By Molly Tow
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/6/11
Recent Abington graduate Ryan Acuna (midfielder) will play Division III lacrosse at Kean University (N.J.).
Acuna helped Abington (15-7) claim its fifth straight Suburban One National Conference championship. Acuna, who played club lacrosse for Bucks Select, was awarded the Bulldog Award for Abington, given to the hardest worker on the team.
Acuna plans to major in Communications. Acuna did not originally plan to play lacrosse in college, but reconsidered after taking a tour of Kean.
“I went to visit campus with a friend in the fall of this year (2010), and I was (impressed) with the campus and how fun the people were,” said Acuna. “Then I heard that they had lacrosse, so I figured I might want to try out, because I love lacrosse.”
Kean has posted six straight winning seasons and was 8-7 under coach Shelley Sheiner last year. Kean plays in the Skyline Conference and reached the semifinals in 2011.
“They’ve been a winning team for most of their time being a program,” said Acuna.
Following its regular season, Abington advanced to the quarterfinals in the District 1 tournament before losing to eventual district and state champion Conestoga.
“It was pretty successful, we went 15-7,” said Acuna. “I played mostly defense midfield for the team, and I loved the team. It was really friendly; everyone worked together and everyone worked to make each other better. It was a great experience.”
Acuna is excited to make the transition to college lacrosse.
“I just want to adapt to college games, because it’s a lot faster and a lot more aggressive,” said Acuna. “I just want to work on my own game and keep getting better.”
