Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/27/09
Rebel Elite Lacrosse won the High School “A” Division championship at the Brine Summer Sizzle Lacrosse Tournament July 17-19 at Bel Air, Md.
Joey Sankey, a Penn Charter rising junior who recently committed to North Carolina, tallied five goals as Rebel Elite blanked Next Level, 6-0, in the title game. Mac Lee (Episcopal Academy) and Andrew Sabia (Roman Catholic) combined for the rare shutout.
After losing its opener to Rockfish, 6-4, Rebel Elite rattled off seven straight victories to win the bracket, which consisted of 48 teams.
Also, Shawn Kaplan (Plymouth Whitemarsh/committed to Ohio State) won over 90 percent of his face-offs during the team’s run. Ben Sampson (Emmaus) scooped up 14 groundballs, and Ed Coombs (Hatboro Horsham) and Beau Gomez (Wissahickon) were key in the team’s success.
With victory, Rebel Elite again qualifies to attend Dick’s Tournament of Champions in Tampa area Jan.1-3. Rebel took fifth place overall last year at Dick’s Tournament.
Mesa Fresh 2012 wins High School B title at Summer Sizzle
Mesa Fresh 2012, consisting of high school freshmen and sophomores, won its 64-team bracket at the Brine Summer Sizzle.
Mesa went 9-0 to take the title, beating the following teams on route to the championship by these scores: PURE (11-0); Alexandria Travel Black (9-2); Thunder Lacrosse (9-0); Team Lax World (5-4); Trilogy New Jersey Blue (11-2); CMD Lax (9-2) – 1st playoff round; Rock Lacrosse – Mezzanotte (7-1) – quarterfinals; Madlax Sophomores Orange (4-3, OT) – semifinals; and Rock Lacrosse – Lime (3-1) in the finals.
Twist wins U-15 A at Summer Sizzle
Twist Lacrosse downed LB3, 11-3 in an all-Philly championship game at the Brine Summer Sizzle in the U15A division. Twist allowed only 10 goals over six games and posted two shutouts.
HEADstrong fares well at Long Island Classic
Team HEADstrong fell in the quarterfinals to the NH Tomahawks Purple, 9-6, at the Long Island Classic July 19. That loss came after HEADstrong downed Spartan 360 (N.J.), 9-2, in the first round of the playoffs.
In pool play, Team HEADstrong (3-2 overall) opened with a 6-3 triumph over Lehigh Valley, a team comprised of players mostly from Emmaus, Easton and Parkland. HEADstrong then beat Walt Whitman, a physical Long Island team, 9-2.
In its next game, Team HEADstrong fell to Team Long Island, 7-5.
Mesa Fresh 2010 goes 7-1 at Gait Cup
Over the 4th of July holiday weekend, Mesa Fresh 2010 finished 7-1 in the Gait Cup, an elite team tournament hosted by Gettysburg College. Mesa Fresh fell to the eventual champion, Green Turtle (MD), in the semifinals 8-6.
Team HEADstrong goes 4-0 at UPLax tournament in Annapolis
Team HEADstrong went 4-0 in the UPLaxTournament June 28 in Annapolis.
HEADstrong defeated Buffalo Lax, 6-3, in its opener. Henry Lobb (Malvern Prep), Bryson Craft (Episcopal Academy) and Jack Moran (Malvern Prep) led a solid defense and James Brandolini (Malvern Prep) and Chris Shubert (Pennsbury) were strong in goal.
In its second game, HEADstrong dumped the Roadhawks, 7-2, as Tyler Rankel (Downingtown West), Jeff Zelinski (Downingtown East) played strong at midfield and Beau Brady (Radnor) and Brandolini stood out in goal.
HEADstrong then downed Maryland power Georgetown Prep, 6-3, as Ercol Acri (Mechanicsburg HS), Kenneth Warren (Pennsbury) led the attack while Lobb paced the defense. Brady and Shubert share the goaltending.
In the finale, Team HEADstrong stopped NoVa West, 7-3, as Headstrong tallied seven unanswered tallies. Zelinski was strong at midfield while Brady, Brandolini and Shubert played in the goal.
