(CONTINUED)

 

    In the boys’ Underclassmen championship game, the Philly team – coached by Jimmy Oliver (Malvern Prep assistant) and Mark Petrone (Haverford School assistant) – rallied from a 7-3 halftime deficit with four straight goals before bowing in the final minutes.
    All-American goalies Niko Amato (La Salle, Phillylacrosse.com Player of the Year) and Dan Wigrizer (Haverford School) played strong in the cage for Philadelphia and the defense was standout all day, especially against Baltimore.

    Penn Charter rising sophomore Joey Sankey led all scorers with four goals in the loss to New Jersey and Haverford School rising junior JJ Newland was a key on defense. Westy Hopkins (La Salle rising senior) added two goals and an assist and a team-high five groundballs while Conor Steidle (Malvern Prep rising senior) had two goals and Carl Walrath (Haverford School rising sophomore) had one goal and three groundballs.

    Also for the Philly boys, middie Cole Yeager (Radnor rising senior) won 7-of-11 face-offs and had four groundballs and two caused turnovers. Defender James Connelly (Malvern Prep rising senior) added two caused turnovers and Joe McCallion (Haverford School rising freshman) won 6-of-11 face-offs while scooping four groundballs. Robert Hill (Malvern Prep rising sophomore) also scooped four groundballs.

    Wigrizer was especially strong in the title game, making seven saves, including several from point-blank range.

    "We played really well and the defense stepped it up,” said Euler, an honorable mention all-Phillylacrosse.com pick. “We had two tryout and three practices and it wasn’t a lot, but we pulled together and bonded.
    “We played up to the competition with a good up-tempo game. We know how good we are just had to show it to the rest of the country today.
    “We’re definitely up with (the top lacrosse hotbeds). We’re the same caliber now.”
    Euler, a long-stick middie who played on the wing on face-offs, is considering Johns Hopkins, Bucknell, Harvard, Dartmouth and North Carolina. He said the all-star games gave the players a taste of what they’d see at the major college level. 

    “You see what you’re going to play against at the college level, and it gives you a level to shoot for when you see all the top kids top in the nation. You have to work to play with them.”
    The Philadelphia girls did not win either of their games, but they did redeem itself following a disappointing 23-8 loss to Baltimore. Arbitman said Philadelphia – coach by former Conestoga coach Lisa Murphy, Jen Cadden (current Conestoga head coach) and Julie Martinez (Abington head coach) – picked up its game in the second contest against Washington D.C. (a 12-11 defeat) and actually had a seven-goal lead at one point.

    Overall, Hatboro-Horsham rising junior Lauren Purvis scored seven goals for Philly and Radnor's Sam Ellis had four.
    “Our first game was at like 8 in the morning and a lot of girls were just driving down and had to wake up at 4:30 a.m.” Arbitman said. “I think if we played Baltimore in the second game, it would have been a totally different story.
    “But in the second game we really got a nice game together. We were really trying to be competitive, and obviously we wanted to show up strong as the first team from Philadelphia. We lost, but we put up a good fight against each team.”
    Arbitman, who earned honorable mention All-American status and was a second-team All-Phillylacrosse.com choice, has committed to Johns Hopkins. She said playing with and against the top players will even make her better.
    “It was a really good experience,” she said. “I think a lot of girls on team Philly picked up a lot of different lacrosse moves from each other. Girls were helping each other and not hogging the ball.
    “It was nice to play against girls you know you’ll play against in college. This was a good starting point for us. We only had one girl from Philly – Kelly Barnes – in the senior all-stars and hopefully we’ll have more next year.”

 

 

    New Jersey SCORING: GOALS: Foley, Ryan 2; Tobin, Michael 2; DeLuca, Greg 1; DePhillips, Nick 1; Tripucka, Jake 1; White, Alex 1; O'Keefe, Kyle 1; Klimchak, Scott 1. ASSISTS: Foley, Ryan 1; Johnson, Brett 1; Scioscia, John 1; Tobin, Michael 1.

    Philadelphia SCORING: GOALS: Sankey, Joseph 4; Hopkins, Westy 2; Steidle, Conor 2; Walrath, Carl 1. ASSISTS: Conners, Billy 1; Hopkins, Westy 1; Schwartz, Peter 1.

PENALTIES - New Jersey Boys 5/4:30; Philadelphia Boys 1/1:00.