THE BOYS ARE BACK: (From left) Princeton's Andrew Feinberg (McDonogh), Virginia's Nick Elsmo (Severn), Brown University's Peter Fallon (Gilman), Johns Hopkins' Tim Donovan (Loyola), Virginia's Bray Malphrus (Georgetown Prep) and Princeton-bound Tyler Fiorito (McDonogh) are all members of the USA's Under-19 Team which vanquished a team of Potomac All-Stars in an exhibition game on Sunday at Georgetown Prep in Rockville.
FINALLY: Debbie Feinberg (right) was in attendance on Sunday at Georgetown Prep where her son, Andrew, a McDonogh graduate, was a member of the victorious USA Under-19 Team. Debbie Feinberg saw Andrew play lacrosse for the first time since the freshman at Brown University helped that team to defeat Ivy League rival Princeton, 6-5. Brown won the conference title, and Andrew Feinberg was named New England Rookie of the Year.
by Lem Satterfield
(See video interviews and highlights below)
Just how good is this year's USA Under-19 mens lacrosse team?
Ask McDonogh graduate Tyler Fiorito, a goalie who was considered Maryland's premiere player following his senior season this past spring as the recepient of the prestigious C. Markland Kelly Award.
"There are so many great players in Maryland and all over the MIAA, and that's [C. Markland Kelly Award] such a great honor," said Fiorito, who will attend Princeton University starting in the fall and play lacrosse there. "But as you come onto the Under-19 team, you're pretty much starting over."
Fiorito's comments were made in the aftermath of the U.S. squad's 17-6 victory over the Potomac All-Stars at Rockville's Georgetown Prep on Sunday, a game in which he made 10 saves after entering with his team holding a 9-4 halftime lead.
Future Princeton teammate Jack McBride scored three goals and assisted on three others, Penn State-bound Matt Mackrides, a graduate of Philadelphia's Malvern Prep, scored twice with as many assists, and Ohio State's James Green scored twice with an assist as the U.S. jumped out to a 5-0 first quarter lead.
McDonogh graduate Andrew Feinberg, who starred as a freshman at Ivy League champion, Brown, had a goal and two assists.
Loyola graduate Tim Donovan, who recently completed his freshman year at NCAA Tournament runner-up Johns' Hopkins, scored twice for the U.S. Team -- as did University of Maryland freshman Ryan Young.
"All of these guys have earned the same honors that I did. There are guys all over the field that are just as good as I am or probably better," said Fiorito. "So I'm starting at the bottom. I'm the young guy on the team. So I just try to get along with the guys and to fit in."
Fiorito, Feinberg and Donovan were among seven Marylanders on the roster of the U.S. Team, which is gearing up to defend its International Lacrosse Federation Tournament title next month in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada.
University of Virginia freshman midfielder Nick Elsmo (Severn), University of Virginia freshman defender Bray Malphrus (Georgetown Prep) and Brown freshman defender Peter Fallon (Gilman) also played for the U.S. Team, which is 29-0 in the tournament to be held July 3-through-12.
"The U.S. has never lost a before and brought home every championship, and we don't want to be the first team that's lost," said Fallon whose parents, Chris and Elaine, were on hand to watch him play on Sunday. "There's a lot of responsibility, but a lot to look forward to as well."
Also on the U.S. roster is Virginia-bound Steele Stanwick, who led Loyola of Baltimore to its second straight Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title in May. Stanwick did not play against the Potomac All-Stars due to an injury.
Matthew Dolente of Johns' Hopkins keyed the 14 of the game's 26 faceoffs for the U.S. Team, which will play in its fifth exhibition game against yet another team of local All-Stars on June 29, when they visit Mercer Island High School in Seattle, Washington.
"Being able to wear the USA on your chest, there's always pressure," said Elsmo, whose U.S. squad had vanquished a team of Pennsylvania All-Stars, 15-7, on Saturday in Downingtown, Pa.
"We're starting to mold, and we're starting to gel and to play well together as a team. We had been a little choppy throughout, but we're starting to get rolling and starting to look good," Elsmo said. "I think that playing back-to-back games like we did today helped us come together even faster."
Although McBride was the Ivy League's Player of The Year, his Princeton squad lost, 6-5, to Brown, a team for which Feinberg was named New England Rookie of The Year.
Feinberg scored the U.S. Team's third goal, and assisted on the fourth by Green to help pace the U.S. Team to Sunday's early first-quarter advantage. A day earlier, in his first official game with the U.S., Feinberg scored three times and assisted on a fourth goal against Pennylvania's All-Stars.
"That was my first official game with the team. I had had tryouts for two weeks in a row. And then they called me and told me that I had made the team. It was a good game, and fun to play," said Feinberg, who thrived alongside McBride and MacKrides.
"They make it easy on the field, and it feels good to play with a lot of good players," said Feinberg, whose mother, Debbie, attended the game. "Everybody on the field is really good and very talented."
A member of the Pennsylvania's state runner-up, MacKrides has drawn rave reviews from coaches and teammates alike.
"I think he''s one of the shiftiest players that I've ever seen and very opportunistic. He's got a great, on-the-run shot coming from behind," said Donovan, who was a member of Loyola's MIAA A Conference championship team in 2007.
"The guys on this team who are in college are amazed at how great he is as a player. They say that he's going to tear it up next year," Fiorito said of MacKrides. "He's so quick, and he has a great stick. He catches everything that's thrown to him and finishes it into the back of the net."
At one point during the second quarter, McBride and MacKrides stole the show. MacKrides scored the U.S. team's sixth and seventh goals off of passes from McBride, who, in turn, scored their squad's eighth goal off of a feed from MacKrides.
"It's great to play with him. In the tryouts, we really connected. We really see each other well on the field," said MacKrides, who also assisted McBride for the U.S. Team's 14th goal.
"It's fun playing with him because he can come from behind and feed me on the crease, and I can do the same thing to him," MacKrides said. "It's just easy to see him on the field, get the ball to him and vice versa."
Haverford of Philadelphia coach John Nostrant, an assistant to the U.S. Team's head coach, Chuck Apel, coached against MacKrides as they competed for the state title this past spring.
"Matt's motor doesn't stop. He rides, he finishes, he distributes, and he's just a great team player. At first, the guys were like, 'Who is this?,' and, 'Where's he from?' But without saying a word, he's identified himself and his teammates know who he is now," Nostrant said.
"He's a ground ball guy, he's a scorer, he's a finisher," said Nostrant. "I'm glad to see him going to Penn State. I don't have to defend against him next year."
Navy's Sean Dinn (Gonzaga) scored twice and had three assists, and Middlebury's Matt Rawson (St. Alban's) had three goals and an assist for the losing team, which also received a 12-save effort from Johns' Hopkins' Stephen Burke (Bullis School).
When the U.S. Team lands in Canada, Mary Elsmo is one of the fans who will be there.
On Sunday, Mary Elsmo's toenails were painted in orange in support of her son's University of Virginia squad, but she promised to paint them red, white and blue in support of Team USA.
"We're pschyed," said Mary Elsmo. "We're going to Canda and kick some booty."
1 2 3 4 FINAL
Team USA 5 4 3 5 17
Potomac All-Stars 0 4 1 1 6
TEAM USA SCORING
Jack McBride (three goals, two assists)
Matt MacKrides (two, two)
James Green (two, one)
Andrew Feinberg (one, two)
Ryan Young (two goals)
Tim Donovan (two goals)
Josh Amidon (one goal)
Rhamel Bratton (one goal)
Brian Shemesh (one goal)
Anthony Mendes (one goal)
Dean Gibbons (one goal)
Craig Dowd (one assist)
SAVES:
Tyler Fiorito (10)
Adam Ghitelman (five)
Remaining schedule for Team USA
June 29 at Mercer Island High School (Washington State), 4 p.m.
International Lacrosse Federation Under-19 World Championships
(All games in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada)
July 3 Iroquois Nationals, 4 p.m.
July 4 Austrailia, 4 p.m.
July 5 Japan, 9:30 a.m.
July 6 Canada, 4 p.m.
July 7 England, 12:45 p.m.
July 10 Semifinals, 4 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.
July 12 Championship game, 2:30 p.m.
Follow Team USA on the web at www.uslacross.org/teamusa08 or laxmagazine.com