There are so many all-timers who call the Lower Hudson Valley home, so who is the best high school boys lacrosse player the region has ever produced?
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time. Alongside that national recognition, the USA TODAY Network is spotlighting the roots of the country’s sports culture by featuring the high school athletes and sports figures who shaped communities and defined their states.
Our list includes 10 players who first had a major impact at the high school level. We checked in with a number of longtime lacrosse and all-time players to help narrow the field. College and professional success is also factored in. These are players whose names still come up decades after they were done playing in the area.
The poll is sponsored by White Plains Hospital. Voting runs through 3 p.m. on July 22.
Ric Beardsley, Defense, Lakeland
Nobody was more animated or intimidating. Beardsley won three Section 1 championships and helped get Lakeland to the state title game in 1991. He won a U-19 World Championship gold medal with Team USA in 1992. Beardsley earned USILA All-American honors all four years at Syracuse, where he made the Final Four each season and won an NCAA title in 1993.
Roy Colsey, Midfield, Yorktown
An international force to be reckoned with. Colsey won a pair of state championships at Yorktown and was twice a high school All-American. He was MVP of the 2001 NYSPHSAA Class B championship game and won a U-19 World Championship gold medal with Team USA in 1992. Colsey went on to play at Syracuse, earning USILA All-American honors all four years and winning NCAA titles in 1993 and 1995. He also made Team USA for the 2006 World Championships. Colsey was a four-time Major League Lacrosse All-Star and scored more than 600 points during his pro box (NLL) career. He was a 2012 National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee.
Dom Fin, Midfield, Yorktown
He packed a lot of wins into a six-year run. Fin was a two-time high school All-American at Yorktown and won a state title in 1989. He was a first-team All-American from 1992-94 at Syracuse where he scored 27 points in 11 postseason games and won an NCAA title in 1994. Fin was elected to the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2015.
Jon Hess, Attack, Nyack
A visionary with the ball. Hess made All-American at Nyack at graduated in 1994 as Rockland County’s all-time leading scorer (314). He then choreographed perhaps the greatest college attack line in history at Princeton, winning three straight NCAA championships alongside Chris Massey and Jesse Hubbard. Hess was a USILA All-American all three of those seasons and was named Ivy League Player of the Year in 1997. He played two NLL seasons and four MLL seasons, leading the league in assists in 2001.
Rob Kavovit, Attack, Yorktown
He was a polished stickhandler who anchored three consecutive NYSPHSAA championship teams at Yorktown. Kavovit wound up third on the Huskers’ all-time scoring list (310) and celebrated state titles in 1991, 1992 and 1993. He was a two-time high school All-American. He scored 246 points at Syracuse while earning USILA All-American honors three times and winning an NCAA title in 1995. Kavovit suffered from depression and died by suicide in 2021 at the age of 45. Part of his legacy is the 15 for Life Foundation, started by his family to promote the importance of mental wellness.
Matt Landis, Defense, Pelham
A disruptive and relentless force. Landis made Pelham relevant, earning all-state and All-American honors in 2012. He was a football and hockey standout in high school, as well. Landis went on to star at Notre Dame, where he was voted the best Division I defender in the nation in 2015 and 2016. He enjoyed a brief professional career, making the PLL All-Star Game in 2018 and 2019 before deciding to pursue another passion and become a Navy SEAL.
Brett Makar, Yorktown
Perhaps the kindest punisher ever to step onto the field locally. Makar was the heart and soul of a group that won three Section 1 championships, a five-star recruit who was named a high school All-American in 2017 and 2018. He was a five-year starter at Maryland, went back-to-back as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and earned USILA first-team All-American honors in 2022 and 2023. Makar went out with an NCAA title and was the No. 3 pick in the PLL draft. He played in the league’s all-star game in 2023 and 2025.
Dave Marr, Attack, Yorktown
The consummate playmaker. Marr was a two-time All-American and part of two state high school championship teams. He won a U-19 World Championship gold medal with Team USA in 1992. Marr was a four-year starter at Johns Hopkins and was twice a USILA All-American. He graduated in 1996 and remains the program’s career assists leader (134). Marr also won 12 sectional and two New York state titles as head coach of the Huskers.
Ryan McClay, Defender, Mahopac
A hyperactive shadow and ground ball machine. McClay was part of Mahopac’s 1996 state championship team and was a two-time high school All-American. He graduated to Cornell and was a four-time All-American who was named Ivy League Player of the Year in 2003. McClay was part of Team USA and won gold medals at the World Championships in 2002 and 2010. He was a three-time Major League Lacrosse All-Star and went into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2021.
Tim Nelson, Attack, Yorktown
He piled up points in high school and college. Nelson won three Section 1 championships at Yorktown and is second among among the storied program’s career scoring leaders with 352 career points. He spent a year at North Carolina State before heading to Syracuse when the program folded. Nelson was a first-team USILA All-American with the Orange (1983-85) and received the Jack Turnbull Award, which goes to the nation’s top attackman, each of those three seasons. He finished with 99 goals and 221 assists in 58 college appearances, played in three national championship games and won an NCAA title in 1983. Nelson went into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2012.
Mike Dougherty covers high school lacrosse for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Who’s the best all-time lohud lacrosse player? Poll presented by White Plains Hospital
Reporting by Mike Dougherty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mike Dougherty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News | USA TODAY Network
