That's pretty good news for the Wilton High School boys lacrosse program considering Thomson is a 1992 graduate of the school.

Thousands of miles to the northeast, though, Alex Whitten, Andy Stockfisch and Scott Smith are also coaching high school lacrosse.

And that is both good and bad news for the Warriors.

The good is obvious: These players who so proudly wore the blue and white in their own playing days are giving something back to the sport they love so deeply. They get to affect the lives of young people in the same way they were affected by the coaching staffs who oversaw their growth and development as young people so many years ago.

Don't get me wrong here.

Former Wilton players getting into the profession of both teaching and coaching is a noble thing. It is something the entire Wilton lacrosse program, from varsity coach Paul McNulty all the way down to the youngest kid strapping on a helmet for the first time, should be proud of.

There are Wilton-bred coaches up and down the east coast; from Bryant University's Mike Pressler, who gained national renown as the one-time head coach at Duke University, all the way to Austin Sanders, who is currently cutting his own coaching teeth as an assistant with his alma mater.

That is a source of pride for McNulty and Co; for Wilton High School; for the Wilton Lacrosse Association.

Three Wilton-bred coaches in the FCIAC, however, is already coming back to the haunt Warriors.

Take last Saturday's 10-8 loss to Ridgefield.

Stockfisch, a 2000 graduate of Wilton, has sparked a big turnaround for the Tigers since his arrival. So much so, in fact, that the 2008 Tigers program is certainly on par this year's Warriors unit, having posted the team's first-ever win over Wilton. I repeat, FIRST-EVER!

Who would have thought that in boys lacrosse Ridgefield and Wilton could be mentioned in the same breath, even if just for one season?

Would Ridgefield have someday beaten Wilton no matter who was at the helm? Probably. But Stockfisch has made it happen this year.

"I'm very happy for Andy's success; but, of course, it's at our expense," said McNulty, Stockfisch's former head coach. "But, that's life. That's the way it goes."

A year ago, Norwalk defeated Wilton for the first time.

How long will it be before Smith, the Wreckers first-year head coach, leads Staples to a win over the Warrior? Stay tuned.

Whitten, meanwhile, came out of one of the state's best lacrosse programs and now he's coaching at another one — New Canaan; one of Wilton's most fiercest on-field lacrosse rivals.

Yikes! Talk about sports sacrilege. That would be like John Henry buying the New York Yankees. Or Red Auerbach, rest his soul, deciding he wanted to coach the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1980s.

Yet still, there is the pride in knowing that Whitten — one of Wilton's own and the son of Guy Whitten, Mr. Wilton Lacrosse himself — has become such a good and well-respected coach.

Even if somewhere down the line it could haunt the Warriors with another defeat.

The legacy of Wilton lacrosse is a grand one. And that is both good and bad, in its own little way.

But Wilton lacrosse has always stood for success and now its former players, coaching elsewhere across the land, are proving that legacy lives on no matter what.

John Nash is the Wilton Villager sports editor. He can be reached at 354-1051, or by e-mail at johnnash@wiltonvillager.com.