USL U-15 Boys Final Four Set
by Matt DaSilva and Brian Logue | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
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Top-seeded Next Level was the only one of the top four seeds to advance to the semifinals. © Steve Demeo/thsphoto.com |
BLOG: USL Boys U-15 National Championship
BEL AIR, Md. – Top-seeded Next Level
Lacrosse (Md.) was the only one of the top four seeds to advance to
the semifinal round of the inaugural US Lacrosse Boys’ U-15
National Championship, presented by Modell’s Sporting Goods.
Next Level defeated Greene Turtle (Md.) 9-5 in the
quarterfinals.
Next Level will meet FCA (Md./Calif.) in the semifinals on Friday
at 9 a.m. at Cedar Lane Sports Park. FCA defeated Primetime
Lacrosse (N.Y.) 13-4 in the quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon.
The other semifinal on Friday morning will pit NESLL (Mass.)
against For Love of the Game (N.Y.). NESLL, the No. 11 seed,
defeated No. 14 seed NVYLL (Va.) 8-4 in one quarterfinal while For
Love of the Game easily handled the No 2 seed, Blackwolf Lacrosse
(Va.) 15-5.
The championship game will be held on Friday at 2 p.m.
Following are recaps of the quarterfinal games:
Next Level (Md.) 9, Greene Turtle (Md.)
5: Top-seeded Next Level used a dominant third
quarter to pull away from eighth-seeded Green Turtle and advanced
to the semifinals of the US Lacrosse U-15 National Championship
with a 9-5 victory.
Up 4-3 at halftime, Next Level went on a 4-1 run in the third
quarter that included two goals and an assist from attackman Bear
Altemus. Midfielder Nick Fisher led all scorers with three
goals.
Greene Turtle pulled within 6-4 at the 4:19 mark of the third
quarter when Zeke Morrill found Gavin McBride for a fast break
finish. Fifty-two seconds later, however, Altemus’ intended
crease feed was intercepted by Greene Turtle goalie Nick Doyle and
unintentionally shoveled into the cage to make it 7-4.
Altemus then found Garrett Fellows to convert on a turnover at
midfield and put Next Level up 8-4 going into the fourth quarter,
in which the teams exchanged single goals for the final margin.
FCA 13, Primetime Lacrosse 4:
Midfielders Kasey Kapianos and Stephen Kelly combined to control
the faceoff X and contributed solid offense to spur FCA to a 13-4
victory over Primetime Lacrosse in the quarterfinal round. Kelly
had two goals and two assists and Kapianos had two goals and an
assist.
Primetime’s Anthony Scapperotti scored with 1:54 remaining
left in the third quarter to cut FCA’s lead to 6-3, but FCA
responded with three goals in the final 35 seconds of the third
quarter and then blew the game open in the fourth quarter.
FCA’s top offensive producers were Patrick Kelly with three
goals and two assists and Alec Dauses with three goals.
Brandon Lee led the Primetime offense with a pair of assists and
Christian Davey made seven first half saves while allowing just
four goals.
NESLL 8, NVYLL 4: After going scoreless
for the first 11 minutes of the game, New England Select outscored
Northern Virginia 5-1 in the second quarter to take command and
moved on to the semifinals with an 8-4 victory.
Alex Barber’s goal after a great hustle play and feed from
Scott Williams pulled NVYLL to within 6-4 with 1:47 remaining in
the third quarter, but NESLL’s defense, anchored by Ryan
Macri, shut down NVYLL for the final 11 plus minutes of the game.
Adam Philie and Ryder Garnsey scored goals in the final quarter for
NESLL to put the game on ice.
Garnsey led the NESLL offense with two goals while Jake McLaughlin
and Tate Jozokos each added a goal and an assist. Brent Armstrong
won 12-of-16 faceoffs for Northern Virginia and added a goal.
For Love of the Game (N.Y.) 15, Blackwolf (Va.)
5: For Love of the Game jumped out to an 8-0 lead in
the first five minutes and never looked back, rolling Blackwolf,
15-5, to advance to the semifinals of the US Lacrosse U-15 National
Championship.
A Long Island select team, For Love of the Game will meet New
England Select Lacrosse Club at 9 a.m. Friday with a chance to
qualify for the championship game.
Michael Gray and Liam Kennedy netted three goals apiece, with each
adding an assist in For Love’s offensive outburst. Jake
Sichenzia, Bobby Duvnjak and Robert Savage added two goals
apiece.
Dylan Maltz factored in four of Blackwolf’s five goals with
two goals and two assists.
Eleven of For Love’s 15 goals were assisted.
