By Chris Goldberg,
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/12/09
Haverford School senior defender JJ Newland has signed a letter of intent to play next year at the University of Vermont.
Newland, a member of the Philly Under Armour Underclassmen All-Star Team last
summer, said eh liked the city of Burlington and the school’s academics.
“I liked everything about it,” he said. “The location is great. Burlington is a great city and there is plenty of stuff to do there. You can never be bored.”
Newland said Haverford School assistant Doug Knight helped him connect with the Vermont coaches. Academically, he did the work himself; Newland has a GPA above 4.0 and has received Highest Honors at Haverford.
He has been accepted into the college of math and sciences and will study civil engineering.
Currently, though, he is studying the best ways to stop the opposition from scoring.
“I think we have a lot of unknowns,” he said, noting the team is quite strong on defense, at the face-off X and in goal. “We graduated 12 seniors and they were really strong players.
“But we’re going to be very good. We’re starting to mesh.”
Newland said the Fords have plenty of motivation even though they cannot compete for a state championship. This year the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) is sanctioning boys’ lacrosse for the first time and the Inter-Ac League is not a member.
“We have a tough schedule,” Newland said. “Not being able to play fro a state championship I kind of a bummer. I think the Inter-Ac championship means a lot more.
“There is a huge rivalry between us and Malvern and it will be fueled even more.”
