Top Lax Recruits
Top Lax Recruits -
By Chris Goldberg
TopLaxRecruits.com, Posted 7/21/16
MIDLOTHIAN, Va. – Ohio’s Conner Rice knows what it will take to win a High School boys’ championship at the Brine National Lacrosse Classic.
After all, the 2017 attackman from Archbishop Moeller is one of four returnees for last year’s surprise champion Ohio squad.
Rice had three goals Wednesday to help Oho gain a 6-6 tie with Pool A leader New Jersey (1-0-1) in the team’s final game on Day 1 at the Brine NLC at the River City SportsPlex. Ohio also tied Rochester, 5-5, in Pool A – which featured one-goal games or ties in all five of its games.
“We have a lot of new guys that didn’t know each other when we started, but it’s the same as last year when we meshed together and took it all the way,” said Rice.
“I’ve never played with these attackmen, but we’ve started to learn each other’s tendencies.”
Ohio goalie Paxton Kreger, also from Moeller High, is a newcomer to the squad. He also believes that Ohio has the potential to make a championship run.
“New Jersey has been putting up good numbers and we did well; it shows we can play with good teams,” he said. “I think we just need to stay together. We are starting to build good team chemistry and playing more games will help us to get better and better.”
Today Ohio faces 1-1 Colorado (11 a.m.) and 1-1 Virginia (1 p.m.) in its final pool games. The top two teams in each of the three pools are guaranteed to advance to the championship round Friday.
In Pool B, Illinois and Carolina are both 2-0 and tied for first while Tennessee and Maryland are tied atop Pool C with 1-0-1 marks. Tennessee and Maryland meet today at 10:00 and Illinois faces Carolina at 10.
Girls
Team Pennsylvania got off to a fast start in its quest to repeat as the High School division champion.
Team PA rolled over New England, 11-3, and Delaware, 12-5, to finish 2-0 on the first day of pool action. This morning PA plays 1-1 Georgia (10:00) before closing with a non-pool game vs. Washington D.C. The top two teams in each of the four pools advance to the championships on Friday.
Besides PA (Pool B), other undefeated girls’ HS teams include Pool A’s Upstate NY and Jew Jersey (both 2-0), Pool B’s Maryland (2-0) and Pool D’s Long Island (2-0). Delaware, a first-year team comprised of players from Delaware and PA, is 0-2.
PA returned a large number of players from last year’s title team. One of those returnees, 2017 midfielder Macaul Mellor, said the team chemistry that helped last year’s team to the title may be even stronger.
“Really it was the girls and the coaches; we all get along well together. We play for each other,” said Mellor (Penn Charter, Quaker City). “What’s different about this tournament from others is that everyone is here for each other. Usually you come to these events and it’s all 1V1s and everyone is for themselves. It’s really nice.
“I think we really know how each each other plays. We have done this for so many years. We know who takes the crease roll, when they are going, who is going to drive and feed when doubled – all that chemistry was here. Even our defense knows each other’s weaknesses and strengths.”
One key returnee for Team Pennsylvania is 2017 goalie Mia Tornetta, a recent Robert Morris commit from 2015 District 1 champion Great Valley.
“Mia is a very vocal goalie and that helps us a lot,” said Mellor.
One of the newcomers to Team PA is 2018 Lyndsey Morhardt (Germantown Academy, Ultimate lacrosse), who last year played on the PA 2019 team at Brine.
“I could just feel the chemistry, so it’s not hard to transition,” she said. “I know the level of play. It’s so easy to fit in, the girls are all so good and it’s so much fun to play together.”
What will it take to win another championship?
“The team just needs to stay focused and work hard,” said Morhardt. “I think we work to transition better and keep moving the passes quickly. We need to talk, make our slides and let the goalie tell us where to go.”
The post Ohio boys, PA girls looking to defend their High School titles at @NLCLacrosse appeared first on Top Lax Recruits.