Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/3/17
Marple Newtown recently held its boys’ lacrosse Team Awards Banquet and honored its top performers while being treated to a special guest speaker, Princeton freshman sensation Michael Sowers.
Kneeling left to right are Alex Viola, Midfield MVP; Al Funk, Sr. Capt. and George Kruse Award Winner; Jake Long, Sr. Attack MVP; Kyle Baroni, Sr. Defense MVP.
Standing left to right are Marple coaches Frank Rogo, Eric Cardigan, Bill Holenstein, Tom Hannum, Ebe Helm, Jesse Havick and Guest Speaker, Michael Sowers.
Under the Leadership of head coach Tom Hannum, the Lions are making big strides and finished 14-7 in the tough Central League while reaching the second round of the District 1 Class AA playoffs.
The award winners:
Captains – Alex Funk, Kyle Baroni, Jake Long, Alex Viola
All Central League Awards
2nd Team Mid-Field – Alex Viola
Honorable Mention Defense -Kevin Hahn
Honorable Mention Goalie – Liam Ferry
Honorable Mention Face-Off -Jake Huey
GEORGE CRUSE AWARD – Alex Funk
MVP ATTACK -JAKE LONG
MVP MIDFIELD – Al Viola
MVP Defense – Kyle Baroni
Yellow Flag award – Zach Faust
MOST IMPROVED Offense – Luke Jelus
Most Improved Defense – Dylan Conan
Sowers, who earned All-American honors this year at Princeton and is an alum of the Duke’s L.C and Mesa Lacrosse programs, talked about working hard, dedicating one’s self to a goal, challenging yourself no matter what the odds, believing you can do anything and relying on family to support your goals.
Sowers came off a year in which he excelled in helping Team USA win the FIL U-19 World Championship and then set numerous freshman scoring records and earned Third Team All-American honors at the attackman position.