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Big 4 and NXT Meltdown Recap

By Bryan Hopper, 06/20/16, 4:15PM EDT

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High Schoolers prove themselves on a National Level. Youth Teams Show Tremendous Growth

An incredible Start to the SUmmer! 

The high school teams experienced great success as well as humbling, close losses to the best teams in the country.

The youth players showed grit, determination and a tremendous amount of growth at their first tournament together at the NXT Meltdown!

An outstanding First Weekend - lets keep it rolling into next! #ontothenext


High School Recap

Blue Star Lacrosse started summer play with a bang at the Big 4 Champions League this weekend. Big 4 was loaded with the best competition in the country and truly lived up to its name. The sidelines were lined with college coaches from just about every program in the country. 

Being a first-year program, Blue Star drew a low seed pitting us against some of the toughest first round match-ups. The 2019's started their government play versus a Team 91 squad that went on to the finals. The game was evenly matched and we came out a strong start taking the lead early. The long-term cohesion of the Team 91 squad proved to be too much for a Blue Star team in it's second summer engagement. 

2019

After ironing out the kinks of early summer play, the 2019's went on to have a very successful tournament beating Leading Edge and Mesa Fresh and only dropping a 1 goal game to Upstate Select
 

2018

The 2018's played outstanding against top teams as well getting great play out of Goalie Miles Thompson and the rest of the defense which averaged only 5g's against per game. The offense improved throughout the event and is finding it way. Tight games were the theme of the weekend. The 2018's played: LB3 National, 3D New England, Primetime, Palm Beach Select and Mesa Fresh.

2017

The 2017's opened the weekend with play against rival Eclipse LC from Connecticut. The game started with a strong first half from the higher seeded team from New England only to see Blue Star really back to almost take the upset over the eventual tournament semi-finalists. The team received outstanding play from it's defense including Tyler Gallagher, Chris Fake, and Owen Prybylski. Blue Star 2017 goalies Cole Touhey and Gib Versfeld were strong throughout the weekend. The team finished it's final two games with strong wins over Upstate Select and a very strong FCA team. 

Overall, it was an outstanding weekend for the High School teams out at Big 4. The program entered it's first summer of play against the absolute best competition in the nation.  For the remainder of the summer, Blue Star will only see the best-of-the-best week in and week out. 


Youth Recap

For the first time playing together in a tournament setting, the coaches of the Blue Star Youth Teams could not have been happier with the way the weekend ended. 

For the 2020/2021 team, Coach Dan Lamela and his staff had their hands full in playing against some of the toughest club teams in the country.  After the first day with a good win and then humbling losses, the players came back with a vengeance on Sunday and played their hearts out. The team started to find its identity on Sunday and ended on a high note, with players finding new ways to contribute and the team coming together as one cohesive unit. 

The same could be said for the 2022/2023s team. Sunday was also a day of "firsts" and there was a learning curve as the team went against older and more experienced club teams. The coaches stressed the important of heart, hustle and teamwork throughout the entire day and it seemed to resonate with the players as they came back hungry on Sunday. On Sunday, they tied a solid and experienced Mesa Futures team and then ended on a high note by winning the last game against the Connecticut Chargers! Coaches Hopper, Doss, Barbieri and Black could not have been more excited or pleased with the way the team came together the second day of the tournament. There is a lot of work left to do and we are looking forward to this upcoming weekend at the Trilogy Rider Tournament!

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