Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/30/09
Springfield-Delco All-American midfielder Madison Poplawski is one of two seniors to be awarded the prestigious 2009 Michael Breschi Scholarship, US Lacrosse announced today.
Poplawski, who led the Cougars to the District 1 championship and will attend Penn in the fall, was chosen along with Emily Evans (Penn State) of Greensburg (Pa.) Central Catholic.
The scholarship was established in 2007 to honor the life and memory of Michael Breschi, son of the University of North Carolina’s head coach, Joe Breschi. The Michael Breschi Scholarship is awarded annually to two graduating high school seniors who plan to attend college and are the son or daughter of a lacrosse coach.
The parent or guardian can be either a male or female coach for high school or college, and should be a full-time employee of an educational institution.
Poplawski is the daughter of Christine Poplawski, a Haverford High grad who starred as a goalie at Temple, was a member of the U.S. World Cup team in 1989 and has been an assistant at Springfield for eight years. Poplawski, an art teacher at Bala Cynwyd Middle School in the Lower Merion School District, coaches the goalies and defense and serves as JV coach.
Poplawski said she started playing lacrosse in second grade while her mother helped coach at the local athletic association. While at Springfield, Poplawski was not given special treatment by her mother.
“During practice we barely talked to each other,” she said. “I was treated like another other player.”
This is the first time since the inception of the scholarship that two females have won the award.
“Julie and I are thrilled with the overwhelming amount of qualified candidates for Mike’s Scholarship and are humbled by the quality of individuals who pursued this award,” said coach Breschi. “As always, it’s a very difficult decision for the family, but we feel great about Madison and Emily representing US Lacrosse and Michael’s scholarship for the 2009-2010 year. We would like to thank all the candidates who applied and US Lacrosse for making this opportunity available in Michael’s name.”
In 2009, Poplawski collected 79 goals and earned First-Team All-Phillylacrosse.com and Central League honors. She also was an Honorable Mention pick for the Phillylacrosse.com Player of the Year and was named both US Lacrosse All-American and Academic All-America.
