College commitment: Springfield-Delco’s Burns makes verbal commitment to the University of Delaware

By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/20/09

Springfield-Delco All-American midfielder Shannon Burns has given a verbal committed to play Division I lacrosse at the University of Delaware.

Burns earned first-team All-American and Academic All-American honors from US Lacrosse. She also was named first-team All-Central League and second-team All-Phillylacrosse.com in 2009 when she helped the Cougars win their fourth straight District 1 championship and sixth in seven years.

Burns had 66 goals as Springfield-Delco finished 22-3 and finished second both in the final Phillylacrosse.com and PA Media Rankings. She also played on the Philly1 team that won the title at the US Lacrosse National Tournament in late May.

Burns has not picked a major, but is leaning toward studying business and perhaps pursuing sports marketing.

“I just went looking for the best school,” she said. “I liked the campus and the fact it was not that far away. I also didn’t want to be in a city, but in a place (Newark) that has a city setting.”

At Delaware, Burns will join fellow Philly recruits Liz Wilson (Abington, defense) and Abbie Hartman (North Penn, attack).

Springfield-Delco started the 2009 season with a 1-2 mark, including a 15-5 loss to eventual Central League and state champion Radnor, its arch rival. But the Cougars jelled as the season progressed, winning 21 in a row. The highlight was a 14-9 shocker over Radnor in the District 1 finals; the lone defeat of the year for the Red Raiders.

“In the beginning of the season, we had a lot of freshmen starting and it took a little while for them to get the hang of it,” Burns said. “We started playing together and it clicked. We worked really hard; all we wanted was to beat Radnor.”