Under Armour boys’ Underclassmen: MVP Stanwick leads Baltimore to crown

By Matt Chandik
TopLaxrecruits.com, Posted 7/8/13

TOWSON, Md. – The lacrosse world’s most famed pipeline is going to dry up in one year’s time. Well, at the high school level, anyway.

He’s the youngest of eight siblings, but watching Shack Stanwick toy with opponents en route to being named the Under Armour Underclassmen Games MVP as his Baltimore team blasted D.C., 17-11, for its first title makes it obvious that it’s watching a grown man play against teenagers.

The Boys’ Latin 2014 star attackman and Johns Hopkins commit had a 14-point day Sunday thanks to his one-goal, six-assist performance against Philadelphia in the semifinals and his two-goal, five-helper masterpiece against D.C. Not too bad of an outing for a player who’s the consensus No. 1 recruit in the country, but Stanwick’s focus was more on breaking Baltimore’s bad luck streak.

See full game story.

“It’s definitely cool,” Stanwick said. “The last two years, we got a little bit embarrassed and didn’t come out here and do what we wanted to do. I think this year, we really came back with a vengeance and it’s awesome winning it.

“It’s a great tournament and a lot fun. It’s my third year here and I love this tournament.”

Stanwick joined his sister, Covie, as Stanwicks who have claimed the UA Underclass MVP. His performance was a no-doubt-about-it type of day, one where he cranked out pinpoint passes to a group of ridiculously-talented teammates and constantly kept defenses off-guard.

Much like his Tewaaraton Trophy-winning brother, Steele (Virginia), Shack will shoot if he has to, but it’s clear he’s at his best setting up others. He says his game isn’t so much patterned after one of his siblings. Rather, it’s a combination of everyone.

“Just a little bit of everybody’s game,” Stanwick said. “Stuff that I can incorporate. If one of my brothers is fast, I might not be as fast, so I can incorporate something else that he has into my game.”

He has been compared to Steele, something that he’s not sure he embraces.

“It’s awesome, but I don’t know that I completely agree with it,” Shack said. “It’s still a pretty cool comparison.”

Stanwick was part of the Boys’ Latin team that powered through its first 19 games with ease and held a No. 1 national ranking before shockingly falling to Loyola Blakefield, 10-9, in the MIAA championship game. While he’s seen his fair share of elite competition in the MIAA, he recognized that the UA tournament cranks things up a notch, too.

“It’s definitely different,” Stanwick said. “The MIAA’s a really tough conference, but when you come out here, there are some really good players. You know you’re going up against someone that you really have to respect, so it’s just a really cool experience.”

And with his 14-point day and new piece of MVP hardware, Stanwick will be able to fondly look back on his last Underclassmen Games. Oh, that whole making history thing is pretty cool, too.

Baltimore scoring: Ryan Conrad 2g; Mikey Wynne 2g, 1a; Jesse Uhlman 2g, 1a; Stanwick 2g, 4a; Andy Matthews 1g; Tal Bruno 3g; Peter Brown 1g; Jason Ashwood 1g; Adam Ceribelli 2g; Chase Wittich 1g

DC scoring: Sean O’Brien 3g; Ryan Wade 4g; Charlie Horning Jr. 1g; Colton Rupp 2g; Gaudreau 1g

All-Tournament picks:
MVP – Shack Stanwick (Baltimore/Boys’ Latin)

Attackmen: Stanwick, Pierre Byrne (Midwest/Culver, Ind.), Mikey Wynne (Baltimore/St. Paul’s), Sean O’Brien (D.C./Landon, Md.);

Defense – Greg Pelton (Philadelphia/Malvern Prep), Joe Kenna (DC/St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes, Va.), Peter Welch (New Jersey/Delbarton), goalie Josh Miller (New England/Brien McMahon, Conn.);

Midfielders: Jake Seau (West/Bishop’s, Calif.), Brendan Collins (DC/Georgetown Prep, Md.), Brinton Valis (Baltimore/McDonogh)