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TopLaxRecruits.com, Posted 8/9/13
From Press Releases
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes girls national team won the 2014-2016 girls division at the 24th annual Lake Placid Summit Lacrosse Classic with an 11-6 win over Mass Elite Red to finish the tournament with a 5-0 record.
The FCA girls won the gold medal at the Lake Placid Classic
Featuring a roster of standout players, including girls from North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York, FCA outscored the competition 83 to 12 in rolling to the 2013 title, just the second year of the girls 2014-2016 bracket.
Arvak Marshall, who coached the FCA girls team, said the experience was a special one for the players who came together for the event.
“It was kind of unique in that we have girls from all over the place, and we really only had one practice,” said Marshall, who was also the coach of the FCA girls team that competed in the girls 2013-2015 division last summer. “It was just a matter of everyone coming in on Sunday and spending an hour at practice together to get to know one another.”
Standing out for FCA was Ella Bonafede (St. Anthony’s/Duke), who put up two goals and an assist in the championship win and earned MVP honors. Taylor Gephardt (Georgetown) netted three goals in the win over Mass Elite. Other college-committed players making a big impact this week included Olivia Cole (Bishop Ireton, Va./Florida), Kelsey Dupere (Brougton, N.C./Elon), Allie Rogers (Kent Place School, N.J./Princeton), Abbit Britton (Blue Valley Northwest, Kan./Liberty), Lizzy Schwien (Potomac School, Va./Navy) and Natalie Irwin (Bishop Ireton, Va./Navy)
The motto for FCA lacrosse teams is “relentless,” and that’s how Marshall described the play of his team at the Summit Classic this week.
“They were hustling all the time and were relentless all over the field, and when you don’t know everyone you’re playing with all that well, that goes a long way. They played every game at 100 mile per hour. The girls were awesome and their parents were just amazing.”
Like the other coaches of FCA teams in attendance, including the leaders of the U-18 Gold champion FCA National boys team and the FCA 2015 boys team that won the U-18 Silver division, Marshall said the off-the-field experience helped bring the team together and succeed on the field.
“The biggest part of that is what we do before and after the game, huddling up as a team, talking about issues in life, what is going outside of lacrosse,” Marshall said. “We talk about how they can live out their faith on the field. Sports and faith don’t have to be exclusive.”
Dazzling Divas take first 2017-18 bracket
The Dazzling Divas, a team based in Rocky Point on Long Island, were crowned the champions Wednesday of the first division for girls who are rising freshmen in high school, the 2017-2018 bracket.
The team completed a 5-0 run through the competition, culminating with a 10-8 victory over another Rocky Point-base program, the Lady Eagles.
“We’ve been preparing for the last six months,” said Benny Moscatiello, who found the Dazzling Divas as a pickup team, which has since blossomed into a squad with select players from Rocky Point and the surrounding area — an “array of talent” from various areas.
Moscatiello said that, despite other lacrosse, sports and family commitments, the girls in the Divas program showed dedication by practicing a couple times each week throughout the summer.
“These girls haven’t missed a beat,” he said. “We’ve worked very hard to get to where we are and for what we’ve accomplished. It was tough competition (at the Summit Classic). Our toughest game was against the Lady Outlaws (from Central New York). But we followed through and had nothing but great compliments from other teams. In getting to the final game against the Lady Eagles, our neighbors so to speak, I thought both teams played phenomenally well. My hat goes off to them. … Mike Sanchez, who coaches the Lady Eagles, is like family to me.”
Moscatiello credited the Divas coaching staff — Sara Davis, an assistant coach at Rocky Point High School, and Alyssa Guido, a recent graduate destined to play at Stony Brook — for helping lead the squad to victory and for bringing the team together for an unforgettable experience in the Adirondack Mountains.
“At Lake Placid, this is all about bringing the families together, having a great time and playing great lacrosse,” he said, crediting the Palasek family of lacrosse players from Rocky Point for turning him and his team onto the Summit Classic.
He added that the new girls’ division was started at an important time, as more young players are getting recruited by college programs.
“We’re trying to amp these girls up skill wise,” Mosciatello said. “Between the skill and endurance, we’re trying to get these girls in top condition for future recruitment. We’re trying to keep sticks in their hands year round. This is the time and this is their age when recruitment will be coming their way.”
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