Canandaigua’s Johnson leads AGR boys lacrosse
When Marshall Johnson filled out a form asking what his top moment as a high school lacrosse player was last spring, he wrote that his career wasn’t over yet.
Johnson must have had an inkling of good things to come.
Canandaigua, the 2008 Section V Class A champion, moved to Class B and became the second area team to win a state title this season. Leading the way was Johnson, an All-Greater Rochester midfielder who thrived when it came to keeping the ball in Canandaigua’s possession as well as in other statistical categories.
Johnson is the All-Greater Rochester Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year after he won 85 percent of faceoffs for the Braves and left his mark on Canandaigua’s postseason games.
“I knew that we were going to be in contention for a state title,” Johnson said. “I didn’t know how far we were going to make it, but I knew we had a shot; we were two goals away from being in the state final (last year). Everyone realized that we had serious potential.
“I love any form of pressure when I’m on the lacrosse field. When I watch professional and college games, there’s always a player that teams turn to. It’s always been my dream to be the guy that people trust.”
Canandaigua’s Ed Mulheron, the AGR Coach of the Year for the second consecutive boys lacrosse season, certainly trusted Johnson.
State championships rarely go to one-person teams, and Canandaigua was praised for its overall skill and intelligence by AGR team members who watched the Braves play.
This year’s AGR team includes four players from Canandaigua: Goalie Nick King; attackman Brian Scheetz; defenseman Sean Regan and Johnson. Johnson, Irondequoit’s Drew Coholan, Penfield’s Kyle VanThof and Matt Osgood and Adam Trombley of Penn Yan are repeat AGR selections.
“I thought that we kept getting better, even in the playoffs,” Mulheron said. “When you see kids working hard and getting their just due to a degree, it’s just a great feeling. Our kids worked hard.”
The 2008 season for Canandaigua was successful, but an 11-10 loss to West Genesee, which is ranked nationally annually, during the state semifinals hinted to the Braves that a state title was within reach.
“I think we thought we could, but there’s a difference between what you’re hoping and what you’re believing,” Mulheron said. “Our kids walked off and thought, ‘We have a chance.’”
The New Balance athletic products company decided to send a crew of five people to document Canandaigua’s drive for a state title all season for a feature that can be viewed on the Internet.
“I was a little nervous,” said John Johnson, Marshall’s father and the men’s lacrosse coach at St. John Fisher. “You never know how a season is going to go.
“They were everywhere, and they were documenting everything. New Balance couldn’t have had a better script. The first time that they do this, they get a team that wins a state championship.”
Marshall Johnson, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 190 pounds, was one of the Canandaigua players featured by New Balance. He scored 41 goals and had 18 assists for 59 points this season.
None of those totals were tops on the Canandaigua team, but Marshall Johnson’s dominance was clear in other ways.
When Canandaigua handled Irondequoit 17-6 in the Section V Class B final, Johnson finished with one goal and one assist, but won 18 of 19 faceoffs.
Johnson pumped in four goals during Canandaigua’s 17-3 romp over Hamburg during the state tournament quarterfinals. He also won 12 of 18 faceoffs and scooped 13 groundballs.
Canandaigua beat Jamesville-DeWitt 12-6 in the state semifinals after Johnson scored one goal but finished 17 of 19 on faceoffs and with 16 groundballs.
“When you’ve got a kid like Marshall, you know you are in the game no matter who you play,” Mulheron said. “You keep getting the ball, and that makes it very tough on the other team.”
Johnson’s best postseason game was the state final in Rochester, according to Mulheron. The midfielder, who will play at Fairfield University in Connecticut, was named the Most Valuable Player of the game after he scored three times, assisted on another goal and won 14 of 19 faceoffs.
“If you can get the ball back (constantly) it’s unbelievable,” Marshall Johnson said. “My dad always said that if you can face off, you’ll always have a spot to play, no matter what.
“There’s always a need for a faceoff guy.”
The players who can do that put the ball in their team’s hands more and reduce their opponents’ ability to score.
That fact was reinforced to the younger Johnson during back-to-back years at lacrosse camps endorsed by former Major League Lacrosse player and Irondequoit graduate Paul Cantabene.
“If he isn’t now, he definitely was the best in the world (at faceoffs),” Johnson said.
Johnson’s faceoff skills made him an attractive recruit to at least 18 Division I college teams, including Syracuse University and Maryland.
Fairfield, where Johnson plans to pursue a degree linked to engineering, became Johnson’s choice for college after former Maryland assistant and Pittsford player Andy Copelan became the Stags’ coach. An aunt and uncle of Johnson’s live near Fairfield.
Johnson looked at a picture recently during his high school graduation party in which he held a lacrosse stick at age 3.
He also played football and was a member of the Canandaigua indoor track and field teams while in high school but paid the most attention to the details of the game he calls “basketball with sticks” and others say is the fastest game played on feet.
“When I was younger whatever sport I was playing was my favorite,” Johnson said. “When I reached high school, I thought, ‘Well yeah, I might have a shot at doing something (in lacrosse).
“I studied, watched it more and fell in love with it, as corny as it sounds. My dad really tried to work on the fundamentals with me, the little things. Those things ended up being huge.”
JAMESJ@DemocratandChronicle.com
Picking the team
The All-Greater Rochester boys lacrosse team is selected by the Democrat and Chronicle sports staff based on balloting by Section V lacrosse coaches. Each coach in Section V is eligible to vote.
