Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/24/08
As Johns Hopkins gears for yet another monumental battle with Duke in today’s (2:30) NCAA men’s Division I semifinal at Foxborough, Mass., several local products could play roles in the contest.
Hopkins (10-5) features junior middie Brian Christopher (Springfield-Delco), freshman face-off specialist Matt Dolente (Malvern Prep), senior defensive middie George Castle (Penn Charter) and freshman attacker Kyle Wharton (Haverford School) as top reserves.
Christopher is one of the top offensive middie reserves and has five goals and five assists along with eight groundballs. Dolente is the team’s No. 2 face-off man and has won 45 percent (46 of 102) of his face-offs while scooping 24 groundballs. He also has one goal and one assist.
Castle has scooped 11 groundballs and has one goal while Wharton has three goals and seven groundballs. All four of the players have been in all 15 Blue Jays games.
Hopkins defeated Duke in last year’s title game, 12-11, and in the 2005 championship game, 9-8
Clausen leads Virginia defense
Sophomore Ken Clausen (Hill School), a Downingtown native, will be a key defender for the Cavaliers (14-3) when they meet Syracuse today in the semifinal at noon.
Clausen leads Virginia in groundballs (57) and caused turnovers (26).
Also, freshman reserve attacker John Haldy (Haverford School) had one goal and three assists in five games.
