St. Sebastian’s and Tabor are loaded with talent in search of their first ISL boys’ lacrosse tourney titles
The Independent School League is one of the top high school lacrosse leagues in the country. It isn’t easy to score, defend, or pick up wins in any context.
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Yet a couple of young standouts from Tabor Academy and St. Sebastian’s are set to play huge roles for the top-seeded squads in the fourth ISL tournament, which began Wednesday and runs through Sunday.
Landen O’Neil, a reclassified 2028 attack from Barnstable, got his first taste of varsity action as a seventh grader at Cape Cod Academy.
A couple of years later he was starting for the Seawolves, and the 6-foot-3-inch sophomore registered an ISL-best 101 points during the regular season, pacing Tabor (15-1, 10-1 ISL) to a first-place finish and the No. 11 ranking nationally by Inside Lacrosse.
At St. Sebastian’s, longtime Boston University assistant Mike Silipo took over a loaded roster led by senior attackmen Tedy Frisoli (committed to Duke) and Ty Curry(Notre Dame). When Curry’s eighth-grade brother, Stew, flashed potential at captain’s practices and in tryouts, he was given a shot to start on varsity, and the 14-year-old from Carlisle has blown away expectations with 43 points (33 goals, 10 assists) in his debut campaign.
“The thing about Stewie is he’s fearless,” Ty said. “He will go up against anybody and you could see early he had the potential to play with the big dogs. I never thought I’d get the chance to play with him because of the age gap, so it’s super special for me to have the opportunity to play with him and try to win an ISL Championship.”
Since 2019, a championship has eluded St. Sebastian’s, although the Needham school has consistently been among the top programs in the country. The Arrows have been ousted in the semifinals all four years since the postseason format debuted in 2022, with Noble & Greenough taking the first two titles and Belmont Hill winning the past two.
This year, Sebs (13-2, 9-2) opened as the No. 2 seed Wednesday with a hard-earned 9-8 win over Governor’s Academy (8-7, 7-4), a team that stunned the Arrows, 12-11, on May 2, just three days after they absorbed their first loss of the season, 14-10, at Tabor.
“The ISL has a range of talent, but everybody wants to beat everybody, and they can,” said Silipo, who grew up learning from his father, Mike Silipo Sr, the winningest private school football coach over 51 years at Tabor and Deerfield Academy.
“Lacrosse is the perfect combination of basketball and football,” continued Silipo, a former three-sport athlete at Williston Northampton and lacrosse standout at Ithaca. “It flows from offense to defense in combination, but there are essentially three phases, so my mind fits really well for the sport.”
On the other side of the bracket, Connor Gordon (Tabor, ‘12) is looking to take his alma mater to new heights. He joined the staff in 2022, became head coach the following year, and embraced the influx of young talent.
More than half of Tabor’s starters were underclassmen in 2024, when the Wolves went 8-6 in league play. Last spring they upset St. Sebs, 11-10, in the semifinals, then lost to Belmont Hill in an 8-7 thriller.
Now Gordon’s roster is full of experienced upperclassmen and stellar leaders, including captains Frankie Paciello (Air Force), Heyden Hildebrandt (Babson), Leo Kavey(Loyola), and Jack Czepiel (Princeton).
“Coach Gordon is a major reason I’m playing college lacrosse,” said Czepiel, a junior captain and defensive leader. “He demands everything a coach would want, on and off the field. And he’s also there to pick you up on days where he can tell something’s off. To me that’s something really special, the ability to read a person and brighten up their day.”
Goalie Grady Alger, attack Jayden Walters, and FOGO Justin Guyette started alongside Czepiel as freshmen in 2023. When O’Neil joined the fold as a freshman, Tabor hit another level.
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His older brothers, Aidan (‘22) and Evan (’24), are playing at Richmond, and his sister, Mavis (’26), will head there next year. O’Neil plans to make a college commitment in September and Richmond is one of the leading candidates. With 12 or more points in the ISL tournament, O’Neil could tie or break Aidan’s league record for single-season points (113).
“[O’Neil] kind of sees the game a little differently,” said Gordon. “In my opinion, he’s the best 2028 in the country . . . The way club lacrosse has exploded in the last 10 years, it adds a little extra development and that’s a huge reason we’re seeing more kids in the ISL play at a young age.
“We want kids in middle school to be watching their older brothers or friends playing at this level, to develop more of a goal-driven attitude to get there and play as soon as they can.”
Quick sticks
▪ In Tuesday’s release of the MIAA power rankings, Lincoln-Sudbury (12.2783) remains at the pinnacle of , edging out St. John’s Prep (10.9048) despite a 12-11 loss in their recent matchup. Winchester is No. 3 as the only remaining undefeated member of D1.
One team in each division is holding onto a perfect season with the postseason looming: Mansfield (16-0), Shawsheen (14-0), and Bourne (12-0). Mansfield ranks only behind Billerica in , Shawsheen falls at No. 15 in , and Bourne ranks fifth in .
▪ Brown-bound Mansfield junior star Cole Hogencamp piled up five goals and assists apiece against Oliver Ames on Wednesday, becoming the Hornets’ career scoring leader and increasing his point tally to 337.
After earning All-American status following a 79-goal, 48-assist run last year, he’s racked up 56 goals to lead third-ranked Mansfield.
“I think the way we move the ball, the way we swing the rock, we get open looks,” Hogencamp said of his scoring success. “Good takes when they’re there, taking our time and moving the ball around to find our opportunities.”
▪ King Philip senior attack Mason Thompson distributed six assists with a goal to become the program’s career points leader (301) in a 16-5 win over North Attleborough . . . Arlington Catholic senior Stephen Constantineeclipsed 300 career points with three goals and two assists in a 12-4 victory over Cambridge . . . Winthrop’s UMass-bound junior Ace Daigneault and senior captain Seth Saccohave each surpassed 100 points already this season.
Games to watch
Thursday, No. 5 Billerica at No. 16 Andover, 7 p.m. —About three weeks after Billerica held on for a 7-6 win over Andover, the MVC leaders meet again, this time at Andover’s Lovely Field.
Friday, Natick at No. 17 Walpole, 6 p.m. —While Walpole (12-3, 10-0) has clinched the Bay State Herget title, Natick (12-3, 8-3) can hand the Wolves their first league loss in the penultimate conference test for both teams.
Saturday, No. 2 Lincoln-Sudbury at No. 10 Hingham, 6:30 p.m. —Arguably the strongest programs in the state over the past decade will clash on Saturday evening for a state tournament tune-up.
Monday, No. 15 Cohasset at No. 13 Duxbury, 7 p.m. —Cohasset continues to play up against powerhouses in higher divisions, as Duxbury wraps up a tough nonleague schedule with one more test.
Tuesday, No. 1 St. John’s Prep at No. 5 Billerica, 6:30 p.m. —The five-time defending Division 1 champions visit the defending D2 champions to lead a loaded Tuesday night slate of high school lacrosse.
Correspondent Cam Pellegrino contributed to the story.
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