Norlander's column: Amazingly, best is yet to come with Matheis

The sticks and helmets burst into the air like popcorn kernels succumbing to a couple of minutes in the microwave.

Andrew West started the tradition, or perhaps his teammates forced it upon him -- the year-end pileup on the goalie after a state title.

It was Darien's sixth straight title game, and the player most responsible for it, the boyish sophomore with deadly scoring ability, was trying to quietly soak in the moment and let the seniors enjoy it most.

Sorry, Case: When you score a school-record nine goals, and when you do it while winning a state title, there can be no other story but you.

Many suspected, but the 17-5 drubbing of competent New Fairfield solidified it: Case Matheis is simply uncoverable.

At 5-4, Matheis wiggles his way into any crevice he pleases -- that is, if a team has been lucky enough to stop him up to that point.

Consider his fourth goal of the game, when he gave the Blue Wave a six-score advantage on New Fairfield.

Matheis got free on the right side, but he overpursued. With a split second to choose whether he'd loop around and behind the cage or shoot on, he chose to shoot.

Funny thing is, there aren't five other players in the conference who could or would make the correct decision to put the ball in the net -- and do it with such accuracy. Matheis no longer had the angle to shoot the ball straight on, so he whipped his stick around his right shoulder for an in-front-of-the-chest-then-behind-the-back score.

Rebels goalie Nick Costabile, who had 22 saves in the semifinals against Conard, was positively fooled.

The score brought Darien fans to their feet, as that kind of quick strike doesn't come every day in high school lacrosse, even at the level Darien plays at.

"I saw Baylis (Treen) coming down the side, and I was trying to break to get open for him, but at the last second he didn't have much of an angle, so when I don't have one, I go behind the back," Matheis said.

The first signs of such dominance from the soft-spoken forward came during 2009, when Matheis was an unknown freshman and beginning to make progress on the team.

"He's been very good when he scored five goals as a freshman against as a freshman against Manhasset," head coach Jeff Brameier said.

That's when Matheis started showing up on some scouting reports, because putting up five on a legit program like Manhasset is something that will immediately get everyone's attention.

"Everybody's worried about his size, but if you can't keep up with him," Brameier said, then stopped mid-sentence, the words escaping him like Matheis escaped the New Fairfield defense. "I remember watching Connor English from Manhasset last year scoring nine against Lafayette, and I was like, `Wow.' This year, we've got our own."

Fortunately for Darien, which has had a number of capable scorers this year, Matheis was able to wait in the weeds a little bit, and when he pounced against New Fairfield, they were done.

Between Matheis' quick strikes, Darien won by having long possessions with the ball, tiring out that New Fairfield defense.

"He's a great kid, one of my best friends," Brian Annecchino, a senior, said. And that could speak to why this team could be successful. I don't care how many teams claim to have it, most varsity clubs don't get the dynamic where seniors and sophomores can call each other best friends. This group was lucky to get that this year, and there's no guarantee it carries over into 2011. Matheis' small frame and demeanor endears him to others on the team. He's got that little brother vibe to him, and I say that in the most positive of ways.

If you want to know what made Matheis so confident -- aside from his own ability -- he believes it was the reinforcement of positive attitude from the soon-to-be-graduated.

"The seniors this year, they are what gave us great chemistry," Matheis said.

Give it up to the seniors for not besmirching his ability and accepting their roles within this offense.

"Obviously everyone's jealous of his talent," senior George Benitez said with a laugh.

No doubt that's true, but this group was one Brameier said had a different demeanor.

"They were the nicest group to coach," he said. "They're a classy group of kids. They're not all into being stars. We've got a lot of real good team players. There was no worry about points or who was scoring or getting the notoriety."

Sorry, coach, looks like you'll have to deal with yet another one of those stars for another two years. Darien's got a unique weapon on the field for the next two seasons. So long as No. 4 has the ball, everybody else will be trying to catch up.