By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/18/11
With 70 college coaches on hand and four top club programs from the Mid-Atlantic region on stage, the Philadelphia lacrosse community again showed its heart tonight.
On the eve of the Philly Boys Showcase, the nation’s top fall recruiting tournament kicked off at St. Joseph’s University with the Logan Schweiter Benefit.
Before A hefty crowd of over 500 people, New Jersey’s Leading Edge 2013 toppled Philly’s Duke’s Lacrosse Club (2013), 7-4, in the second of a doubleader. In the opener, Mesa Fresh 2013 edged HEADstrong, 4-3.
The event raised an unofficial total of over $4,000 for the NATF Mid-Atlantic Brain Trauma Fund in the name of Logan Schweiter, the 12-year-old Conestoga Youth Lacrosse player who suffered serious head injuries after being trapped in flooded waters in July.
Just Wednesday more than 170 players from Conestoga, Haverford School, Malvern Prep and host Radnor played in the “4 School Lax Mix,” another benefit event for NTAF Fund in the name of Schweiter family.
“We are grateful to NXT (directors of the Philly Showcase) and St. Joseph’s for putting this together,” said Marty Schweiter, Logan’s father. “It’s very flattering. Logan is a big competitor and would love to be on the field.
“This makes us feel proud about how tight this Philly lacrosse community is. We’re very proud to be a part of it.”
In the opener, Mesa Fresh got a key goal from defenseman Carson Scott (Conestoga) to break a 2-2 second-half tie to take the lead for good. Also scoring for Mesa were Craig Zebrowski (Salesianum School), Chris Daly (Lower Merion) and Chris Hilburn (Malvern Prep).
“It was really great to be out here,” said Zebrowski, a midfielder from Chester Springs. “There were a lot of coaches and it was a great opportunity to be noticed right before the winter.
“And we were playing for a real good cause.”
HEADstrong got a pair of goals from senior Trupert Ortlieb (Episcopal Academy) and a goal and an assist from senior Kyle Bush (Ridley).
“It was so much fun,” said Ortlieb. “Our team played well; it was a tough loss, But it also was for a great cause. Everyone played well on both sides.”
Leading Edge outscored the Duke’s L.C., 5-2 in the second half to take the nightcap. Sam Carson (Chatham), Josh Reinson (Montgomery) and Kevin Reidinger (West Morris Central) each scored two goals for Leading Edge.
Junior attackman Owen Evans (Henderson) had a goal and an assist for the Dukes while junior Reilly Hupfeldt (Haverford School), junior Tyler Fuhrman (Boyertown) and junior Paul Major (Spring-Ford) each scored once.
“It’s an awesome field here and we had a lot of fun, we just couldn’t get the win,” said Evans, who is playing in Saturday’s Junior-Sophomore Showcase and in Sunday’s Invitational Tournament. “It was great to play for that cause and hopefully the rest of the weekend is great.”
First-year St. Joseph’s coach Taylor Wray was thrilled to serve as host for the event.
“It’s something we wanted to be a part of,” said Wray. “Certainly, to get all these people on our campus is a great thing for St. Joe’s.
“But much more than that is having the opportunity for being a part of a great charitable event. As a Jesuit institution, our mission is to help cultivate men and women for others. And certainly tonight is an opportunity to be a part of that mission.
“Lacrosse is such a small community and when someone tied in to the Philly lacrosse community is faced with tragedy, it’s amazing to see everyone get together to help Logan and his family through it.”
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