By Chris Goldberg
TopLaxrecruitscom, Posted 1/1/19
Andrew Dalton was not surprised his Team Canada U19 squad was successful at the Brogden Cup last week.
“We had a lot of talented players,” said the 2019 midfielder from St. Michael’s College (Ontario) who will PG next year and has committed to Cornell. “We have a lot of grit and toughness and we do really well on groundballs,”
With Dalton (4 goals, 3 assists) helping lead the attack, Team Canada, comprised of elite players from Team Ontario, swept three games against Team USA (the Team Pennsylvania champion from the National Lacrosse Classic) to help Canada win the overall championship at the University of Tampa. The Brogden Cup, a yearly international event, features the High School and Middle School boys’ champions from the Maverik National Lacrosse Classic and U17 Girls’ All-Stars from the NLC vs. Team Ontario All-Star squads. Team Canada’s U17 girls also went 3-0 and, in all, Canada went 7-1-1 during the event, run by Legacy Global Lacrosse.
The U19 games were close the first day as Canada prevailed, 12-8 and 13-9 on Friday. In the final game Saturday, Canada rolled, 12-4, as its strong transition player, stick skills and pinpoint shooting overnatched the USA. Overall, Mitchell Taylor led Team Canada with 7 goals while Jack Henry Boyden (6 goals), Brock Haley (6 goals), Joshua Rosa (4 goals) and Edward Qu (3 goals) were offensive keys and Andrew Lagana and Caleb Creasor (Lehigh signee) stood out in goal behind a stout defense.
“They (Team USA) have a lot of speed at midfield,” said Dalton, “but we capitalized on our chances. It all starts with good defense and we got a lot of takeaways and had a high percentage on our fast breaks.”
How did Dalton fee about representing Canada?
“It was the first time representing my country, but hopefully not the last time,” he said. “It was super cool to see Canada and USA on the scoreboard and stand for our national anthems.”
Team Canada 2019 goalie Creasor (Lehigh signee from St. Andrew’s College) was competing in his third Brogden Cup. He said it remains a huge thrill to pull over the Canadian jersey.
“It’s always an honour to represent the province and obviously the country,” Creasor said. “This is my third Brogden Cup and it the excitement hasn’t faded.
“We had, top to bottom, good lacrosse players. Our ability to push the ball in transition was too fast for the US team to handle and our midfield dodging was unstoppable. Most of the guys on the team were just coming off the national title we took in the fall so we are very close on and off the field. Everyone bought into their role and we excelled as a team because of it.”
Team Canada’s girls also went undefeated, toppling the US, 11-6, 14-5 and 11-6. Paige Pagano, a 2020 goalie from The Bishop Strachan School in Toronto and a Jacksonville commit, was one of the standouts while splitting time with Kieran Gerow.
“I think it’s very humbling in some respects to get to represent your province or your country,” she said. “We’re all very close so our team chemistry is very strong. We communicate with each other very well.
“Our plays were well thought through and very precise. We learned through trial and error to make good decisions that put us ahead a little bit.”
Pagano has had the distinction of competing all three years that girls have played (all U17) in the Brogden Cup. The USA won in 2016, but Canada has dominated the past two games.
“It’s such a great experience, it’s my third year going,” said Pagano. “It’s such a good experience to get to meet new girls. It’s a great opportunity to compete against girls with different skills.”
In the U15 boys Division, Team Canada dropped the opener, 11-6, but tied, 9-9, in the second game and won the third natch, 8-7. Alex Roussel, who led Canada in scoring (5 goals, 3 assists), said his team jelled as the tourney progressed.
“The first game was our first chance to play as a full team, having call ups for this tournament. We were still meshing and by the third game we felt like more of a team and it showed on the field,” said said, a 2022 attackman from Humberside Collegiate Institute. “What I will remember most about this tournament is probably going from losing the first to then tying the second and eventually winning the last game.”
How did it feel to represent your country?
“No matter the circumstances, it’s always such an honor when I can put on the colors of my province/country,” he said. “It was a great experience representing Team Canada this past week