Locals on show at national lacrosse tournament

by TOM UTESCHER

Instead of rolling across the pine barrens towards the Jersey shore last weekend, many of the area’s best lacrosse players headed up Route 309 to Lehigh University to participate in the unique stickfest that is the U.S. Lacrosse Women’s Division National Tournament.

Launched in the 1930’s as a gathering of club players, the tournament grew as colleges began to field teams in the sport, and high school athletes were added to the mix in 1985, when the event was staged at Germantown Academy. Today, you’ll find teams of 15 and 16-year-olds romping along just a few yards away from an adjacent field populated by national team players in their 20’s and 30’s, many with multiple world championships under their belts.

Because the high school competition at the tournament has come under intense scrutiny by college coaches and scouts in recent years, graduating seniors were separated out from the herd starting with the 2004 Nationals. The Seniors Division features outgoing 12th graders, most of whom have made their college commitments, while the Girls Division is made up entirely of underclassmen hoping to catch the eye of recruiters.

Springside coach Brooke Fritz led one of the Upper Atlantic District teams to the very first Seniors Division championship last year, and UA’s “Blue” team repeated for the region in 2005, coached this time by Great Valley High School mentor Joe Tornetta.

Four graduating Girls Inter-Ac League standouts were part of the winning combination for Team Blue. Two are attack players from Springside; Ariane Lee, who’s headed to American University, and Georgetown-bound Bunny O’Reilly. Representing Penn Charter was midfielder Marie McKenna, who’ll attend Princeton, and the defensive unit included Kate Lawlor of Germantown Academy, destined for The College of William & Mary.

The roster also featured midfielder Becca Edwards from Springfield High School. A key component in the Spartans’ success this spring, she’ll continue her lacrosse career at the University of Pennsylvania.

Defeating another Upper Atlantic squad and teams from the New York and Midwest regions, UA Blue finished first in its pool, then won its semifinal game at high noon on Sunday to move into the championship match. Here, the area squad gained a 4-2 halftime advantage over the Mid-Atlantic team (largely from Maryland), and in the second half a goal from Lee helped Team Blue pull away for a 9-4 victory.

In addition, McKenna and O’Reilly were tabbed to play in a senior all-star game played in Lehigh’s lacrosse stadium on Saturday evening. The two Inter-Ac stars helped their arbitrarily-assembled team to an 18-4 victory, as O’Reilly rang up three goals and three assists and McKenna recorded one goal and one assist.

Springside’s Fritz, who puts in a great deal of work behind the scenes on behalf of schoolgirl lacrosse in the Upper Atlantic district, coached this victorious all-star team, and also piloted the Upper Atlantic first team in the Girls (underclass player) Division.

Jenna Washabaugh, Germantown Academy’s junior center, was one of just two Inter-Ac players in this group; the other was Baldwin sophomore Emma Hamm. UA 1 went through to the semifinals, but there the team’s run ended with a 10-6 loss to New York 1. In turn, New York lost the championship match to Mid-Atlantic 1, 13-7, while the UA’s were able to finish on an up-note with a 13-9 victory over Mountain 1 in the third-place game.

Washabaugh’s GA teammate Colleen Magarity, a tenth-grade middie, played for Upper Atlantic 2 (there were six teams from the district altogether), and the line-up for UA 3 included Springside goalie Maeve Koch, a junior, and Penn Charter midfielder Marghi Walters, a sophomore.

The tournament also served as the final trials session for international class athletes seeking a spot on the 2005 U.S. World Cup Team. The 24 women who’d survived the previous rounds of cuts competed against teams of college and club players, and a few days later only 16 would remain as the final line-up was set for the World Cup Tournament in Annapolis later this month. Amongst this elite company were the relatives of two Philadephia pro sports figures. Cherie Greer, 32, is the daughter of NBA Hall-of-Famer Hal Greer, and in her first World Cup appearance in 1993 she played alongside former Springside coach Betsy Dougherty.

And while Tony Amonte sits idle with his Philadelphia Flyers teammates, his sister Kelly Amonte Hiller is hoping to comptete for the women’s lacrosse cup for a third straight time. Amonte Hiller, 30, is also the head coach of the Northwestern University Wildcats, who completed an undefeated season on May 22 by winning the NCAA Division I national championship.