By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/20/10
Recent Mechanicsburg High graduate and Team HEADstrong club player Ercol Acri (midfielder) has committed to play Division III lacrosse at Ursinus College.
Acri was an Honorable Mention Mid-Penn League pick for the Wildcats.
“When I went on my visit I just felt very comfortable there,” he said. “The campus was awesome, the coaching staff was great and they had a really strong program for my major there.”
Acri, a member of the Hon Roll, will major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Acri joins a deep list of Philly recruits for second-year Bears coach Jamie Steele. The other include Malvern Prep’s Scott Hueber (attackman), Mike Irvine (defenseman) and Dylan Spangenberg (midfielder), Lower Merion’s Nile Thompson (midfielder) and Ari Weisband (defenseman), Bishop Shanahan’s Jordan McGinty and Jim Stanley (midfielders), Conestoga’s Dan Cohen (defenseman), Pennsburh’s Shawn Caven (face-off specialist/midfielder) and Springfield-Delco’s Jordan Demcher (attackman).
Mechanicsburg went 5-12 in 2010, but Acri, as one of the most experienced players on the team, enjoyed helping build the young program.
“At my school, lacrosse was really new and we had lots of younger kids and inexperienced kids,” he said. “So for me, 2010 was more spent trying to build a stronger team for the coming years and for me to just get myself in shape for college.”
Acri said he made the long drive to Philly to play for Team HEADstrong because he wanted the challenge of a top-notch club program that was created to help spread the cause of raising money for blood cancer in the name of former Ridley great Nick Colleluori.
“I was at a tournament freshman year and saw them play,” he said. “I told myself I’d like to play for them one year, and luckily I did. It was a great experience.”
