Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/11/09
Team Philadelphia, comprised of players from the Philadelphia area, along with some South Jersey players and one player from Northern Virginia, had a solid showing in the 2009 Adidas National Lacrosse Classic on Thursday at Germantown, Md., by going 2-2 in its group standings.
The two-day tourney, featuring many of the top rising seniors and juniors in the country, had 20 teams from 28 states. It drew more than 40 coaches from Divisions I, II and III and MCLA.
Philadelphia faced some tough teams; first playing Baltimore Prep, which was composed of MIAA teams in the Baltimore area. Philadelphia jumped out first with a strong drive from X by Billy Donovan (Unionville).
Baltimore responded with four straight goals by Calvert Hall midfielders already committed to Johns Hopkins. Andrew Cacchio (Holy Ghost Prep)would sting the net next for Philly as well as a couple of great effort plays from Ryan Brewer (Henderson) on a behind-the-back pass from Ken Warren (Pennsbury) and a nice invert drive from Keith Dreyer (Malvern Prep).
The highlight of the game came from goalie Beau Brady (Radnor), who went coast to coast and ripped a shot top right corner in transition. Despite a strong defensive effort and solid goalie play from Brady and Steve Oppenheimer (Germantown Academy), Philly fell, 10-4.
Philly next faced Team NorCal from California and started slowly. After some great coast-to-coast drives by versatile middie Corbin Booker (Chestnut Hill Academy), Vince Travaglini (Malvern Prep), and Keegan Lawton (Bishop Shanahan), the offense started clicking in transition.
Long stick midfielders Bryson Craft (Episcopal Academy), Mike Bender (Emmaus), did an excellent job facing off with the long stick and LSM John Morganthaler provided wing play and harassed middies all day. The close defense of Jack Moran (Malvern Prep), Warner Bailey (Salisbury School-CT), and Ryan Lehman (Garnet Valley) was solid all weekend as anchored and quarterbacked the team defense and man down situations.
Jake Glancy (Malvern Prep), and Kevin Figaniak (Pennridge) did a solid job at attack/middie picking up GBs and controlling possession. Philly pulled away in this one, 9-4, after being down, 4-3, at halftime.
Philly then faced a key battle with Long Island North for the chance to advance to the playoff rounds. With multiple college coaches in attendance, Bender started out hot at the faceoff X and won several key draws that led to Philly jumping out 2-0 (goals by Cacchio and Dreyer) to start the game.
The teams traded goals before the Long Island faceoff man headed to Syracuse pop a couple to the cage to help his team gain a 3-goal lead halfway through the second half. Philly responded with big goals from Cacchio (four overall) and Travaglini while Lawton made big plays in transition.
With Long Island leading, 8-7, in the final minute, Moran was able to check the ball away and create a transition situation with a pass to Lawton. He bolted to the offensive end and made a great pass to Donovan for a 1v1 opportunity with the Long Island goaltender. But the play failed and the clock ticked away.
Philly, knowing it was knocked out of the playoff round, responded with a gutty 8-4 victory over Team Atlanta to claim third in the group. Philly came out and played with pride and character with goals from Glancy, Dreyer, Cacchio, Warren, Booker, Travaglini and Lawton.
Team Philly head coach Marty Kupprion (Lower Merion) and assistant Jason Christmas (Lower Merion) wish to commend the players for their effort throughout the tournament.
Rochester, coached won the championship for the second consecutive year following a 5-2 victory over Washington D.C. in the championship game. Rochester won its seven games by a combined 53 goals.
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