Spring-Ford grad Schwenk, Virginia take home NCAA title

PHILADELPHIA >> In its lifespan as a sport in America, men’s lacrosse is in its adolescence—big enough to command a venue like Lincoln Financial Field for the 2019 NCAA Championship weekend; yet small enough to maintain an intimate, community-like feeling.

Entering the Linc Monday about one hour before Yale and Virginia would settle the 2019 Division 1 Men’s Championship, the 31,528 spectators were not only permitted but encouraged to bring their lacrosse sticks into the venue with them. Try bringing your Louisville Slugger down to your box seats at Citizens Bank Park and see how far that goes.

Walking through Lot D of the Wells Fargo Center en route to the Linc, arrivals were greeted by a “sea of orange” that invoked memories of springs past, when the Flyers made playoff runs deep into May. But these were fans, graduates, family members, and well-wishers gathered by the hundreds in a familiar atmosphere that seemed appropriate for an American holiday.

Their orange represented a team that ESPN’s broadcast crew referred to as the “never-say-die” Cavaliers of the University of Virginia, the No. 3 national seed and soon-to-be national champs who’d staged late comebacks in both their quarterfinal and semifinal contests. The Cavaliers feature several local players—high-scoring attackman Matt Moore of Garnet Valley High, middie Dox Aitken who honed his craft at the Haverford School, and the PAC’s own Justin Schwenk, a faceoff specialist and Spring-Ford graduate. Freshman attack Jeff Conner (Strath Haven) and Conestoga grad Jack Reilly also feature for the Cavaliers.

Across the field stood the defending national champion Yale Bulldogs, the No. 5 national seed who’d broken the hearts of many Southeastern PA lacrosse faithful Saturday with their thrilling 21-17 victory over No. 1 Penn State. The Nittany Lions’ deepest run in program history met an abrupt end at the hands of the Bulldogs and their All-American faceoff specialist TD Ierlan, who won 28 of 39 draws to help the Bulldogs build an early lead and hold on late.

The game itself saw plenty of “Philly flavor” for the victorious Cavaliers, who claimed their sixth national title—and first since 2011—in a 13-9 win over the Bulldogs. Moore scored the first two goals on the day (four in total), breaking the UVA single-season scoring record with an assist on Michael Kraus’ third goal of the day. Moore finished the season with 89 points, breaking the previous record held by Doug Knight of 86 points in the 1996 season.

“It’s been my dream for a while,” said Moore of claiming the title near home. “I grew up coming to Eagles games, and being here with my teammates celebrating is awesome.”

Dox Aitken added two goals of his own, while freshman Jeff Connor of Strath Haven assisted on one of Kraus’ tallies.

Spring-Ford graduate Schwenk took three second-quarter draws against All-American and Tewaaraton Award (think Heisman Trophy, but lacrosse) finalist Ierlan, winning one that set up a three-minute sustained UVA possession.

“When (Virginia) was possessing the ball as long as they were, that became frustrating,” said Yale coach Andy Shay. “It wore on us.”

Perhaps more importantly, Schwenk gave UVA’s starting faceoff man Petey LaSalla time to make an adjustment that resulted in a win on a draw that he took directly to the cage for a tally, giving UVA a 6-2 advantage with five minutes until halftime—its’ biggest to that point in the contest. LaSalla would duplicate the feat after being spelled again by Schwenk in the third quarter, his second scoop-and-score goal giving UVA a 10-4 advantage.

By the end of the day, Ierlan had gotten the best of the battle of the X as he almost always does, winning 16 of 22 faceoffs from the UVA duo of LaSalla and Schwenk, but there was no downplaying the role of the faceoff victories Virginia did claim.

The tandem’s tag-team approach underscored their unique relationship developed since freshman LaSalla’s arrival at UVA from his Long Island high school last fall. Despite Schwenk setting a school record with 22 faceoff wins in an opening-round win against Robert Morris, LaSalla saw more and more time as the season progressed.

“Switching it up on (Ierlan) made him think, kept him guessing,” said LaSalla.

“Our communication’s really strong—we’re good at building off one another,” added Schwenk.

Things weren’t always so smooth for LaSalla and Schwenk, two naturally competitive individuals competing for one role on what would become a national championship team.

“Beginning of the year? We kinda didn’t get along,” laughed LaSalla.

“It’s tough sometimes—only one guy gets to play at a time,” added Schwenk. “But I split time in high school with Matt Dellacroce (himself a Division 1 Player at Michigan) so I have experience with that.

“Petey and I have plenty of similar interests. There’s no beef there, all teamwork.”

With Yale rallying to within 12-8 with 4:30 left, Schwenk returned to outduel Ierlan for his third faceoff win of the day. The Bulldogs never threatened again, and Schwenk became the first NCAA men’s lacrosse champion from the Pioneer Athletic Conference.

“That’s awesome,” he said. “I hadn’t thought about that. It’s awesome to put that area on the map—but there’s more coming. Lots of talent in the area.”

At the start of the weekend, Duke, Yale, Penn State, and Virginia gathered for Saturday’s semifinals at the Linc—a venue no more than six hours from any of the four campuses, and almost equidistant between the campuses of the latter three institutions.

The result was a Saturday crowd of almost 35,000 with a definitive Penn State flavor but solid representation for all four institutions. And that’s before we discuss the weekend’s probable highlight for local fans—Sunday’s Division 3 championship that featured Cabrini University claiming its first national championship in any sport with a 16-12 victory over Amherst. A smaller but equally raucous gathering celebrated the historic victory for the local Cavaliers.

Cabrini’s win underscored the small, community-like aspect of the weekend—a school with about 1,500 undergraduates, a mere fraction of those boasted by a Virginia or a Penn State—nonetheless brought together by a historic moment in the school’s athletic history.

“Being down there, seeing guys you haven’t seen in 6-8 years—it showed how deep the Cabrini family is,” said Bryan Churchey, head lacrosse coach at Perkiomen Valley High School and a former Cabrini lacrosse captain. “Coach (Steve) Colfer instilled that in all of us—even though we’ve gone our separate ways, we were back this weekend to support our coach and our program.”

Similarly, the local lacrosse community was galvanized by the presence of the NCAA Championships in South Philadelphia. True, a crowd of even 35,000 means only about half capacity at Lincoln Financial Field. But all types of relationships were represented within the gathering. Coaches and players, fathers and sons, husbands and wives, old college friends—all present for the purpose of supporting their alma mater, favorite team or simply the sport they’ve come to love.

Back in the parking lot Monday, the UVA victory party took on a distinctly Philadelphia theme, with Queen’s “We Are the Champions” interspersed with Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares.”

“Six national championships now, but at the Linc? Home of the Eagles?” asked Rod Fox, who lives in New Canaan, Conn., but grew up in Haverford. “To mix these two was amazing.”

Fox’s son John is a reserve midfielder for Virginia. The elder Fox said there was only one way to top Monday.

“Come back here next year,” he said, “and win it again.”

It’ll be up to the Cavaliers, because college lacrosse at the Linc is fast becoming a tradition. The NCAA seems to like what they’ve developed, as this weekend represented the sixth time Championship Weekend has come to the Linc in the past 15 years. They’ll be back again next year, and recent chatter on Twitter has garnered support, if not evidence, for a permanent establishment of the home of Championship Weekend in South Philadelphia.

Lincoln Financial Field will always be the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, but NCAA Lacrosse seems well on its way to establishing the venue as a regular vacation spot.