- Although the New York State Empire Games are a thing of the past, there are still quite a number of opportunities for Section Five players during the summer vacation.

The Brine - All-American National Classic

The Classic was once again won by the Rochester Team, coached by Craig and Andrew Whipple along with Matt Knope. The four day tournament, held in Germantown, Maryland from July 5th to July 8th, saw twenty all-star teams compete. The premiere showcase event for boys (and separate tournaments for girls and middle school players), had more than one hundred college team coaches in attendance.

The Rochester Team, down 3-1 before the halftime break, came back with a score by Zeddy Williams (Silver Creek - Section 6) just before time expired to to take a 4-3 lead into the break. The Rochester team then dominated Washington D.C. in the second half and won the championship game with a score of 11-4. D.C. had beaten New Jersey (9-6) in the the semifinals.

Rochester, who won the first tournament in 2008 and then again in 2009, will play for the Brogden Cup against Canada in January.

The 2011 Rochester Northeast Team Members:
Tyler Aycock (Pitts), Matt Bilak (Pen), Andrew Cordes (Iron), Derek DeJoe (Fpt), Nick Doktor (Iron), Connor Enright (Iron), Eric Fisher (Iron), Derek Jamison (Pitts), John Maloney (Vic), Gunnar Miller (Iron), John Novitsky (Vic), Corey Parke (Pitts), Marc Pettrone (AQ), Justin Rehm (Pen), Blaze Riorden (Fpt), Kevin Sanna (Pitts), Jake Schmidt (Iron) and Nick Weston (AQ).

From out of Section Five, Juilian Garritano (Markham, AL), Nate Gowen (Amherst), Maximus Maxwell (Hamburg), Jay McDermott (Duxbury MA), Zeddy Williams (Silver Creek), Zach Williams (Silver Creek) and Chris Williams (Duxbury, MA) were on the team.

The All-American National Classic sponsored by Brine is a sponsor of Sportsfive.NET.

Under Amour Underclass Tournament

Although there were no Section Five players in the Under-Amour Senior North-South game this year, several players made the Upstate New York all Star team in the Underclass Tournament. Rising senior goalies Eric Fisher (Irondequoit) and Blaze Riorden (Fairport) were joined by Pittsford rising senior midfielder Corey Parke on the team that ended the tournament at 1-3.

On the first day (July 1st), the Upstate team lost to Philadelphia (7-11) and then beat the South Team (12-10). On Saturday, Upstate lost a close one to New England (5-6) who were eventually the Champions and then then lost to Long Island 5-11. The games were held at Towson University.

The Under Armour All-Stars represented Baltimore, Long Island (NY), Upstate New York, Midwest, Philadelphia, New England, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and the newly added South and West.

The twenty-four member Upstate team was made up of players from Sections 3,4,5 and 6 and includes sixteen seniors and eight juniors on the 2011 roster.

Syracuse Shootout I

Section Five sent a number of teams to the Shootout in Syracuse for the two day tournament sponsored by Syracuse University. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Elite team had rising sophomores, juniors and seniors on the team. Local teams represented included Victor, Brighton, R-H, McQuaid Jesuit, HFL, Hilton, Haverling, Spencerport, Aquinas, Arc/Oly, Pittsford, and Churchville-Chili. Media reports pointed to notable play by McQuaid Jesuit rising seniors Pat Sheridan (goalie) and Duncan Ayers (attack).

The Rochester Blaze Rising Seniors team features players from Pittsford, Churchville-Chili, Fairport, Victor, Arc/Oly, Penfield, ER, McQuaid Jesuit, Ath/Ody, Canandaigua, Irondequoit and Thomas. Mentioned as standouts were Fairport goalie Blaze Riorden, Pittsford midfielders Corey Parke and Tyler Aycock and Fairport offensiveman Derek DeJoe. Also mentioned in media reports were Irondequoit LSM Garret Warren and defensemen, Kevin Sanna (Pittsford) and Nick Bruno (Churchville-Chili).

The Blaze also sent a rising Junior team with players from Fairport, Brighton, Penfield, Pittsford. Irondequoit, McQuaid Jesuit, Ath/Ody, Hilton, Victor, R-H, Canandaigua and Waterloo. Mentioned were Penfield goalie, Keith Keehn, Charlie Cummins (Penfield), Andrew Mietelski (Fairport) and Luc Bailey (McQuaid Jesuit). Also mentions were Chauncey Scissum (R-H) and Fairport middies Jay Vakiener and Kevin Vaughn. Fairport had seven players on the roster.

Do you have other summer event information? - Send your reports to SportsFive.NET.