By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/9/12

Upper Merion senior midfielder Lorran Dacosta has committed to play Division III lacrosse at Whittier College (CA).

Whittier is coached by Downingtown High grad and LXM/PRO player Brian Kelly.

Lorran Dacosta log:

Lorran Dacosta

High School: Upper Merion

Graduation Year: 2012

Position: Midfielder

College Choice: Whittier College, CA

Club Affiliation: Dukes L.C, Black Bear, PYLA

Major lacrosse honors: Suburban One American Conference second team, 2011

What will you major in/study? Business Management

Other info: Whittier is coached by Downingtown High grad Brian Kelly (entering fourth year as coach).

Why did you choose school? “I want to pursue an acting career outside Los Angeles. I have been an extra in one film called the convenient truth, and currently I’m building my resume, taking the role as a cop in the movie ‘Can I get justice?’ and as Robin for a college film – ‘Batman Anarchy.’”

What is your HS team’s outlook for the season? “After we had some Thursday practices, we’ve started to get our act together. Once the season comes, we’ll definitely have a solid team.”

Other comments: “I want to thank Coach John Christmas, who worked with me a lot during summer programs. I also wish to thank (Upper merion) Coaches (Brady) McCormick and (Roman) Kupecky.”

By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 12/7/11

Upper Merion senior defenseman Austin Edelman has committed to plat Division III lacrosse at Cabrini College.

Austin Edelman log:

Austin Edelman

High school: Upper Merion

Graduation year: 2012

Position: Close defense

College Choice: Cabrini

Club Affiliation: Team Philly Elite

Major lacrosse honors: First team All Suburban one American; Defensive MVP, Played for Philly at National Lacrosse Classic; All-Times Herald Second team

Academic honors: Distinguished Honor Roll, takes AP Courses, National Language Honor Society

What will you major in/study? Education (History)

Why did you choose school? “I liked the small school feel and campus. I did my overnight and got to meet the whole coaching staff and team and it wasn’t long after that I decided that’s where I wanted to go.”

What is your HS team’s outlook for next year? “The Suburban One American Conference is always competitive with Plymouth Whitemarsh, Wissahickon and Upper Dublin and I think we can come out on top. We graduated a number of players but a bunch of new guys are ready to step up.”

Other comments: “I want to thank my parents and friends for helping me and supporting me; my high school coaches and high school teammates and my club coaches.”

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 10/28/11
Staff Report

Washington & Jefferson freshman goalie Conor Crowe (Upper Merion) is a rare two-sport athlete.

Upper Merion grad Conor Crowe is a member of the Washington & Jefferson water polo team and recently scored four goals in one game. He also will play lacrosse in the spring. (Courtesy of Washington & Jefferson Athletics)

Crowe, a First Team Suburban One American choice last year and a four-year starter for the Vikings’ lacrosse team, will be playing lacrosse in the spring. Currently, he is a regular for the W&J water polo team. Recently, he scored four goals to help the Presidents rout Salem International, 17-8. He has eight goals this year.

Washington & Jefferson finished its regular season at 7-9 and now closes its season in the Southern Division championships at Princeton Nov. 4-6.

Crowe was a standout water polo player at Upper Merion. He was also a key member of the Vikings’ lacrosse team that won its first Suburban One American Conference title (shared with Wissahickon) in 2010.

Crowe set numerous records at Upper Merion in the goal, including saves in a game (23), career saves and career wins.

By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/15/11

Upper Merion rising junior attackman Trevor Kupecky has made a verbal commitment to play Division I lacrosse at Hofstra University.

Upper Merion's Trevor Kupecky has committed to Hofstra

Kupecky collected 34 goals and a Philly-high 61 assists this year while earning Suburban One American Conference First Team honors.

Kupecky played in the EPSLA Showcase this year and attended Jake Reed’s Nike Blue Chip Rising Junior Camp. He also played on the Philly Under Armour Underclassmen squad in July and then made the All-Star team at the Brine National Lacrosse Classic.

Kupecky, who also considered Duke and North Carolina, plays club lacrosse for the Duke’s L.C.

Kupecky, a member of the Distinguished Honor Roll, was impressed with Hofstra coach Seth Tierney and the location of the school on Long Island.

“I like the area because it’s close to New York City and the beach and I like how lacrosse is the main sport at the school,” Kupeckysaid. “The playing facility and practice facility are great. And once I met Coach Tierney, I decided it was the right place for me.”

Hofstra always a contender in the Colonial Athletic Association, went 13-3 last year and reached the CAA finals while also advancing to the NCAA tournament.

“The team is very successful and it will be exciting to play a lot of games at home in Philly,” said Kupecky, noting the Pride play in a league with Drexel, Delaware, St. Joseph’s and Penn State.

Kupecky is known for his playmaking and passing skills. He has piled up an amazing 139 assists in two seasons at Upper Merion. As a freshmen, he played a key role in helping the Vikings win their first Suburban One American Conference title.

“When I was a freshman, we had a lot of good shooters so I made it my goal to get them the ball,” he said. “I wanted to make everyone better on the team. Growing up, that was my way of playing.”

Kupecky believes Upper Merion can challenge for a league title and a state playoff berth in 2012.

“I think we should have a really good season,” he said. “We lost a couple key players, but everyone is going to get better and we’d like to go pretty far in the district playoffs.”

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/10/11

Two high-profile Philly boys’ lacrosse players have given commitments for Division I colleges.

Upper Merion rising junior attackman Trevor Kupecky has committed to Hofstra and recent Emmaus graduate Dan Kinek (midfielder) has committed to Michigan.

Kupecky had 34 goals and led the Philly area in assists with 61 in 2011. Kupecky was a First Team Suburban One American Conference pick and has an amazing 129 assists in two seasons.

Kupecky, who like Kinek plays for the Duke’s Lacrosse club, also has an impressive ledger of accomplishments on the recruiting scene. He played in the EPSLA Showcase this June and attended Jake Reed’s Nike Blue Chip Rising Junior Camp. He played on Team Philly at the Under Armour Underclassmen Games and also on the Philly team at the Brine National Lacrosse Classic this year when he made the All-Star team.

Kupecky, who helped Upper Merion claim its first Suburban One title in 2010, also considered North Carolina and Duke.

Kinek, who will spend this year as a post-graduate at Avon Old Farms (CT), led Emmaus to the Lehigh Valley Conference championship and was named league MVP. He compiled 70 goals and 24 assists and scored over 200 goals in his career.

He was a First Team All-Phillylacrosse,com pick and was MVP at the Dan Carr benefit game at the Philly Showcase in November.

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/14/11

Greg Merrill pumped in six goals to set a school freshman scoring mark and senior Eric Gartner added five goals to pad his impressive totals as visiting Great Valley claimed a 16-8 non-league boys’ lacrosse win today over Upper Merion.

The Patriots finished the regular season at 14-4, closing with 11 straight victories. They finished fourth in the Ches-Mont League with an 8-3 record and are awaiting their seed for the District 1 tournament. The brackets will be determined tomorrow at Harriton High.

Timmy Lamb added three goals for Great Valley while Dan Buchholz and Noah Joseph each scored once for Great Valley, which made a dramatic improvement from a 7-11 season in 2010. Nick Dipiano had seven saves and Peter Hayes added three saves.

Gartner, a midfielder headed to Villanova, broke into the 200 career point club (only done two other times in GV history) vs. Kennett on Thursday in an 11-5 win. His career totals are 150 goals and 59 assists for 209 career points.

Attackman Greg Merrill, with his second goal against Upper Merion on Saturday afternoon, broke the Patriot freshman scoring record previously held by Sean Thompson (class of 2001, Ithaca College). Merrill currently stands at 71 points for the season (49g, 22a) as the Patriots enter the PIAA District 1 playoffs. Merrill’s older brothers, Brett (class of 2007), and Jeff (class of 2008), hold the Great Valley career point and goal scoring records, respectively.

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/29/11

Gryphin Kelly scored three goals and Colin Joka added a pair as visiting Plymouth Whitemarsh defeated Upper Dublin, 6-5, today to take a major step toward a Suburban One American Conference boys’ lacrosse championship.

The Colonials improved to 9-0 in the conference (10-2 overall) with three games to play. The Cardinals fell to 6-3 in the league and 7-5 overall. Upper Merion is in second place at 6-2.

Upper Merion 18, Cheltenham 7

Luc Minnich had six goals and an assist and Trevor Kupecky collected five goals and five assists to pace the Vikings to the Suburban One American win.

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/28/11

Caitlin McCartney had six goals and two assists while Alyssa Andress and Nichole Hayes scored three goals apiece Wednesday as host Archbishop Wood defeated St. Hubert, 15-5, in a Catholic League girls’ lacrosse game.

Nicole Ahrens added two goals and an assist for the Vikings (6-2, 4-1), who are in second place.

Archbishop Carroll 19, Conwell-Egan 0

The top-ranked Patriots improved to 10-1 overall and 6-0 in the Catholic League with the shutout win.

Strath Haven 21, Upper Darby 3

Alex Duckenfield had three goals and two assists and Summer O’Donnell added three goals and an assist to pace the Panthers to the Central League rout.

Kelsey Carr paced the Royals with all three goals.

Merion Mercy 19, Gwynedd-Mercy Academy 3

Emily Corcoran had six goals and three assists and Madison Connor added four goals and three assists to lead the Bears in the Catholic Academies win.

Sacred Heart 23, Nazareth 13

Stephanie Finley collected eight goals and five assists and Eileen Dombrowski added five goals and two assists while Claire Fitzpatrick had four goals and five assists for Sacred Hearts in the Catholic Academies win.

Laura Pharo and Lindsay Fluehr each scored six goals for Nazareth.

Mount St. Joseph 18, Pottstown 7

Laura Pacheco (two assists), Emilee Ehret (one assist), and Olivia Gannon (one assist) each scored four goals to pace the Mount to the easy non-league win.

Milan White led the Trojans with five goals and Morgan Wambold had 17 saves.

Upper Perkiomen 18, Pottsgrove 8

Upper Perk used five goals and two assists from Kayla Smith to throttle Pottsgrove and tighten its grip on the Pioneer Athletic Conference Frontier Division lead.

Cassidy Arner added three goals and two assists for the Tribe, who improved to 6-4 in the PAC-10, 7-5 overall. Pottsgrove (1-9, 2-10) was led by Becca Dolenti with four goals.

Methacton 18, Owen J. Roberts 7

Megan Nearing and Sara Watro combined for nine goals to help the Warriors rebound from a tough loss to Boyertown.

Methacton (8-1 PAC-10 Liberty, 10-2 overall) also got six assists from Emily Kellett and two goals each from Olivia Ost and Abby Devlin.

OJR slipped to 3-7 in the Liberty and 3-10 overall despite a hat trick from Devin Hassinger and one goal and two assists from Emily Kolsevich.

Upper Merion 16, Upper Moreland 5

Casey Griffith had five goals and an assist and Jackie Schauble added four goals and two assists while Mel Ryan had three goals and two assists to lead the Vikings to the Suburban One American Conference victory. Ally Frymoyer added eight saves for Upper Merion.

Lily Sgro led the Bears with a goal and two assists.

Friends Central School 21, Abington Friends 6

Becca Dahle collected seven goals, three assists, three draw controls and two groundballs while Ashley Tedesco added five goals, seven assists and three draw controls to lead FCS to the Friends Schools League victory. Emma Dahle added four goals, six assists, three draw controls and three groundballs for the Phoenix.

George School 11, Lower Moreland 0

Kate Harkins had three goals, two caused turnovers and two groundballs to lead the Cougars to the victory.

PAC-10Sports.com contributed to this article

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/21/11
Staff Reports &
Courtesy of SuburbanOneSports.com

Trevor Kupecky dished off an amazing 10 assists sand scored three goals to pace visiting Upper Merion to an 18-3 victory over Norristown Wednesday in Suburban One American Conference boys’ lacrosse.

Wesley McDowell contributed four goals and two assists and Pat Vandergeest scored four goals while Luc Minnich added three goals and four assists for the Vikings (6-4, 5-1). Robby Boyk had one goal and two assists, and Lorran DaCosta and Clay Greenaway each had one goal. Conor Crowe made six saves.

Sean Calhoun scored three goals to lead the Eagles, and Jake Naseef had one goal.

Central Bucks East 15, North Penn 2

The Patriots led 6-0 at the end of one quarter and stretched that lead to a commanding 10-1 by halftime on their way to the Suburban One Continental win.

Ten players contributed goals for the Patriots. Chris Vetter, Eric Riva, Warren Kuhn, Jack Tilger and Parker Self each scored a pair of goals. Blake Ament, Brian Garcia, Sean Reilly, Scott Morgan and Ethan DeBuque scored one goal apiece.
Self also had four assists.

Abington 16, Harry S. Truman 0

Eleven players got into the scoring column for the Ghosts, who were led by the four-goal, one-assist effort of Matt Figeuroa. Cory Leech, Shane Dunn and Brian Gallagher each added two goals with Gallagher also contributing four assists.

Contributing single goals for the Ghosts were Ryan Ambler (assist), Matt Lomady, Nick Pisko, Joe Bisacquino, Brian Stutz (two assists) and Will Dulin (assist).
Austin Pifani led the Ghosts defensively with nine groundballs while Josh Kluver had six.

Erin Goldsborough turned away three shots in goal for the Ghosts.

Pennsbury 12, Council Rock South 7

The Falcons led 2-1 at the end of one quarter but extended that lead to 5-2 by halftime and then outscored the Golden Hawks 7-5 in the second half.

Calvin Hopkins led the Falcons’ attack with three goals and two assists. Teammate Ricky Jutkiewicz had two goals and two assists while Josh Caven and Evan Caterson both had two goals. Andrew Probst and Colin Sullivan both added one goal and two assists, and Christian DeVaul had one goal.

Pennsbury goalie Drew Sweetland turned away 12 shots, including five in the first quarter which allowed the Falcons to maintain their lead.

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/12/11

Ray Vandegrift scored with 43 seconds left in overtime off a feed from Joey Sankey to give host Penn Charter a 10-9 victory over Episcopal Academy today in Inter-Ac League lacrosse.

Tyler White led the Quakers (6-4, 1-2) with three goals and Grant Guyer added two goals and one assist. Vandegrift scored twice and Sankey had a goal and four assists, while Jackson Tamasitis made 13 saves.

Tyler Odell led EA with four goals and an assists and Ian Strain scored three goals while Shane Morrell scored twice and Connor Haab added three assists.

Conestoga 10, Springfield-Delco 3

Bradlee Lord had two goals and two assists, Connor Frisina scored twice and Kyle Morrison and Tyler Brooke each had a goal and an assist for the unbeaten Pioneers in their Central League win over the defending champion.

Garnet Valley 12, Penncrest 4

Steve Smyrl collected four goals and two assists and Joseph Taulane added two goals and an assist to pace the Jaguars to the Central League win.

Upper Merion 10, Wissahickon 5

Luc Minnich had three goals and an assist, Lorran DaCosta added three goals and Trevor Kupecki had two goals and three assists to lead the Vikings to the Suburban One American victory

Brooks Melvin led the Trojans with two goals and an assist.

Germantown Academy 15, Chestnut Hill Academy 5

Reid Weber had five goals and two assists and Billy Oppenheimer dished off eight assists as the Patriots earned the non-league win.

Beau Jones had a goal and four assists while Greg Shildkrout, George Robinson and George Riter had two goals apiece for GA.

Downingtown West 12, Great Valley 6

Brad Shenberger and Dylan Ikkala each scored three goals and Zach Logan had a pair to help the Whippets remain undefeated.

Eric Rankel added a goal and three assists and Dustin Keen made eight saves for Downingtown West.

Eric Gartner and Dan Buchholz each scored two goals for Great Valley

Parkland 15, Easton 4

Kurtis Kaunas had four goals and three assists to lead Parkland to the Lehigh Valley Conference win.