By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/29/10
For many Philly lacrosse players, Saturday’s perfect weather was an ideal opportunity for a homecoming.
No less than 10 players from Philly competed in the pro game that capped the LXM Pro 610 tour event at Radnor High – the first one held on the East Coast.
Several thousand fans flocked to suburban Philadelphia on a brilliant sunny day to watch a concert by D.C. rapper Wale and hang with pro lacrosse players, who ran free clinics and signed hundreds of autographs after the game.
Monster Energy won the contest, 10-9, over New Balance, on two late goals by former Philadelphia Wing and Game MVP Jimmy Borell. The game was somewhat sloppy at first, but heated up and remained close throughout.
Monster Energy featured two of the five co-founders of LXM Pro – Radnor graduates and brothers Max and Xander Ritz (both from University of Maryland) – as well as Michael Colleluori (Ridley/Hofstra).
(Click here for same-day coverage of the event)
New Balance featured six Philly products – midfielders John Christmas (Lower Merion/Virginia/Wings), Ryan Cranston (Henderson/Lynchburg), Todd Fairlie (Penncrest/Widener) and Scott Kahoe (Radnor/Syracuse), and defensemen Brett Moyer (Ridley/Hofstra), Brian Kelly (Downingtown/Whittier, CA, grad and coach), and Steven Holmes (Germantown Academy/Virginia).
Fairlie, Cranston and Kahoe each scored once and Christmas tallied a pair, the second one tying the game, 8-8, with 9:27 to play. Sean Lindsey (Syracuse) put New Balance ahead, 9-8, with 7:32 to play, but Borell tied it less than two minutes later and won it with 29.9 to play off a feed from Michael Watson (Virginia).
After Lindsay scored early in the second period to drew New Balance within, 4-3, neither team led by more than a goal at any time.
The Philly 610 event was the third on the LXM Tour; the first two were held in Orange County, Calif., and Austin, Texas.
“I have been playing since the first event at Orange County and it means a lot to have one in Philadelphia,” Moyer said. “’There are probably 10 guys from the Philadelphia area here and Philadelphia is a pretty prominent area for lacrosse so it’s always good to bring in a bunch of professionals at the highest level and show them what the potential is.
“The last event in Austin was 90 to 100 degrees; tonight was good. We didn’t come out with the ‘W,’ but everything else was perfect.”
Christmas, who continues to make a name for himself as co-founder of the LEAPS lacrosse program, also enjoyed the event.
“It was really fun coming back here,” said Christmas. “I played a lot on this field (at Lower Merion) and I was fortunate to win most of the time, just not today. It was a great atmosphere; it was unbelievable.”
Christmas said the game is supposed to be more of an event for entertainment, but winning is equally important.
“No one wants to lose,” he said. “The last seven minutes, you want to win! There are incentives to win.”
Moyer said he had about 50 family and friends at the event. He noted that some also came to see former Green Raider Colleluori make his pro debut.
Colleluori said: “It was very exciting. I hadn’t picked a stick up until the last two weeks; I’ll get into the groove. It was a great time, there was great talent and it was a fun event.
“I have a lot of friends here and a lot of memories on this field playing against Radnor.”
Monster Energy 10, New Balance 9
New Balance 1-4-2-2 – 9
Monster Energy 3-2-1-4 – 10
NB: John Christmas 2 goals; Sean Lindsay 2 goals, Greg Peyser 1 goal, 3 assists; Scott Kahoe 1 goal; Todd Fairlie 1 goal; Ryan Cranston 1 goal; Sean Morris 1 goal. Alex Hewit 7 saves.
ME: Jimmy Borell 2 goals; Lewis Ratcliff 2 goals; Joe Walters 2 goals; Brandon Corp 1 goal; Michael Watson 1 goal, one assist; Kyle Harrison 1 goal; Dan Gallagher 1 goal. Henry Alford 12 saves.
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