Kevin White Memorial Champs

The Third Annual Kevin White Memorial Tournament was a great weekend of lacrosse from start to finish.  The Newtown Golden Eagles came out on top after going 3-0 in pool play and winning both of their playoff games.

 Left to Right: Josh Kacprzak, Ryan Maciaszek, Preston Lay,
Jake Davis, Brian Stevens, Linden Stevens, Marty Stevens.
Front Row: Father and Son Drew and Koy Stevens

Friday night marked the start of the NGE's tournament run as they took on the Rawgus Boyz, a tournament team comprised of mostly Pinewoods Smoke players from the CanAm.  Prior to the opening whistle, Drew Stevens' son Koy was honored by some members of the Reading Rockets who play for the NGE.  Specifically older cousin Linden Stevens who presented Koy with the limited edition game jersey he wore on Autism Awareness Night for the Rockets a few months back.  Moments after the presentation of the jersey both teams were lined up for the opening draw.  After being locked in a 0-0 stalemate for almost 10 minutes, Newtown opened the scoring with a powerplay goal from Preston Lay.  Rawgus Boyz followed up with an inside finish and an outside shot to take the lead 2-1.  Their only lead of the game would be short-lived as Bobby DeFreze answered back with an outside shot of his own to tie the game up heading into the second period.  Newtown pulled to a 6-3 lead in the second with scores from Donald Stevens and Roy Isaac, hanging on for a four goal victory in a fast paced and physical matchup that ended 10-6. Scoring was led by a hat trick from Lay.

Saturday's schedule called for stormy weather as the Golden Eagles took on both the Buffalo Creek Thunder of the CanAm and the Ohiyo' Thunder tournament team.  In the day's first game the NGE Jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first.  The second period ended 8-2, with the NGE able to turn it back on in the third and finish the game 13-4.  The night game wasn't much different as the Golden Eagles controlled from the opening faceoff taking a 6-1 lead in the first period, expanding to 13-1 in the second, and putting 8 more up to finish 21-3.  Many players were in the scoring mix, leading the way were Wes Jackson with four tallies and Linden Stevens with 8 assists.

Championship Sunday rolled around with your NGE as the #1 seed in pool A, playing the #2 seed in pool B the Native Sons, a talented tournament team that draws from the CanAm and surrounding leagues.  Newtown opened the scoring with a quick stick from forward Rudi George, but the early lead would not last. The Golden Eagles offense stalled, and found themselves down by as many as four goals in the contest, with the second period ending 6-3 in favor of the Native Sons.  Down but not out, the Golden Eagles chipped away at the lead.  After a breakaway twister by transition man Justin Stevens, the NGE found themselves down 8-7 with 6 minutes left in regulation.  Forward Morgan Montour netted the game tying goal with 5 minutes left in the game.  As the clock ticked down and the defense held fast, it was Montour again on a nearly identical play, catching a feed from fellow righty Bobby DeFreze and burying it bottom left from 10 yards out.  The NGE won the closest game of the tournament 9-8 in thrilling fashion and were able to escape late game antics with cool heads and no suspensions.  Montour finished with four goals, and DeFreze added 6 assists in the nailbiter.

After beating Onondoga 6-3, the Rawgus Boyz met the Golden Eagles in the 2pm Championship Game, the latest edition in the longstanding lacrosse rivalry between Pinewoods and Newtown.  Emotions ran high for the NGE after the semi-final game, and they came out firing.  Controlling the rematch from the start and taking an early lead they would hold till the final buzzer.  Rawgus Boyz goaltender Beask Seneca had to leave the game in the early second period due to muscle cramps.  In a great showing of sportsmanship, he received applause from the NGE bench and fans as he went down the boards and tapped gloves with every player on Newtown.  In the final game it was the defense's turn to get on the score sheet as Ryan Maciaszek scored on an outside shot and Josh Kacprzak, Justin Gill, and Jake Davis all scored on breakaways for the Golden Eagles. Wes Jackson and Preston Lay added three more a piece.  The game got chippy when team captain Justin Gill left the game with an upper body injury after a questionable check.  Both Butch Jimerson and Justin Stevens hit the showers early after receiving two separate fighting majors just minutes apart.  Any animosity was left on the floor as the NGE took the victory 16-7.  Both teams shook hands and remained on the floor for the awards ceremony.  Rawgus Boyz captain Darren Brooks received the 2nd Place trophy and prize money with applause from both teams as did longtime Golden Eagle Trace White who received the championship trophy and prize money from the tournament held in his brother's honor.  


Team Notes:
Goaltenders Craig Seneca and Clint Jones split time and played stellar all weekend behind a stout defense that boasted a mere 5.6 goals against average for the tournament.  The offense finished with a 13.8 goals for average.  Preston Lay was the tournaments high scorer with 12 goals and 8 assists (in three pool play games.)  Linden Stevens won the MVP award.  The team is coached by Mike Stevens, Chad Stevens and Brian Stevens, all former standout players for the NGE.