New Jersey North Wins Brine National Classic

July 6, 2013 -

The 2013 Brine National Lacrosse Classic is now on the books, and as a change from the "Pro forma", the Rochester team did not win the championship. The team, coached by Craig and Andrew Whipple, did, however, make the final four where they lost to the Long Island North team, who ended up losing to the championship New Jersey North team. In the six years that Rochester (and the Whipples) have played in the tournament, the team has won four times.

The Tournament featured, this year, a younger player division along with the high school division. Thirteen hundred players for fifty-six different regions played in the sixth year of the program. An estimated thirty-seven hundred boys and girls attended the three day Classic which was held at the Maryland Soccerplex.

In the pool competition, the Rochester team went 3-0-1 and outscored their opponents 31-24. They defeated Florida (8-5), Virginia (7-6) and Michigan (10-7) and tied North Jersey-South (6-6). In the championship bracket, the Rochester team beat the Syracuse team in an exciting 6-5 win. They lost to Long Island North (10-3) in the semifinals.

Selected for the All Star team from Section Five were Alex Bianchi, Eric Munn, Greg Whyl, Ryan Kelly, Tristen Ierlan and James Felix.

The New Jersey North team will play a team from Canada in December for the the Brogden Cup.

Section Five players representing the Rochester team were Alex Bianchi (A - Aquinas 2014), Aaron Buck (A - Churchville-Chili 2014), Billy Cooper (A - Pittsford 2014), Eddie Eddington (M - Geneva 2014), James Felix (M - Pittsford 2015), Graham Gooch (M - Irondequoit 2014), Tristan Ierlan (M - Victor 2016), Willie Klan (G - Schroeder 2015), Kevin McGuire (G - Pittsford 2015), Joshua Merkel (M - Irondequoit 2014), Eric Munn (A - Canandaigua 2014), RJ Pound (D - Pittsford 2014), Stephen Quinzi (A - Pittsford 2014), Liam Smith (D Aquinas 2014), Max Spaan (A - Penfield 2015), Jake Sproule (M - Penfield 2014), Mitch Standera (M - Penfield 2014) and Greg Weyl (D - Pittsford 2014). Selected as alternates were Bryan Collister (M - Greece Arc_Oly 2014), Justin Kesselring (A - Fairport 2014) and Dan McAvoy (A - Fairport 2014).

The new "Academy Division", which featured players finishing grades 6-8, were selected from players who attended the Brine National All-Star Lacrosse Academy. In pool play the Rochester team came in right behind New Jersey (3-0) with a 2-1 record, having defeated Washington DC (9-3) and Carolina (8-4) and lost New Jersey (10-6). In non-pool play they defeated Florida (9-4). In the championship bracket, the Rochester team beat the Long Island South team (10-7) in the quarter finals. In the semifinals they beat the New England team 9-8 and then lost to Long Island North 13-2 in the championship game.

Section Five players representing the Rochester Academy Team were John Avery (A - Pittsford-2018), Jacob Buck (M - Churchville-Chili 2018), Tyler Dalle (A - Greece Arc_Oly 2017), Kyle Goodrich (D - Hilton 2017), Connor Haims (D - Pittsford 2017), Chayse Ierlan (G - Victor 2018), Sam Lambert (A - Victor 2018), Michael Matheson (M - Victor 2017), Brady McDermott (A - Brighton 2018), Tyler Olbrich (D - Aquinas - 2017), Joseph Pagoda (M - Victor 2017), Brett Randall (A - Brighton 2-17), Griffin Randall (D - Victor 2018), Dylan Sulzbach (G - McQuaid Jesuit 2017) and Corey Yunker (Churchville-Chili 2018).

The elite national event, now finishing it's sixth year continues to grow, both in terms of numbers and respect. Executive Event Director, Joel Franklin says, "Our aim is to reach a diversified group of student athletes and families, and we did just that. Thirty-two different states were represented by athletes at the 2013 Brine National Lacrosse Classic."

This story is based on a press release. The Brine National Lacrosse Classic is a sponsor of SportsFive.NET. More information is available at the Classic web site.