By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/4/11
Conestoga rising senior face-off specialist/midfielder Zack Gregory has made a verbal commitment to play Division I lacrosse at Towson University.
Gregory was a Second Team Central League pick this year and helped the Pioneers claim their second straight Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) championship. He plays club lacrosse for Mesa Fresh 2012.
Gregory is the ninth Pioneer in the Class of 2012 to commit to a Division I program. The others are: attackmen Connor Frisina (Delaware, Bradlee Lord (Maryland) and Tyler Brooke (Maryland), midfielders Mike McGregor (Drexel), Jortdan Klunder (Drexel) and Adam Goins (Notre Dame), defenseman Jamie Ikeda (Duke) and long stick midfielder Miles Thomas (Drexel).
Gregory, a Second Honors student who plans to major in business or communications, enjoyed the campus at Towson when he competed recently at the 205 Lacrosse Camps. Towson is coached by recently-promoted Shawn Nadelen.
“I felt comfortable with the campus at the 205 camp,” Gregory said. “I got to play in the (Johnny Unitas) stadium in the All-Star game and Coach Nadelen and his assistants have a winning attitude – like we do at Conestoga.
“I like the fact the school is not too big. Education-wise, it was the right fit.”
Gregory said the Pioneers realizes all their goals in the 2011 season. For the first time the program won the Central League, District 1 and PIAA crowns in the same year and Conestoga was ranked No. 3 or higher in every national poll.
Gregory is the second Philly rising senior to commit to Towson in the last week, following Central Bucks East attackman Chris Vetter.
“We lost 17 seniors, so everyone knew we had a lot of young guys that had to step up,” he said. “A lot of guys had to grow and mature and get better.
“We were all close and we hung out together. We set goals for ourselves and one was to win another state championship. The main goal was to win all three – the Central League, districts and the state championship because we hadn’t done that.
“It was really exciting to do that and be part of that team. For me it was an incredible privilege. A lot of the credit goes to coach Samson; he is the heart and soul of the team and helped us win the state championship again.”
Gregory also wished to thank Mesa Fresh coaches Rob Lord and Peter Rohr, as well as his parents for helping in his development.
