We are in the middle of lax season which runs from March 1 to mid June in NYC for the local school and travel teams.  Warning - possibly biased reporting to follow.

JR has really taken a huge step forward this season.  It really has been a real treat to watch him evolve as a player. He is faster and stronger and is an active leader on both his Collegiate school team and his Doc's travel team. He has really surprised his coaches, teammates and father.

The Collegiate team is 3-1 so far this season. It is not a school with a deep lacrosse tradition, and a winning record is somewhat an anomaly.  He is one of the two captains and plays middie.  He is leading the team in both goals and assists.  He takes the face-offs and has been absolutely dominating in that roll having won 31 out of 33 face-offs in the 4 games so far or something ridiculous like that.  The two games I went to he didn't lose one face-off. 

His travel team has started out the season 4-1, which is a great improvement from last year as well.  He also plays middie for Doc's, with a little bit of attack. This weekend he didn't lose one face-off and helped lead them to 2 victories, 11-4 vs Brooklyn and 5-4 vs. Stamford, with 3 goals and at least 4 or 5 assists.  His teammates and some parents are calling him "the Beast", which is the nickname of one of the best face-off men in the country.  Here's a quick video of one of his face-offs.

He should have passed it before the turf reached up and grabbed him but the initial move is strong as he leaves his opponent watching his butt!

Here's a couple pictures of him at the game on Saturday in Brooklyn.

Hopefully he can stay injury free and both teams can continue their winning ways.

Enjoy the pics.