By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/21/10
Philadelphia’s Inter-Ac League officials have announced the creation of the Inter-Ac Invitational Tournament, which will grow from a post-season league tourney to include three prep schools located on the borders of the region.
Haverford School, Malvern Prep, Episcopal Academy, Penn Charter and Germantown Academy, teams that comprise the perennial Philly power league, will join with The Hill School (PA), Lawrenceville School (N.J.) and Peddie School (N.J.) in the eight-team field.
The teams will be seeded after a coaches meeting, according to tentative plans, Haverford School coach John Nostrant said. The first-round games will be held on May 17 at home fields of the higher seeds. The semifinals (May 19) and finals (May 21) are tentatively set to be played at Villanova University.
Last year the Inter-Ac League held its first post-season tournament, which did not determine the league champion. Haverford School and Malvern Prep shared that title by virtue of their 6-2 records in the regular season. Haverford then handled the Friars, 9-5, in the playoff title game.
Last year Haverford School went 16-8 and finished 27th in the final LaxPower National Coaches/Computer Ratings. Lawrenceville (13-6) was No, 109 and Malvern Prep (11-9) was No. 128.
The tournament was created because Inter-Ac teams were unable to play for the Pennsylvania state championship last year for the first time. That occurred because the state’s governing board, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), sanctioned boys’ lacrosse for the first time. The Inter-Ac League is not a member of the PIAA.
Nostrant began to push for an opportunity to have the prep schools compete for a major championship due to the teams’ exclusion from the state playoffs. He said his goal is to ultimately create a Mid-Atlantic/New England Prep championship tourney that would include teams from the power regions of New York and Maryland and also extend up North to Canada.
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