrosse All-American list.
They cross paths in winter league.
This week's top 10:Mamaroneck slides back into No. 1 in lohud Boys Lacrosse Rankings
But we can only imagine what might've been. Iona Prep did lobby Mamaroneck for a game. It’s something the Gaels do yearly, but the Tigers declined, noting their schedule was full. It would've been great to put them under the lights for one night and maybe ask the fans to donate a couple of bucks at the gate in support of a local charity.
Both schools routinely face some of the best talent around.
It’s a privilege that comes with piling up wins and championships year after year. At the end of the season we can debate who deserves to finish atop the lohud Boys Lacrosse Power Rankings, but right now, just for kicks, we can go back and forth about who’s playing the most difficult schedule. The poll is presented by White Plains Hospital.
Here’s the breakdown:
Mamaroneck
Marquee games
Manhasset; Massapequa; New Canaan (Conn.); Darien (Conn.).
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Half Hollow Hills; Greenwich (Conn.); Shenendehowa
Section 1 opponents
Lakeland/Panas; Greeley; Bronxville; Somers; Suffern; Rye; Scarsdale; Yorktown; North Rockland.
Iona Prep
Marquee games
Don Bosco Prep (N.J.); Fairfield Prep (Conn.); St. Anthony’s; New Canaan (Conn.); Chaminade; Salesianum (Del.); Seton Hall Prep (N.J.).
CBA-New Jersey; Wilton, Conn.; St. Joseph’s (Conn.); Glastonbury (Conn.); Bergen Catholic (N.J.); Bronxville; Fairfield Ludlowe (Conn.).
CHSAA opponents
Stepinac; Fordham Prep; Cardinal Hayes; Kellenberg Memorial.
Mike Dougherty covers boys lacrosse for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News:Who has the hardest boys lacrosse schedule, Iona Prep or Mamaroneck?