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NXT Summer Invitational
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What was the NXT Summer Invitational all about?

Unlike last year, no rain fell in Downingtown, Pennsylvania this weekend allowing NXT’s Summer Invitational to really shine.

NXT events are an embarrassment of riches from the quality of venue, to the quality of teams attending, to the number of college coaches in attending. Last year’s NXT Summer Invitational would have been a great success except torrential downpours forced wild schedule changes and shortened games. This year, the rain stayed mainly in the plains of Spain and the NXT gang put on a masterful event for teams from Washington (who might have welcomed a constant downpour), Minnesota, Massachusetts, Atlanta, North Carolina, Canada and the usual suspects from New York and Philadelphia.

In the morning, I visited Downingtown East to watch the 2015s play.  I’m always impressed with the Seattle Starz group. They’re large, fast, and seem to really enjoy the sport. They roughed up Team Long Island 14-4 in the game I watched. Then, it was on to Long Island Outlaws against Philadelphia Freedom. The Outlaws cruised to a 9-2 triumph. Christian Fiordelisi (Outlaws/Navy) looked very much in control quarterbacking the offense from X. The next stop was to Field E for the first half of the NE Storm against the Michigan based Juiced Cherries. The game seemed close after the first half, but the Storm pulled away in the second frame winning 11-4. One of the Cherries players’ last name is Merica so he must love patriotic holidays. I caught a few minutes of the Building Blocks Laxachusetts game before heading to watch the younger boys play at the second venue. Laxachusetts won 7-0, although I expected seeing a much closer score.

The 2016s, 2017s, and 2018s competed at the United States Training Center. I’ve never seen grass fields in such pristine condition in July in my entire life. Hats off to their lawn care staff.

NXT 2016 vs. Laxachusetts 2016 was the most entertaining game I’ve seen all summer. Multiple D1 commits and passionate coaches on the sideline probably had something to do with the energy and skill levels on display. NXT prevailed 11-7.

NE Storm 2018 dropped Pittsburgh Select 12-3. As a Pittsburgh native I always want to see our teams do well, but an experience like this can be very helpful. The Storm only had one athlete clearly superior to everyone on field. I’ll mention him in a moment. Their stick work was just better. Hopefully the Pittsburgh kids can learn from this weekend. (They went 1-3 on the weekend although their fifth game was not reported). Keep an eye out for NE Storm middie Harrison Caponiti out of Rye, New York. Monster of a human. Runs like a deer. I’m surprised he didn’t make the all star game (full rosters listed below).

Early Recruiting

Until the coaches get together and regulate recruiting, sophomores and freshmen will be give verbal commitments which means the coaches have to evaluate them in the fall and summer. An event like NXT’s Summer Invitational is very useful for D1 coaches because there are so many good teams competing. Chances are if you’re dominating games against some of the best competition in the country now then you’ll be dominating the year after and the year after and so forth.

That’s what coaches hope but it may not come to pass. They have no idea how kids are going to behave after they verbal or even when they get to campus. Recruiting is not an exact science. It never will be exact regardless of when the coaches start accepting verbals.

This is the way it is right now. There are certain events that are better than others. Parents may feel like they have to spend a boatload of money. Ultimately, the boys have to play the game. If you’re not very good, you’re not very good regardless of what events you attend, what club you play for, and what your color uniform you’re wearing.

What fascinates me is how polished some of these young men are and how ready to perform they are at national events. This weekend could have been a life changing moment for them and yet 2018s had no problem stinging corners on the run and picking up ground balls in traffic. There were 2018s at this event that were better than 2014s that I coached against this spring. When does it set in for them that they need to be ready to for this summer? Or, is lacrosse so important in other parts of the country that the early recruiting process has just forced the creation of events for younger athletes which now showcases their talents.

Notes

All scores and standings from the weekend can be found here.

NXT 2016 attackman Peter Gayhardt (Notre Dame) is listed at 6’6″ 225 on the NXT website. He might be taller. The defender covering Gayhardt came up to his shoulder.

Next Level Video had a camera at every field I visited. Not every tournament or video company can pull that off, but it absolutely should be the standard.

Nothing special in the food truck near tournament headquarters. Another food truck had a beef roast and pork roast sandwich that sounded interesting but unfortunately I had been suckered in by a cheeseburger moments before locating the auxiliary truck.

The following players made the all-star game for their respective divisions.

2015 Black

1 ATT 2015 Chad Morse 32 3d NE
2 ATT 2015 Lucas Buckley 7 NESLL
3 ATT 2015 Reed Martin 15 Champion Select
4 ATT 2015 Andrew Bolte 4 TG Fighting Clams
5 ATT 2015 Conor Wolfe 13 Braveheart
6 MID 2015 Lawson Pisani 40 NE Storm
7 MID 2015 Ashton Pieris 4 Seattle Starz
8 MID 2015 Mark Christiano 9 Building Blocks
9 MID 2015 Luke Christiano 7 Building Blocks
10 MID 2015 Alex Chin 8 TG Fighting Clams
11 MID 2015 Cole Jamieson 11 Juiced Cherries
12 FO/MID 2015 Zach Stephenson 14 LB3 ATL
13 FO/MID 2015 Nick Carnavole 10 Building Blocks
14 DEF 2015 Cole Packer-Baile 94 Evolve Elite
15 DEF 2015 Cameron Hyde 33 Laxachusetts
16 DEF 2015 Drew Lewis 15 SouthShore
17 DEF 2015 Sam Denious 11 Old School
18 DEF 2015 Andrew Barnard 48 NE Storm
19 GK 2015 Jack Myers 18 Phillie Elite
20 GK 2015 Kyle Lumpe 0 LI Outlaws

2015 White

1 ATT 2015 Nick Aquine 4 Team91
2 ATT 2015 Jacob Miller 2 CT Chargers
3 ATT 2015 Andrew Thomas 1 LB3 Atlanta
4 ATT 2015 Dylan Crossan 11 Rock Lax
5 ATT 2015 Pat Conners 14 Warrior Elite
6 MID 2015 Tom Hailer 42 3d NE
7 MID 2015 David Pohl 14 Juiced Cherries
8 MID 2015 Brian Casey 28 HEADstrong Green
9 MID 2015 Sam Murphy 47 Laxachusetts
10 MID 2015 Tommy Wynn 48 TG Fighting Clams
11 FO/MID 2015 Camden Porter 3 Team Carolina
12 FO/MID 2015 Sean Wagner 7 Cavalier
13 DEF 2015 Anthony Cesario 29 Team LI
14 DEF 2015 Thomas Buttarazzi 33 Cavalier
15 DEF 2015 Dave Sheehan 16 Middlesex Bears
16 DEF 2015 Jake Ephron 17 Seattle Starz
17 DEF 2015 Ryan Bradley 21 HEADstrong Lime
18 DEF 2015 Griffin Stechmiller 41 Team Carolina
19 GK 2015 Eric Beren 15 HEADstrong Green
20 GK 2015 Bryce Womack 81 3d NE

2016 Black

1 ATT 2016 Charlie Kitchen 2 SouthShore
2 ATT 2016 Dominick Thomas 2 Warrior Elite
3 ATT 2016 Jack Hannigan 12 Outlaws
4 ATT 2016 Jack Kniffin 4 CT Chargers
5 ATT 2016 Justin Lynskey 18 Team 91
6 MID 2016 Henry Behrens 99 Top Gun Fighting Clams
7 MID 2016 Hunter Sheridan 16 Team Carolina
8 MID 2016 (Michael) Liam O’Connell 12 CT Chargers
9 MID 2016 Max Stukelin 22 Warrior Elite
10 MID 2016 Milan Murray 19 3d NE
11 MID 2016 Ryan Pruss 11 BBL
12 FO/MID 2016 Camden Porta 8 Team Carolina
13 DEF 2016 Brock Strong 71 Evolve
14 DEF 2016 Colin Devine 45 Freedom
15 DEF 2016 Jake Lautt 5 Bucks Select
16 DEF 2016 Jason DePhillips 10 Freedom
17 DEF 2016 Jeff Durden 0 LB3
18 DEF 2016 Matt Blommer 15 NXT
19 GK 2016 Ben Kishore 79 MadLax
20 GK 2016 Jake MacGregor 30 Team LI

2016 White

1 ATT 2017 Charles Dumas 1 LB3
2 ATT 2016 Johnny Daniel 11 VLC
3 ATT 2016 Kevin Todd 2 NXT
4 ATT 2016 Matthew Treiber 82 Laxachusetts
5 ATT 2016 Parker Cump 43 Juiced Cherries
6 MID 2016 Michael Mehlman 34 Old School
7 MID 2016 Bayley Trammer 4 Edge Elite
8 MID 2016 Elliott Mitchell 85 3d New England
9 MID 2016 Alex Alacqua 22 FLG
10 MID 2016 Reed Bagwell 23 LB3
11 MID 2016 Chris Rota 71 Top Gun Fighting Clams
12 FO/MID 2016 William McMenamin 9 SouthShore
13 LSM 2016 Oskar Djusberg 22 Laxachusetts
14 DEF 2016 Alex Russell 72 NE Storm
15 DEF 2016 Alex Laskin 43 Prime Time
16 DEF 2016 P.J. Cox 7 Seattle Starz
17 DEF 2016 Steve Vida 39 HEADstrong
18 DEF 2016 Zachary Barrett 7 Team 91
19 GK 2016 Shane Brennan 0 Outlaws
20 GK 2016 Cameron Carpenter 39 Champion

2017/2018 Black

1 ATT 2018 Brian Cameron 11 NH Tomahawks18
2 ATT 2017 Connor Lendest 20 Prime Time
3 ATT 2017 Cameron Mule 21 Team91
4 ATT 2017 John Piatelli 30 Warrior Elite
5 ATT 2017 Cade Stratton 2 HEADstrong
211 MID 2017 Jacob Buttermore 15 Mesa
6 MID 2017 Taite Cattoni 99 Evolve
7 MID 2018 Cole Daninger 23 Seattle Starz18
8 MID 2017 Jack Davies 3 TL Loggerheads
9 MID 2017 Maxwell Gravenstine 7 South Shore
10 MID 2017 Jake Moss 25 Building Blocks Blk
11 MID 2017 Jordan Radoll 52 Madlax
12 FO/MID 2018 Joe Neuman 11 LI Outlaws Blk
13 FO/MID 2017 Nicholas Radford 25 Team Carolina
14 DEF 2017 Ethan Black Fernandes 94 NE Storm
15 DEF 2017 Jack Farrell 81 Old School
16 DEF 2017 Kyle Kolwich 32 Edge Elite
17 DEF 2017 Sam Schluter 10 NXT 2017
18 DEF 2017 Reid Shilling 26 TG Fighting Clams
19 DEF 2017 Larson Tolo 4 3d NE 18
20 GK 2018 Andrew Bonafede 6 LI Express Terps 18
21 GK 2017 Hunter Braun 73 Juiced Cherries

2017/2018 White

1 ATT 2017 Brody McLean 7 Edge Elite
2 ATT 2017 Jack Siebert 19 TG Fighting Clams
3 ATT 2017 Kyle Ross 5 South Shore
4 ATT 2017 Ryan Lanchbury 92 3d NE
5 ATT 2018 Zach Ludd 22 NH Tomahawks
6 MID 2017 Colby Smith 20 NXT 2017
7 MID 2017 Colin Casey 81 3d NE
8 MID 2018 Kaleb Fernandez 9 Club Blue18
9 MID 2017 Mackenzie Iacocca 31 Edge Elite
10 MID 2017 Sean Lulley 33 Team91
11 MID 2018 Tate Kienzle 6 NXT 2018
12 MID 2017 Trevor Miller 18 Team Carolina
13 FO/MID 2017 Liam Fitzgerald 29 Laxachusetts
14 FO/MID 2017 Josh Rotman 89 3d NE
211 LSM 2017 Tyler Oglesby 19 Thunder
15 DEF 2018 Brady Keneally 11 LI Express Terps
16 DEF 2017 Chris Soutter 20 TG Fighting Clams
17 DEF 2017 Matt Erfle 50 Philly Freedom
18 DEF 2017 Mitchell Weiss 6 Warrior Elite
19 DEF 2017 Phillip Puccio 51 FLG
20 GK 2017 David Gottesman 10 TL Loggerheads
21 GK 2017 Luke Russomanno 21 SouthShore