By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/4/11
Great Valley senior midfielder/face-off Peter Pappas has committed to play Division III lacrosse at Gwynedd Mercy College.
Pappas will join teammate Ryan Wheeler (defenseman) as a Gwynedd Mercy recruit. Also from Philly, Methacton goalie Ryan Murphy has committed to Gwynedd Mercy.
Gwynedd Mercy is in its third year of play at the varsity level. Last year the Griffins went 10-5 and reached the Colonial States Athletic Conference finals, bowing to 10-time champion Cabrini College. The head coach is Dana Lindstrom.
Pappas plans to major in Nursing at Gwynedd Mercy.
“I really got along with all the players when I went on my overnight,” he said. “During my visit, I found that Coach Lindstrom reminds me of (Great Valley) coach (Tony) Verna. Coach Verna and I have a great bond together and that was a key factor in my decision.”
Pappas also played cornerback for the Great Valley football team and served as a co-captain.
Verna returns this year as coach after taking a sabbatical. The Pats went 7-11 last year, but finished strong with key victories over Ches-Mont League foes Avon Grove and Sun Valley. In all the team has five seniors committed to play college lacrosse, including midfielder Eric Gartner (Villanova), goalie Nick DiPiano (Eastern) and long stick midfielder Jesse Horn (Stevenson).
“I think we’ll have better team chemistry this year because we have a lot of seniors that are all good friends,” said Pappas. “We also have a couple good players.
“Coach Verna’s goal is to win the league. We have a core of seniors that can lead this team, and our sophomore and junior classes are pretty strong as well.”
