By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/26/15
La Salle 2016 attackman Colin Cahill said it was exciting to take skills he learned over the first two days of the NXT Boys’ Showcase Camp and immediately employ them into Thursday night’s Fab 40 All-Star Game.
“This camp is different from most because there is also a teaching aspect aspect,” said Cahill. “There are a lot of great individual position sessions where you can pick (college) coaches brains.”
Fab 40 All-Stars Colin Cahill of La Salle (left) Dan Fisher (St. Joseph’s Prep)
Cahill scored two goals Thursday to help the Black team prevail, 7-4, in a well-played game despite constant rain.
“Coming into today’s game, I knew it would be a little sloppy because of the (rainy) weather and because we were playing with brand new kids,” said Cahill. “We wanted to work the ball around and get the easy shot – let the ball do the work, especially when we didn’t have good footing. We had to play a team-oriented game.”
One of the major features of the Showcase Camp was the box training done in partnership with US Box Lacrosse Association.
“I love the box training,” said Cahill. “It kind of forces you to make quick decisions. In box, everything is much smaller and have to see the open man and make plays in half the time of field. You work on stick protection and making quicker decisions. It really helps your game.”
Another key member of the Black Team All-Stars was 2017 face-off specialist Dan Fisher, who was a major reason St. Joseph’s Prep won the Catholic League title and reached the PIAA championship game this month.
“Coming in to the All-Star Game, I wanted to do as much as I could in front of the coaches,” said Fisher, who won more than 50 percent of his face-offs and was dominant during the day’s earlier tournament games. “At first, it was sloppy and there were a couple unhandled balls. But we started to get used to it (the weather) and it worked out nice.”
Fisher has enjoyed the training – especially the box work.
“The practice sessions are helping me so much,” he said. “I like camps that do that. I liked the midfield positional sessions because even though I am a face-off guy I still have work on passing and catching and running.
“In box, the interior skills are great and I used them today and they helped me a lot. In box, you don’t have all the world to run. Passing is short and working overhand is important.”
Fisher, who has received much D1 interest this year, said he has improved tremendously in the past year.
“The season was a big help,” he said. “Last summer is when I really started focusing on face-offs and the improvement I showed this season really helped me confidence-wise and confidence is everything on face-offs.”
Colton Johnson
Another up-and-coming player from Thursday’s All-Star Game was White Team 2017 midfielder Colton Johnson (Episcopal Academy, NXT).
“I expected play to be obviously better and I was happy to make the All-Star team,” said Johnson, who was a second-line middie on an Episcopal team that was in the national rankings much of the year. “Getting into this game was exciting and the pace was fast. The weather was a factor, but everyone played through it and it was a great game.”
Johnson said the box training has built on his previous experience.
“I love the box aspect,” he said. “I have been working on that with my club team,” he said. “It’s great; it gets your stick skills warmed and directly correlates to the field game. It helps you inside with stick skills in general.
“The camp’s learning aspect is great, especially working with position coaches. You work on skills you can do at your house and I am looking forward to other opportunities to work on my game
Johnson said he is just getting started in the recruiting process.
“I will see where it goes,” he said. “One thing I like here is that you get great pointers from the coaches and it’s a great experience.”
Fab 40 rosters from Thursday’s Philly Showcase Camp at St. Joseph’s University
White Team Roster
Clayton Burt, 2016, A, New Canaan, CT
Ryan Carius, 2017, G, Ridgewood, NJ
Brody Carter, 2016, G, Albany Academy, NY
Chris Clemente, 2017, MF, Eastport-South Manor, NY
John Connelly, 2017, A, St. Ignatius Prep, IL
Tyler Corpora, 2017, MF, Emmaus, PA
Johnny Daniels, 2017, D, The Woodlands, TX
Hugh Davio, 2017, D, Summit, OR
Colin Devine, 2017, LSM, Owen J. Roberts, PA
Liam Dollard, 2016, MF, Colonie, NY
Lucas Goldoni, 2016, D, Montgomery, NJ
Colton Johnson, 2017, MF, Episcopal Academy, PA
Colin Leigh, 2017, FO, 2017, Seton Hall Prep, NJ
Joe Maimone, 2017, A, Don Bosco Prep, NJ
Samuel Martin, 2016, MF, Christian Brothers, NY
Austin Prime, 2016, D, Central Bucks East, PA
Zach Ranta, 2016, MF, Oxbridge Academy, FL
Stephen Roda, 2016, MF, Cedar Crest, PA
Michael Wilson, 2017, A, Lakeland Regional, NJ
Taylor Witherell, 2017, A, Salesianum, DE
Black Team Roster
Colin Cahill, 2016, A, La Salle, PA
Evan Campbell, 2017, MF, Cherry Hill East, NJ
Tristen Copeland, 2016, MF, Jay M. Robinson, NC
Connor Delaney, 2017, D, Episcopal Academy, PA
Peter Dobbs, 2017, G, St. Peter Prep, NJ
Dan Fisher, 2017, FO, St. Joseph’s Prep, PA
Spencer Fox, 2017, G, Lansing Catholic, MI
Tripp Gundlach, 2017, D, Germantown Academy, PA
Michael Hogan, 2016, D, Allentown, NJ
Nicholas Iannuzzi, 2017, A, Henry Ford II, MI
Marco Kurek, 2016, A, Herricks, NY
Conor Larken, 2017, LSM, Central Bucks East, PA
Harrison Leon, 2016, MF, Conestoga, PA
Ethan Locker, 2017, MF, Bridgewater-Raritan, NJ
Spencer Lyons, 2017, MF, Barnards, NJ
Hunter Mason, 2017, D, Eastport-South Manor, NY
Trammel Robinson, 2016, MF, Memphis University, TN
Michael Scaldiferri, 2017, A, Herricks, NY
Alex Stock, 2017, D, Cardinal Gibbons, NC
Will Sturgis, 2017, M, Archbishop Moeller, O