Blue Mountain Lacrosse

First, many thanks to a very worthy opponent, the York Legacy program.  You have much to be proud of and you made history this afternoon when both the York and Blue Mtn teams made the 2011 PA Keystone Games HS Division Final an all Central PA event. 

I have no words that can explain how proud I am of this accomplishment on behalf of the York Legacy Program.  Many people are not aware that over the years Blue Mtn and York U19 teams have scrimmaged during the early June trials of trying to bring a team together.  So today's final was very special to me, because it was great to see our comrades in District III, have some great success too.

Second, on behalf of the families and players of Blue Mountain Lacrosse, I want to thank you for your patience, your perseverance and your loyalty to our program.  There is no question that there is competition from many summer programs, but in the end Blue Mtn strives to bring together people from Central PA to focus on competing with any teams in the country and that is representive of our region.  I take great pride in trying to give Central PA players the best opportunities to shine as a region.

We had many great performances from great student-athletes throughout the summer; everyone trying to learn a system that is new and somewhat foreign to them as they have been taught previously.  The boys get a heavy dose of the fundamentals and incorporate that into a system that works to put people in the right spots on the field at the right time.  As our U13 and U15 groups sometimes find, that is sometimes the most difficult aspect of our program; working through the style of play that is dependent not only on individual performance and ability, but a firm grasp of the team concepts we preach and try to teach.

Today, our 2011 Blue Mountain PA Keystone Games Gold Medal Champions stand proud among their peers of the past, and present as student-athletes who sacrificed their time and efforts for a team effort second to none.

Congratulations to all Blue Mtn U19 players and coaches for a job well done!  Blue Mtn went 7-0 through the tournament, finishing with a strong effort against a very good Lehigh team in the Gold Medal game, winning 8-4. 

We had great performances throughout the tournament by many Blue Mtn players with some spectacular offense, and a stellar team defense led by Jake Watson (Warwick-Goalie), who earned the MVP honors for the 2010 PA Keystone Games.

Our Blue Mtn U15 team also had a great tournament.  They finished the tournament winning their first 5 games, lost in the semifinal game in OT, and lost in the last seconds of the Bronze Medal game.  Disappointing?  Yes.  However, I'm very proud of their effort and am encouraged at how competitive they were throughout the tournament.  I can't wait to see these players at the next level as they move forward.

2009 PA Keystone Games- Blue Mtn Lacrosse MS and HS Summary:

Day 2:  An interesting day at the PA Keystone Games to say the least.  I do thank you for your patience with me.  Just impossible to keep up with the website before the end of the day.

Blue Mtn HS:  The morning started well with a 10-0 victory over a young in experience Nittany squad.  However, what Nittany lacked in experience they made up with in heart.  Good job Nittany and stay strong in heart, it will pay off as your area grows in lacrosse.

Blue Mtn then took on Lehigh Vally in the semi-finals.  The game was nip and tuck with Blue Mtn getting up 4-2 on Lehigh. Penalties and some mental mistakes allowed Lehigh to battle back, gaining possessions and finding the back of our net with their shots.  With four minutes left in the game, Lehigh took the lead at 5-4.  Lehigh took a timeout with about 3:30 in the game on the running clock and then made Blue Mtn pay for taking an aggressive tack in trying to turn the momentum and soon Lehigh Valley stretched the lead and got the win, 7-4.  Lehigh then went on to beat Delco in the finals 9-6 to win the PA Keystone Games Gold Medal.  Their first Gold Medal at the HS level.  Congratulations goes to Coach Jeff Hewlings and Dan Dolphin for the excellent job they did with their boys and their program this Keystone Games.

In the consolation Bronze Medal game, Blue Mtn battled back from a 5-2 deficit to tie the game at 5-5 with only minutes in the game.  Blue Mtn carried the momentum and earned another score to take a 6-5 lead.

But Chesco was able to make a play and an create a turnover with less than a minute to go with Blue Mtn controling the ball in the box.  That mistake gave Chesco one more chance and they made good on a rip from about 12 yards out that snapped inside the left hand corner of the Blue Mtn net.

Then overtime ensued which literally went on an on for about 10 minutes with both teams getting some great chances.  Blue Mtn earned some penalities and then simply put themselves in a spot that was difficult to defend.  Chesco ended the marathon battle with a 7-6 OT win defeating Blue Mtn for the Bronze.

Blue Mtn MS:  Blue Mtn got some disappointing news this morning that their 2-1-1 record was not good enough to earn a playoff spot.  But the good news is that only created a burning desire to make the best of the Keystone Games in their ensuing games with Allegheny and Bucks.

In a great battle, Blue Mtn outduels Allegheny pulling away with a 5-2 victory.  Then Blue mtn battled Bucks Co. and earned their second victory of the day to finish with a 4-1-1 record.  Congratulations to our MS team for doing a very nice job rebounding from some disheartening news this morning.

Day 1:  Peter Deluca gave a clinic in goalie play today while Patrick Brogan and Spencer Lehr had dominating performances at the faceoff. Pat and Spence are making sure Blue Mtn gets possessions, and Peter Deluca is making life difficult for teams lucky enough to break down our defense, which is no easy task.  Bucknell bound Austin Schultz anchors a solid defensive squad for Blue Mountain which did a great job at limiting our opponents' offenses.  Mike Oliveto and Alex Gibbel played great as defensive specialists at midfield. It took Quint Miller a half a day to get his shot under the pipe, but bad news for our opponents, Quint and the rest of the offense have seemingly dialed in their shots by the end of the first day.

Goals for: 30  Goals against: 11  In fact, if Blue Mtn can become better at executing our reads on offense, and finish with a little better shooting percentage, Day 2 at Keystones could be exciting for our HS squad.  Stay tuned! 

In this evening's contest vs York, Blue Mtn HS team won 13-2.  Blue Mtn did a nice job creating, then finding the open man and seeking the next pass(es).  That's a good sign for us; we are starting to see the field better and take advantage of how a defense is reacting to our initial play, and then making some better reads as to where the ball should go next. 

*Currently, the Blue Mtn HS team is #1 in their division with Delco at the #2 spot.  In the other HS division, currently Chesco is #1 and Lehigh Valley #2.  For the most part the division we are in is settled, with one divisional game to go.  However, the Chesco/Lehigh division is still up for grabs with some interesting matchups to be played tomorrow morning to determine who gets first place and second place. 

At noon tomorrow, Blue Mtn will play the second place team in the Chesco/Lehigh/Allegheny/Bucks division.  Delco will take on the #1 team from that same group.

The Blue Mtn MS team was overwhelmed by Chesco MS team, losing 12-2. Chesco scored off the first face off and did not let up on the pedal.  Blue Mtn MS finishes 2-1-1.

---------------------GO BLUE MOUNTAIN!---------------------

Good afternoon Blue Mountain!
Its about 4:00pm, just got back to the hotel to put up this update. 

Blue Mtn has been playing well, but not yet playing to its potential.  However, HS All-America Peter Deluca has been playing very well and doing his part keeping Blue Mtn in the win column with some great saves and out of goal play.

If the rest of our players tune up their game just a notch, this Blue Mtn squad should have the fire power and the defense to have a shot at making to the playoff round and working for Gold.  But we haven't shown what we are capable of just yet.  We are close to breaking out with great execution, but we haven't totally gotten there yet.

Blue Mtn HS Team is 3-0 at this time.  A big win this morning over a good Delco squad.  Close game, but Blue Mtn pulls it out and wins 4-3 in a very good contest.

Out next victory came over Montco in a great game too.  Blue Mtn and Montco battled the whole game.  Score was 3-2 Blue Mtn and then Blue mountain surged ahead to grab a 5-2 lead, and it looked like it was going to become a blow out.  But Montco captialized on some mental errors by Blue Mtn and got back in the game.  Final was Blue Mtn 6-4.

I was impressed with Montco.  Simply Montco has not fielded good teams for the past several years, but this year is definitely different.  They have a very nice team with some boys who can play!

In our third game of the day, we played Philly.  This team had a nice defense, but they lacked the abilty to control the ball on offense which meant we had the ball a lot!  Between the Philly goaliesplaying BIG, and some shooting by Blue mtn that was less than precise, Philly stayed close at the half only being down 4-0.  Blue Mtn pulled away in the second half to make it 10-1.

Next up...York at 5:00opm on field 1.

Blue Mtn MS Team is currently 1-0-1.  Yes folks, onl in soccer and the PA Keystone Games can a lacrosse game end in a tie!

Blue Mtn was up on Delco 4-2 midway through the  second half and then Delco made a comeback and made 4-4.

In the second game, Blue Mtn handled Lehigh Valley 6-2.  This game score could have been more lopsided had Blue Mtn finished a little better.

Currently, Blue Mtn is playing in their third game against Allegheny and then Blue Mtn takes on a very good Chesco squad.

Blue Mountain 2008:

Varsity Elite/Select:
2008 PA Keystone Games- Silver Medal Champions, 7 wins-1 loss, lost 5-4 to Delco in finals.
2008 Lehigh Laxfest Runner Up- 2nd place lost to Dukes Lacrosse in
            Final.
2008 TopLax Tournament:
Blue Mtn Carolina: Tournament Champions 
Blue Mtn Hopkins:  3rd place.
2008 Summer Sizzle: 3-1 only loss was to Summer Sizzle Champions
2008 Champ Camp- Lost a heartbreaker to Tri-State Gold in Division
            Championship.  Finished tournament 6-3 overall.
2008 Ultimate Performance Fall Lacrosse Tournaments 4-0 and 3-1.
   
Rising Soph Elite/Select:
2008    Lehigh LaxFest:  2nd place.  Lost in finals, 7-6.
2008    TopLax Tournament: 

Blue Mtn Carolina:  2nd place.  Lost to Harford Renegades.
Blue Mtn Hopkins:  3rd place.

2008    LaxEvo:  Finished in 3rd place in Varsity B tournament with
  inspired play.
2008  National Recruiting Tournament Fall Ball, 4-0.

U15 Elite/Select:
2008 PA Keystone Games- Gold Medal Champions!  Beat ChesCo 4-3 in final.  Finished with a 7-0 for the tournament.
2008 East Coast Wars U15 Champions, 5-0.
2008 LaxEvo U15 Tournament:  2nd place
2008 Indian Summer U15 Lacrosse Tournament Champions, 3-0.

Blue Mountain 2007:

Varsity Elite/Select:

2007 PA Keystone Games- Gold Medal Champions, 8 wins-0 losses, 2  OT wins in the playoff round!
2007 Lehigh Laxfest Runner Up- 2nd place
2007 TopLax Tournament: 3-1
2007 Summer Sizzle: 3-1 only loss was to Summer Sizzle Champions
2007 Champ Camp “Great 8”.  Lost in semi-finals to Crossroads who
         finished 2nd in the National tournament of 72 teams.
2007 Ultimate Performance Fall Lacrosse Tournaments 4-0 and 3-1.

U15 Elite/Select:

2007 PA Keystone Games- Bronze Medalists

Blue Mountain 2006

Varsity: Finished in 4th place in the Keystone Games.

U15:  PA Keystones Games Bronze Medalist 

Blue Mountain 2005:

Varsity:  PA Keystone Games Gold Medal Champions, beat Delco 13-2.

Blue Mountain 2004:

Varsity:  PA Keystone Games Silver Medalist, lost to Chesco in finals, 6-5.