Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/26/12
Penn Select defeated top-seeded Palm Beach Storm (Fla.), 14-1, to claim the US Lacrosse Regional Championship in the U13 Division in Raleigh, NC last week, capping a stellar 5-0 record.
The Penn Select team, which was built around the top U-13 players in Pennsylvania, defeated the Palm Beach Storm, in the finals to win the tournament. Palm Beach Storm had lost a total of 2 games in their prior 8 tournaments (they won 7 of 8 tournaments).
“The boys played very well together as a unit,” said Penn Select Coach Patrick McDonough. “We faced some great competition from around the country so it was good exposure for the boys. The fact that we ended up as winners of the tournament was testament to the quality of lacrosse being played in the Philadelphia area at all levels.”
In pool play, Penn Select was victorious over the South Jersey All-Stars and North Carolina Coast2Coast to move into the Championship Round as the second seed. In the quarterfinals, Penn Select defeated South Jersey for the second time before reaching the finals via another 14-1 win over Greensboro Select.
The Penn Select players included Nick Sowers, Jake Floyd-Jones, Kevin Vandegrift, Grant Peden, Brendan Meagher, Tyler Corpora, Denny Nealon, Blake Target, Shawn Coulter, Patrick Kolb, Mac Updike, Conor Larkin, Daniel Cassidy, Daniel Jordon, James Spence, Jordan Young, Conner Mosebrook, Mac Wilson, Maxwell Hinkle, Nicholas Marren, RJ Fink, Ryan Brown, and Kyle Derrickson.
“The players on Penn Select were able to go down to North Carolina and win the Regional Championship in dominant fashion,” said Penn Select Coach Billy McKinney. “It was great for the kids to win, but the weekend encompassed so much more than winning games. The players competed against each other in the eight practices leading up to the tournament and really pushed each other to take their game to the next level.”
During the weekend, the Penn Select players had the chance to take a tour of the Duke University with current MLL star and former Duke All-American Matt Danowski and were given a tour of the University of North Carolina lacrosse facilities by UNC’s Coach Myers.
The 2012 Penn Select team was proud to have been sponsored by Warrior/Brine and was coached by Billy McKinney, Patrick McDonough, and Hank Resch.
For more information on Penn Select, the website is www.pennselect.com.
