Last year, Team USBOXLA became the first American club to compete at the prestigious Trevor Wingrove Memorial Tournament in Coquitlam, British Columbia. The 2016 trip north of the border also marked the association’s first (and only) win at the Wingrove when the Team USBOXLA Pee Wees registered a victory over Langley in their last game of the weekend.
That inaugural entry was about competing against Canada’s best, being exposed to a lacrosse culture few American youth have ever taken part in, and experiencing the sport on soil where box far outweighs field.
This year the Wingrove would no doubt provide the same, however, on-floor expectations would certainly be higher.
“We compete at these events against some of Canada’s best box players, because we want to see how we stack up,” said USBOXLA Co-Founder and Team USBOXLA coach Shaydon Santos. “We want to see how far we’ve come, where we’ve improved, and where we still need work.
“Final scores are one indicator, sure, but playing at the Wingrove really allows our coaches to evaluate some of our top players in a variety of different ways. Last week was extremely beneficial for us as an association.”
Photo: Sherri Thomson
Nearly 60 players from 14 states represented Team USBOXLA at this year’s Wingrove, which took place from June 8-11 at Coquitlam’s Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex. Team USBOXLA Pee Wees, Bantams and Midgets would play clubs from both B.C. and Alberta, again testing themselves against their northern neighbors’ best box talent.
The Americans tripled their win total from a year ago, the Pee Wees again winning their final group game, and the Midgets not only scoring a win, but also doing enough to lock up a spot in the semi-finals, eventually losing the bronze medal game in double overtime to Delta.
“In both our wins and our losses, we saw significant improvements from just a year ago,” said Santos. “Although everyone would love to see us win gold in every division at events like this, proper development doesn’t work like that.
“We want to ensure we’re teaching our players box lacrosse the right way, the same way Canadians have been doing it for decades. That takes patience. We’ve obviously got some catching up to do in comparison to Canada, but what our coaches saw from these players last week definitely indicates we’re headed in the right direction.”
In 2016, the Midgets appeared simply over matched for much of the Wingrove. This year they proved they were far from out of place after making it to the final four, a sudden death snipe away from medaling. The group included NCAA commits like Quinn Marquez (Denver), Keelan Seneca (Albany), Chris Crapanzano (Saint Joseph’s) and a roster full of top American talent with bright box and field lacrosse futures ahead of them.
“I think all of our teams should be very proud of what we accomplished at the Wingrove this year,” said Santos. “Win or lose, next year we’re planning on taking another step, hopefully closing that gap between Canada a bit more, and maybe most importantly, having a whole lot of fun!”
See all of Team USBOXLA’s 2017 Trevor Wingrove Memorial Tournament results below:
Friday, June 9
Group Game | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Coquitlam Adanacs | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
Team USBOXLA | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Goals: Joshua Younger, Aydan DiRocco, Erik Volfson, Gavin Bibik
Assists: Judd Phillips (2), Quinn Tyler, Kyle Colsey
Saturday, June 10
Group Game | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Nanaimo Timbermen | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
Team USBOXLA | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
Goals: Joshua Younger, Gavin Bibik, Tyler Quinn, Tyler Johnson, Kyle Colsey
Assists: Wilson Bruininks, Gavin Bibik, Tyler Quinn, Tyler Johnson, Aydan DiRocco, Judd Phillips
Group Game | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Team USBOXLA | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
Port Moody Thunder | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
Goals: Kyle Colsey (3), Gavin Bibik, Joshua Younger, Aydan DiRocco, Judd Phillips
Assists: Charlie Gilpin (2), Brayden Kuczma, Tyler Johnson, Judd Phillips, Nicky Bond, Blake Carawan, Erik Volfson
Sunday, June 11
Group Game | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Team USBOXLA | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
Delta Islanders | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
Goals: Aydan DiRocco (3), Kyle Colsey (2), Nicky Bond, Gavin Bibik, Rudy Kalan
Assists: Kyle Colsey (2), Wilson Bruininks, Ben Porter, Erik Volfson, Charlie Gilpin, Casey Ryan
Friday, June 9
Group Game | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Nanaimo Timbermen | 0 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
Team USBOXLA | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Goals: Jackson Carawan, Cole Argay Wesley Maloney, Jason Piechota
Assists: Luke Winkler, Kurt Rachau, Spencer Vandenberg
Saturday, June 10
Group Game | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Coquitlam Adanacs | 0 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
Team USBOXLA | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Goals: Luke Winkler (2), Eric Bollar, Wesley Maloney
Assists: Jackson Carawan, Aidan Pechnik, Donny Scott, Spencer Vandenberg, Ryan Colsey
Group Game | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Sherwood Park Titans | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
Team USBOXLA | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
Goals: Wesley Maloney (2), Luke Winkler (2), Jackson Carawan
Assists: Ryan Colsey (2), Spencer Vandenberg, Wesley Maloney, CJ Lauretani, Dominic Genovese, Kurt Rachau, Eric Bollar
Friday, June 9
Group Game | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Coquitlam Adanacs | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
Team USBOXLA | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
Goals: Quinn Marquez (2), Ethan Tyack (2), Colby Lensing
Assists: Patrick McIntosh (2), Henry Bruininks, Cameron Wilt, Ethan Tyack, Tyler Sensiba, Axell Beskar
Group Game | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Parkland Posse | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
Team USBOXLA | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
Goals: Ethan Tyack (2), Chris Crapanzano, Patrick McIntosh, Tyler Sensiba, Jason Coopersmith, Cameron Wilt
Assists: Kevin Ritter (3), Dylan Maloney (2), Keelan Seneca (2), Dylan Aiken (2), Jason Coopersmith, Patrick McIntosh, Kahlen McConnell, Nick Stiles
Saturday, June 10
Group Game | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Team USBOXLA | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
Langley Thunder | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Goals: Jason Coopersmith, Chris Crapanzano, Kevin Ritter, Patrick McIntosh, Nick Stiles, Dylan Maloney, Tyler Sensiba, Colby Lensing
Assists: Ethan Tyack (3), Keelan Seneca, Colby Lensing, Quinn Marquez, Kahlen McConnell, Dylan Maloney, Patrick McIntosh
Sunday, June 11
Semi-Finals | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
Team USBOXLA | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Saanich Tigers | 2 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
Goals: Tyler Sensiba, Keelan Seneca, Colby Lensing
Assists: Colby Lensing, Dylan Maloney, Patrick McIntosh, Quinn Marquez
Sunday, June 11
Bronze Medal | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | OT2 | Final |
Delta Islanders | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
Team USBOXLA | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Goals: Colby Lensing (2), Quinn Marquez, Tyler Sensiba, Nick Stiles, Ethan Tyack
Assists: Quinn Marquez (2), Nick Stiles, Dylan Maloney, Nick Johnson, Kevin Ritter