By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/17/10
Stephen Aitken scored four goals and Carl Walrath added three goals and one assist today as host Haverford school defeated Chatham (N.J.), 14-7, in the 2nd Annual Nike “Checking for Cancer” Lacrosse Invitational.
The game was one of six scheduled today in what has quickly become one of the nation’s top collection of boys’ talent. But the event has much more significance than just lacrosse.
The event was created to raise funds and awareness for detection, treatment and prevention of the three major male cancers: Testicular, Colorectal and Prostate. The Haverford campus was filled with literature and information centers to help educate all about the need and opportunities for cancer prevention. Information also can be found on the event website at checkingforcancer.org.
The event also is expected to raise $20,000 for cancer research.
Haverford Coach John Nostrant and Georgetown Prep coach Kevin Giblin are the driving force behind the event. The two college teammates from Washington College were diagnosed with cancer within months of each other two years ago.
Nostrant is in remission from prostate cancer and Giblin continues to make great progress after being diagnosed with colon cancer.
“It is a great day and to have these teams with this much talent all in one place is great,” said Nostrant. “All the families in the communities for these schools have given tremendously.
“It’s an awesome day and a good win for us. But the games are secondary to the cause and it’s great to be around quality people.”
Haverford (10-2), the top-ranked team in the PA Media Lacrosse rankings and ranked No. 4 by LaxPower and No. 18 by Under Armour/Inside Lacrosse, raced to an 11-3 halftime lead and never was challenged. Conor Kelly made nine stops and Colin Heffernan had six saves in goal and Liam O’Connor added a goal and an assist while dominating at the face-off X.
“This is a great event for our team and our coach since he is affected by cancer,” said Walrath. “He told us before the game that everyone is affected by cancer and that if you haven’t been yet you will be sometime in your life.
“It’s great to come out here and show some awareness.”
Nopstrant wished to thank the parents of his players for putting together the invitational and making it a national event.
“The one thing I must say to my parents is they’ve taken the ball and run with it and really ramped it up. It’s a first-class tournament and the parents have done a great job.”
Hup Hupfeldt, Brendan McGrath, Sam Rohr, Matt Walters, Grove Stewart and Whit Bowles each scored once for the Fords.
Robert Guida (signed with Johns Hopkins) led Chatham (5-2) with three goals.
