Philly players played key roles on Salisbury's title
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/17
    Philadelphia players made major contributions in helping undefeated Salisbury University claim its second straight Division III national championship last month and eighth overall.
    The Sea Gulls capped a 22-0 season May 25 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., by defeating Cortland State, 19-13. Salisbury has won five of the last six NCAA titles.
    Senior defender Ryan Phillips (Downingtown) scored one of his season’s two goals in the championship win. Phillips, who started in 16 games, had three caused turnovers and one groundball in the title-clincher.
    Senior midfielder Michael Lennon (Lower Merion) scooped one groundball in the title game. He finished the season with five goals and two assists in 21 games.
    The rest of the Philly players: freshman long-stick midfielder Stephen Roberts (Downingtown West) had 34 groundballs in 17 games as a key reserve; sophomore midfielder Brian Schuster (St. Joseph’s Prep) had one goal and five assists in 12 games; sophomore midfielder Scott Rumford (Penncrest) had a goal and three groundballs in 10 games; freshman defender Jeff Hoffman (Perkiomen Valley) had an assist and five groundballs in 13 games; freshman defender Nick Mooney (Interboro) appeared in nine games.

Villanova men, women will play lax in Big East

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/12
    Both Villanova lacrosse programs will enter the Big East Conference in the 2009-2010 seasons.
    The announcement was made late Wednesday after the Big East announced it will sponsor men’s lacrosse for the first time and form a seven-team league.
The Villanova women, who have been an independent the past two years, will enter the Big East as well and become the ninth team in the conference. The Big East next year is adding women’s programs Louisville and Cincinnati. Villanova formerly was a member of the Patriot League.
    The seven schools that will participate in the newly formed men’s league are Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John's, Syracuse and Villanova. The teams will play a six-game single round-robin regular season schedule. The Big East will apply for an automatic bid to the 16-team championship field.
    Syracuse won the 2008 NCAA Men's Lacrosse national title, the program's 10th, after earning an at-large bid as a Division I Independent. Notre Dame also garnered a berth into the national tournament as an automatic qualifier from the Great Western Lacrosse League. Currently, Georgetown, Rutgers and St. John's are part of the ECAC, Providence is a member of the MAAC and Villanova plays in the Colonial Athletic Association.
    The Villanova men's and women's lacrosse teams are both established programs among the 24 varsity sports at the University. The men's lacrosse team has competed in the Colonial Athletic Association since 2002 and qualified for the league's postseason conference tournament in five of the past six seasons.
    “We are very excited about the formation of the men's lacrosse league,” Villanova head coach Mike Corrado said. “It is an honor to have a conference such as the Big East take interest in the seven men's lacrosse programs that will join the new league. This is a great step for the future of our program and for the college lacrosse world.”

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/26
    Penn coach Karin Brower was disappointed and yet proud of her team’s remarkable trek to the NCAA Division I championship game following Sunday’s 10-6 loss to Northwestern at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium.
    “We are just really happy that we had a fabulous season," said Brower. "I have a great group of young girls that worked really hard all year to get us to this point and I am just really proud of them.
    “They fought the entire game and worked their hearts out. I have to give a lot of credit to Northwestern."
The Wildcats claimed their fourth straight NCAA title, opening up a 5-2 halftime lead and then staving off a furious Penn comeback attempt in the second half.
    Second-seeded Penn (17-2) trailed, 8-3, after the top-seeded Wildcats (21-1) tallied three unanswered goals in a span of just over one-and-a-half minutes early in the second half. But scores by Chelsea Kocis, Ali DeLuca (two goals) and Rachel Manson cut the deficit to 8-6 with 13:57 to play.
    Penn had a chance to get another goal back after winning the ensuing draw, but Katrina Dowd intercepted a pass to set up Hannah Nielson’s second goal. Nielson scored the hat trick with her 51st goal of the season with just over three and a half minutes remaining in the game to ice the game.
    The goal came after Penn's Allison Ambrozy hit two posts on two consecutive shots with 8:30 remaining in the game. After that sequence, Northwestern held the ball for the remainder of the game, taking away any chance Penn had for a comeback.
    Penn outshot the Wildcats by one, 20-19. The only clear difference on the stat sheet was in draw controls, where Northwestern outdrew the Quakers, 11-7, the differential of four equaling the difference on the scoreboard after the final horn.
    Morgan Lathrop had 11 saves in goal for the ‘Cats while Sarah Waxman stopped six shots for the Red and Blue. Emma Spiro and Kaitlyn Lombardo also scored for Penn
    The Quakers had three players named to the All-Tournament Team: Melissa Lehman, Hillary Renna and Manson. Northwestern's Hilary Bowen (three goals, one assist on Sunday) was named the Most Outstanding Player.
    The loss in the championship game does not overshadow the accomplishments of the 2008 team. Penn set a program-record for consecutive wins (15) and has gone 33-4 over the last two seasons - with three of the losses coming at the hands of Northwestern.
    “Not only did we make history for our program, we made history for our university, which is really exciting,” Manson said.

Local grads lead Jays today against Duke

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/24
    As Johns Hopkins gears for yet another monumental battle with Duke in today’s (2:30) NCAA men’s Division I semifinal at Foxborough, Mass., several local products could play roles in the contest.
    Hopkins (10-5) features junior middie Brian Christopher (Springfield-Delco), freshman face-off specialist Matt Dolente (Malvern Prep), senior defensive middie George Castle (Penn Charter) and freshman attacker Kyle Wharton (Haverford School) as top reserves.
    Christopher is one of the top offensive middie reserves and has five goals and five assists along with eight groundballs. Dolente is the team’s No. 2 face-off man and has won 45 percent (46 of 102) of his face-offs while scooping 24 groundballs. He also has one goal and one assist.
    Castle has scooped 11 groundballs and has one goal while Wharton has three goals and seven groundballs. All four of the players have been in all 15 Blue Jays games.

    Hopkins defeated Duke in last year's title game, 12-11, and in the 2005 championship game, 9-8
Clausen leads Virginia defense
    Sophomore Ken Clausen (Hill School), a Downingtown native, will be a key defender for the Cavaliers (14-3) when they meet Syracuse today in the semifinal at noon.
    Clausen leads Virginia in groundballs (57) and caused turnovers (26).
    Also, freshman reserve attacker John Haldy (Haverford School) had one goal and three assists in five games.

Local products playing in NCAA Final Four

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/23
    When Penn takes on Duke tonight (8:30 p.m.) in the NCAA Women's Division I semifinals at Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md., the Quakers will face several familiar names to Philly lacrosse followers.
    Duke (13-7) features two Philadelphia products in its starting lineup, including freshman midfielder Emma Hamm (Baldwin School) and sophomore defender Sara Giedgowd (Conestoga).
    Hamm, the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year, on Wednesday was named an IWLCA second-team All-Regional selection and is getting consideration for All-American status. She has 31 goals and 21 assists as well as 38 groundballs and team highs in draw controls (51) and caused turnovers (28).
    Giedgowd, playing low defense, has 10 caused turnovers. Also, sophomore midfielder Christie Barnes (Radnor) has appeared in 11 games as a reserve and has one goal and one assist.

    Duke is coached by Haverford High graduate Kerstin Manning Kimel, a 1997 inductee into the Haverford High Hall of Fame.
Mosenson leads Syracuse
    Junior attacker Megan Mosenson (Great Valley) leads Syracuse in tonight’s semifinal opener (6 p.m.) against top-seeded Northwestern.
    Mosenson has 40 goals and 19 assists as well as 18 draw controls for the Orangewomen (18-2), the Big East champion. Sophomore attacker Jackie DePetris (Archbishop Carroll) has 21 goals for Syracuse.
    Northwestern (19-1) features freshman midfielder Colleen Magarity (Germantown Academy). Magarity has played in 16 games and has one goal for the Wildcats, the three-time defending champions.

Penn hosts first-round playoff game vs. Colgate

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/5
    The Penn women's lacrosse team drew the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division I tournament and will host Colgate Sunday at Franklin Field. Game time will be announced Tuesday.
    “We're very excited to be in the tournament, and to be in the top four and be at home for the first two rounds," said Quakers coach Karin Brower, whose Quakers are ranked first in Division I both major polls. "I think we need to just take this one game at a time like we have all season.”
    This is the second consecutive appearance for Penn in the NCAA tournament. After winning the 2007 Ivy League title, the Quakers went on the defeat Boston University and Maryland to advance to the Final Four. They were defeated by the eventual national champion Northwestern in the semifinal.
    The Quakers (14-1) have played Colgate twice, but not since 1978. Penn holds a slight advantage in the series at 1-0-1. Members of the Red and Blue will see a familiar face on the the opposing sideline, former Penn laxer Karrie Moore is an assistant for the Raiders.
    The 2008 Patriot League Champion, Colgate is 11-9 this season and led by Brie Moran (45 goals) and Meghan Lawler (41 goals) with 53 points each. Junior midfielder Molly Carroll (Strath Haven) has 27 goals and the goalie is junior Sara Drexler (Hill School).

    The Raiders have allowed 13.20 goals per game. By comparison, Penn has held opponents to 6.00 goals per game while scoring 10.40 on average.
    “I think it will be fun to play Colgate who is coached by one of our former players - Karrie Moore. I'm sure it will be mixed emotions for her," Brower.
Temple to play Terps again
    Temple (13-6) will face off against third-seeded and host Maryland (17-2) Sunday (1 p.m.) in the First Round of the Division I Tournament.
    This will be the third straight time that the Owls have played the Terps in First Round action, with Maryland taking the last two meetings in 2003 and 2004.
    The winner will advance to play either Georgetown or Duke in the quarterfinals. (CONTINUE)

 West Chester women earn Division II berth

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/5
    West Chester learned Sunday that it will be making its fifth straight trip, seventh overall, to the NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse championships.
    The Golden Rams (18-1) will face Limestone (17-1) at 3 p.m. at Memorial Park in Houston, Texas, in one national semifinal on Thursday, May 15 as part of the NCAA’s Spring Sports Festival. Adelphi (16-0) will battle defending champion C.W. Post (15-1) in the other national semifinal at 12:30 p.m.
    The Rams, who won their fifth straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship, lost to C.W. Post in last season’s national championship game in Salem, Va.
    West Chester, national runner-up in each of the last four seasons, is looking to win its second national championship after taking the title in 2002. The Rams earned their spot in this year’s NCAA semifinals by virtue of its second seed in the South Region. Limestone, ranked third in the country, is the top-ranked team in the South.
    The Golden Rams and Lady Saints will meet up for the second time this year. Limestone handed West Chester its only loss of 2008, 9-8, on its home turf, on March 9. It was the season opener for the Rams while the Saints had five regular-season games already under their belt.
Eastern meets Union in Division III
    Eastern University (14-4), the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC) champion, travels to Schenectady, N.Y., to face Union (13-3) Wednesday (4 p.m.) in the first round of the NCAA Division III women’s tournament.
    Eastern, which defeated Cabrini, 13-8, in the PAC title game Saturday, is making its third straight NCAA appearance. Union was the Liberty League runner-up.
Men
Cabrini, Haverford to meet
    Cabrini College will host Haverford College Saturday (1 p.m.) in a second-round Division III playoff game. The Cavaliers (16-2) won their eighth straight Pennsylvania Athletic Conference crown Saturday and are ranked seventh in the nation.
    Cabrini defeated the Fords, 13-8, on April 16. Ninth-ranked Haverford (11-4) fell in the Centennial Conference semifinals.
Widener travels to Denison
    Widener (10-7) will travel to Denison, Ohio, for a first-round Division III game Wednesday at 2 p.m. Denison (13-2) won the North Coast Athletic Conference crown and has won 10 straight games.
    The Big Red is out to avenge An 8-5 loss to Widener in last year’s NCAA tourney. That was the Pride’s first-ever NCAA tourney victory.

On second glance, Penn is alone at top of poll
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/1
    The Penn women's team is so hot it can win even when it doesn't play.
    The red-hot Quakers learned Thursday that an error was made in counting ballots in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Poll relaesed Tuesday. In that poll, Penn (13-1) was tied with Northwestern (15-1) for the No. 1 spot in the country in Division I - even though the Quakers had whipped the Wildcats, 11-7, on Sunday.
    On Thursday the corrected version of the poll was released and Penn stood first with 391points while three-time defending national champion Northwestern was second with 385. Penn has won 11 straight and is ranked first for the first time ever.
    The Quakers, who won their second straight Ivy League crown, close their season Saturday (1 p.m.) in a city grudge match with Temple at Franklin Field. The Owls, who last week won the Atlantic 10 championship, received votes in this week's poll but were not among the top 20 teams.
Temple coach Rosen gets US Lacrosse honor
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/30
    Temple head women’s lacrosse coach Bonnie Rosen has been selected as the US Lacrosse Coach of the week for the week ending April 27. Rosen, along with Jim Nagle of Colgate, will be recognized on CBS College Sports’ lacrosse broadcasts Saturday and Sunday.
    In her second year as Temple's head coach, Rosen led the Owls to the Atlantic 10 regular season championship and a record setting fifth A-10 Tournament crown. The 2008 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, Rosen guided Temple to a 13-5 overall record, a 6-1 mark in the conference and the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004. The 13 wins are the most since the 2003 season.
NCAA Tournament First Round play kicks off on Sunday, May 11. Match-ups will be announced on Monday on CBS College Sports Tonight at 7 p.m. EST.
Quakers take over top spot in national polls
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/29
    The Pennsylvania women’s lacrosse team – fresh off perhaps its biggest win in school history - has vaulted to the No. 1 spot for the first time in its history in two major Division I polls.
    The Quakers (13-1) are tied with Northwestern (15-1) in this week’s Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association/Under Armour National Poll (391 points). They also are alone at the top of the Inside Lacrosse media poll, one point ahead of Northwestern.
    Both polls were released Tuesday
    Penn defeated Northwestern – the three-time defending NCAA champion – 11-7 Sunday at Franklin Field to snap the Wildcats’ 36-game win streak.
    The Quakers close their regular season Saturday (1 p.m.) against Atlantic 10 champion and city rival Temple at Franklin Field. The first round of the NCAA tourney is Sunday, May 11.
    Penn earned several individual honors after its win over Northwestern. Freshman Giulia Giordano claimed her first honor on the offensive side while Sarah Waxman was named the defensive player for the second week.
Giordano led the Quaker offense with three goals and two assists against the Wildcats. Meanwhile, on the other end of the field, Waxman made seven big saves f
    The Wildcats entered the game averaging 16.80 goals per game—the second highest in the country, but Waxman and the defense shut out NU in the second half. The Quakers have not allowed any team to score more than 10 goals this season.
Landmark Conference honors
    Goucher senior midfielder Kate Knitter (Pennridge) and Catholic freshman attacker Katie Buonpastore (Lansdale Catholic) were named to the landmark Conference first-team all-league squad. Knitter had 51 goals and 13 assists for Goucher (6-9) while Buonpastore has 12 goals and 18 assists for Catholic (13-4, ranked 17th), which hosts Susquehanna for the Landmark title Wednesday.
    Making the league's second team were junior defender Cindy Wilson (Henderson) and senior attacker Erin McGarrigle (Great Valley) of Susquehanna and freshman defender Katie Slade (Central Bucks East) of Scranton.
Episcopal's McCallion leads Army into playoffs
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/22
    Army freshman midfielder Rob McCallion (Episcopal Academy) earned his third Rookie of the Week honor from the Patriot League
    McCallion, of Narberth, was recognized after another solid two-game performance last week. He started off with a goal and two assists in the Black Knights’ 12-4 victory over Lafayette, and then added a goal and an assist in a 10-6 loss to Duke on Saturday.
McCallion is tied for the team scoring lead with 30 points on 12 goals and a team-best 18 assists. He is also the only Black Knight that has scored in all 13 games this season.
    Army (9-4, 5-1 PL), ranked 11th in the latest USILA National Coaches Poll, and 13th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, earned the top seed for the upcoming Patriot League Tournament and will host the four-team field for this Friday’s semifinals and Sunday’s championship.
    The Black Knights will take on fourth-seeded Bucknell at 4:00 p.m. followed by matchup featuring second-seeded Navy and third-seeded Colgate at 7:00 p.m. in Michie Stadium. The two winning team’s will square off on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament going to the winner.
Villanova’s Lade is Rookie of Week
    Villanova freshman defender John Lade, of Randolph, N.J., has been named the Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week.    

    Lade was a key part of a stifling defensive effort that allowed Villanova to knock off Towson 7-4 last Friday night and clinch a berth in the conference tournament later this month. Lade, a member of the U.S. under-19 National team, totaled three caused turnovers in the win over the Tigers, picked up four ground balls and won a face-off as Villanova beat Towson for the first time ever to snap an 0-16 record against its longtime rival.
Georgetown’s Cannon is Player of Week
    Georgetown senior Brendan Cannon (Haverford School) was named the ECAC Lacrosse League's Offensive Player of the Week. It was the third time this season Cannon has been the league's Offensive Player of the Week and it is the fifth time he has been recognized by the league, having been selected to the honor roll twice.

    Cannon, a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, led Georgetown to a 12-8 win over league rival UMass on Saturday, scoring two goals in the fourth quarter after the Minutemen had narrowed a five-goal GU lead to 8-7 early in the final frame. The Hoyas improved to 8-3 overall with the win and are in second place in the ECAC.
Cannon, McKinney are Tewaaraton nominees
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted, 4/17
    Georgetown’s Brendan Cannon (Haverford School) and Notre Dame’s Caitlin McKinney (Germantown Academy) were named Tuesday as nominees for the 2008 Tewaaraton Trophy.
    Cannon, a senior attacker, was the ECAC Offensive Player of the Year last year and a second team All-America selection. This year he leads the Hoyas (7-3) – ranked fifth in the country - in scoring with 19 goals and 20 assists.
    McKinney, a senior midfielder, has ranks second on the Irish (ranked eighth) in scoring through 15 games with 32 goals and 18 assists.
    Earlier this season, McKinney became the second player in the program's history to go over 200 points for her career and is second all-time in points with 146 goals and 73 assists for 219 career points.
    McKinney is a two-time IWLCA All-American (second team in 2007, third in 2006) and has been selected all-Big East all three seasons at Notre Dame, taking second team honors in 2005 and first team honors in 2006 and 2007.
Gwynedd Mercy's Foley has Louisville on fire
By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/5
    Bergan Foley thought she’d like to get involved in something new when she decided to leave the Philadelphia area and accept a partial scholarship to play for a brand new program at Division I Louisville.
    But even the freshman attacker from Gwynedd Mercy Academy admits she never envisioned getting off to a start like this: After three games, Foley has a team-high 14 goals and Louisville is a perfect 3-0.
    In Louisville’s historic opener Feb. 22, Foley tallied four goals and two assists as the host Cards rocked Division II Bryant University, 21-3, before 727 people in cold and rainy weather. Two days later, Foley erupted for six goals in a 21-8 rout of visiting Manhattan.
    Then, on Sunday at Louisville Foley added four more tallies in a 19-3 blitzing of Robert Morris. Can you believe it?
    “No,” she said in a phone interview. “When I first came here, I didn’t know what to expect. But in Fall Ball, we beat top established teams that have been around. I don’t think anyone in the lacrosse world expected us to make these accomplishments – even our coach (Kellie Young) wasn’t expecting it.
    “Now, coach says we keep raising the bar more and more. We’re making such progress and getting better and better.”
    Foley, who scored 247 goals at Gwynedd Mercy and soon is coming home to play five games in the Philadelphia area, said she came to the Kentucky school most known for football and basketball for several reasons. The main ones were the coaching staff and the way the school embraced the coming of a new program.(CONTINUE)
West Chester women shoot for the top of heap
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/3
    West Chester has reached the NCAA Division II national championship five of the six years it has been played.
With a host of returning standouts – including three All-Americans – the Golden Rams are poised to return to the finals this year in hopes of earning their second national title.
    West Chester (19-2) fell to C.W. Post, 15-7, in last year’s title game. It is starting to sound like a broken record. In 2006 the Rams fell to Adelphi, 16-8, in the title game. The year before West Chester fell to Stonehill, 13-10, in the finals, and before that it was a loss to Adelphi, 13-11.
    There is clearly enough firepower this year for the Rams to get yet another shot at the top. Senior attacker Stephanie Kienle (Henderson) was the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Player of the Year last year when she set an NCAA Division II mark for scoring (140 points) with 74 goals and 66 assists.
    She is joined by fellow first-team All-American Jackie Baker (Penncrest), a junior attacker who scored 81 goals and had 109 points.   

    Meanwhile, sophomore midfielder Nicole Haines (Great Valley) had 44 goals and 13 assists.
    Other keys at midfield are Gina DiDomenicis. Katy Crouse (Boyertown), Courtney Whiting (Downingtown East) and Jen Forney and defenders Kimberlee Hachen (North Penn) and Lauren Tatios (West Chester East). Mary Beth Green (Henderson) returns in goal.
Also in Division II:
    Chestnut Hill College – The Griffins have nine returning starters back from a 6-7 team. The biggest name is junior attacker Katie Donovan (Archbishop Carroll), who had 66 goals last year and has 127 in her two seasons at Chestnut Hill.
    The offense also features junior midfielders Tiffanie Stanton (35 goals) and Stephanie Carlyle (34 goals). Other players back are attackers Stef Paternostro (Plymouth Whitemarsh), Maryann Glass and Amanda Concepcion and defenders Carley Glass (13 goals, 19 assists), Leann Caldwell and Sarah Possinger and goalie Stephanie Jordon (Souderton).  (CONTINUE)
Cabrini men hoping to crack Division III elite
By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/10
    This may be the year the Cabrini College men’s lacrosse team cracks the NCAA Division III elite.
    The Cavaliers have won seven straight Pennsylvania Athletic Conference championships and last year went 15-3, falling to Ithaca in the first round of the NCAAs. Cabrini finished 10th in the final NCAA poll, its highest ever.
    Couple that with the fact 29 players and four all-conference choices return to a team that already is 3-0 and has beaten highly-ranked Roanoke College. The Cavs are currently ranked 10th in the USILA Division III Coaches Poll.
    Coach Steve Colfer, who has a 94-26 record in his eight years at Cabrini, boasts four returning all-league picks: Sophomore attacker Casey Grugan (Ridley), junior attacker Scott Reimer (Downingtown West) junior middie Matt Conaway (West Chester East) junior long-stick middie Jeff Moore (Springfield-Delco).
    Reimer scored 45 goals last year while Grugan had 44 goals and 27 assists. Conaway had 21 goals and Moore led the team with 56 groundballs. The attack also features sophomore Rich Romanelli (28 goals).
    Also at midfield are seniors Pat Jenkins and Matt McKinney (Ridley) and juniors Mike Dolente (Spring-Ford), B.J. Kletcheck (Roman Catholic) and Kevin Fahey. The defense also features Joe Monroe (Marple Newtown), and junior Mike McFarlane (Roman Catholic), sophomore Steve Heaps and freshman Coleman Till (Downingtown East).  (CONTINUE)
Locals named to Tewaaraton award watch list
By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/22
    Drexel’s trio of Steve Grossi (Strath Haven), Andrew Chapman and Bruce Bickford head a large cast of local players selected by coaches across the country for the recently released Warrior Tewaaraton men’s and women’s preseason nominees.
    Grossi, a second-year captain, is a senior long-stick middie who earned first-team all-Colonial Athletic Association honors last year while leading the Dragons to an 11-5 season. Chapman, a senior attacker, scored 42 goals last year and Bickford, a senior, is a goalkeeper.
    Also on the men’s list is Villanova senior attacker Chris MacDonald, who had 19 goals and 18 assists last year for the Wildcats.
Other locals named to the list were Duke senior defender Tony McDevitt (Penn Charter), Maryland senior attacker Max Ritz (Radnor) and Penn State junior goalkeeper Drew Adams (Springfield-Delco).
    McDevitt, a third-team all-American last year, led Duke into the NCAA title game against Johns Hopkins. Ritz collected 24 goals and 25 assists last year and Adams is a two-time ECAC Goalie of the Year who posted a 7.78 goals against average last year for the Nittany Lions  (CONTINUE)
Penn looks to reload after reaching Final Four
By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/17
    Well, what can you do for an encore?
    Last year’s magical tour for the University of Pennsylvania women came to a crashing halt in the NCAA semifinals when the Quakers were throttled, 12-2, by eventual champion Northwestern.
    But even with the lopsided loss, the season was clearly the best in school history and one of the best for a Philadelphia women’s team in years. Penn went 16-2, won its first outright Ivy League crown in history (7-0) and go to play as the host school for the Final Four tournament at Franklin Field.
    Goalie Sarah Waxman and defender Hilary Renna were named first-team Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Association (IWLCA) All-Americans and attacker Chrissy Muller was a third-team pick. Coach Karin Brower was named National Coach of the Year. Later, Waxman was named the IWLCA C. Markland Kelly National Goalkeeper of the Year.
    Other than Muller, most of the key faces have returned. Waxman, a senior, and Renna, a junior, lead the defense and sophomore Ali DeLuca was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 2007 after scoring 34 goals   (CONTINUE)
Drexel men look to make noise again in Division I
By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/16
    Last year the Drexel Dragons shocked the lacrosse world with an early-season upset. Can lightning strike twice?
That’s the question as the Dragons, the 18th-ranked team in Division I, open their season Sunday at home against No. 3 Virginia at 2 p.m. on a game that will be shown on CN8.
    In 2007 Drexel opened its season at Virginia, the defending NCAA champions. All the Dragons did was triumph, 11-10, as freshman Colin Ambler (Abington graduate) scored twice in the final 10 seconds.
    Drexel went on to enjoy an 11-5 season, tied for the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular-season title (5-1) and nearly claimed its first NCAA tournament berth.
    This year Drexel heads into the season with even higher expectations and a number of season veterans, including eight returning starters.
    Three different Drexel players were selected by Inside Lacrosse in its preseason positional rankings: Steve Grossi (Strath Haven), Bruce Bickford and Kevin Dart.
    Grossi, a co-captain for the second straight year, was picked as the sixth best longstick midfielder in the nation. He was a First Team All-CAA pick a year ago and was a Second Team pick as a freshman and sophomore.
    Bickford is coming off an outstanding year in the cage for the Dragons. The senior was ranked as the ninth best goalkeeper entering the 2008 season. Bickford was eighth in the nation in goals against average a year ago and led the CAA and was ninth nationally in save percentage at .590. He was a First Team All-CAA selection last season. (CONTINUE)
Award named in honor of fallen hero Colleluori 
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/16
    Hofstra University Director of Athletics Jack Hayes announced this week that the Pride's Unsung Hero Award, which was established in 2007, will be named in memory of former Hofstra player and Ridley High graduate Nick Colleluori beginning with the 2008 Awards Banquet this Spring.
    Colleluori, who waged a courageous 14-month fight against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, passed away in November 2006 at 21 years old. The Holmes native, whose brother Michael, a junior midfielder, is a starter at Hofstra, played in all 16 games as a freshman defender for the Pride in 2005. He lettered in lacrosse, football and wrestling at Ridley High School, where he was graduated in 2004.
    The Nick Colleluori Unsung Hero Award recognizes the accomplishments of student-athletes who help their respective teams achieve success in ways that may not always be measured by statistics. The 2007 recipients were women's basketball player Lana Harshaw and men's soccer player Gary Flood.
    “Nick was an outstanding representative of Hofstra University and he embodied everything good about college athletics," Hayes said. “Nick was hard-working, honest, enthusiastic and courageous."
    "He was a student-athlete who totally embraced the philosophy of team. We look forward to annually recognizing two student-athletes that share the qualities that Nick so proudly displayed.”
Area grads are key players in Division III chase
By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/10
    The Salisbury University Sea Gulls have claimed four of the last five NCAA Division III men’s lacrosse championships. It was no surprise that every major pre-season poll listed the Gulls as the top rated team for 2008.
    Salisbury, which cruised through a perfect 23-0 campaign last year, features several Philadelphia-area graduates in its regular lineup. Senior middie Michael Lennon (Lower Merion) had four goals and nine assists last year while sophomore midfielder Brian Schuster (St. Joseph’s Prep) added six goals and three assists in a solid freshman year.
    Senior defender Ryan Phillips (Downingtown) was a reserve (13 games) and sophomore middie Scott Rumford (Penncrest) played in 10 games.
    Freshmen this year include defenders Jeff Hoffman (Perkiomen Valley) and Nick Mooney (Interboro) and longstick middie Stephen Roberts (Downingtown West). (CONTINUE.)
Men's Division I Top 20 teams dominated by Philadelphia student-athletes
By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/28
    If you’re interested in watching major college men’s lacrosse this year, you’ll also get the chance to see a large contingent of Philadelphia area products,
    Seventeen of the top 20 teams in the Lacrosse magazine pre-season men’s poll have players on their roster from the area. In all, 62 Philadelphia-area student-athletes are on the rosters of top 20 teams.
The following is s recap of Lacrosse magazine’s top 20 and the local talent.
    1. Duke – Senior defender Tony McDevitt (Penn Charter) is a mainstay for a team that lost in the NCAA finals last year to Johns Hopkins, 12-11. McDevitt returns for his fifth season after the NCAA granted Blue Devils. (CONTINUE.)
Local products dot Division I teams for Women
By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/23
    Philadelphia area products should figure prominently this year in the major women’s Division I scene.
    No less than 16 of the top 20 teams in the recently-released Lacrosse magazine pre-season poll feature players from the area.
The following is a brief recap as the season draws near.
    1. Northwestern – The three-time defending champion Wildcats get a boost with the addition of freshman midfielder Colleen Magarity (Germantown Academy), who was a member of the gold-medal winning U.S. Lacrosse team’s Under-19 squad last summer. Magarity, a two-time first-team All-American, was listed as the fifth best recruit in the nation by Rise Magazine. (CONTINUE.)
West Chester ranked 1st in pre-season poll
By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 1/21
    West Chester University, which has reached the NCAA women’s Division II championship game in six of the seven years it has been played, is ranked No. 1 in the country in Lacrosse magazine’s pre-season poll.
    The Golden Rams finished 19-2 last year and fell to C.W. Post, 15-7, in the NCAA title game. West Chester has fallen in the finals each of the past four years, and won the crown in 2002.
    Ranked behind the Rams are C.W. Post, Stonehill, Adelphi, Lock Haven, Limestone, Pfeiffer, Gannon, Queens and Philadelphia University.
    WCU, which has won the past four Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PSAC) titles, set a school record for wins last year, going 19-2. The team is guided by Ginny Martino, who enters her 11th season as head coach after earning the IWLCA South Region coach of the year in Division II as well as FieldTurf Division II coach of the year.
    This year’s team will be led by senior record-setter Stephanie Kienle (Henderson), who set the NCAA mark for points in a single season with 140 in 2007. Kienle scored 74 goals and tacked on 66 assists while being named a Division II All-American and the PSAC player of the year.
    Also returning is Jackie Baker (Penncrest), a junior, and another Division II All-American and All-PSAC honoree, who led the Golden Rams in goals (81). Baker was second nationally in goals scoring with a 3.82 goals per game average. Baker finished with 109 points and a team-high eight game-winning goals.
    Other key returnees include sophomore midfielder Nicole Haines (44 goals) of Great Valley, junior midfielder Gina DiDomenicis, junior defender Kimberlee Hachen (North Penn), sophomore midfielder Katy Crouse (Boyertown), sophomore midfielder Lauren Tatios (West Chester East), and junior goalie Mary Beth Green (Henderson).
    Kienle is the lone senior currently on the West Chester roster.
    Lock Haven, which was 16-4 last year and the runner-up to West Chester in the PSAC, is led by junior attacker Amber Hoch (Souderton), a second-team All-American from Souderton. Another key returnee is senior midfielder Caitlyn Watts (Archbishop Wood), who earned second-team all-PSAC honors.
    Philadelphia University went 10-4 last year and is coached by Jenn Devinney.