PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - A team led by Washington College head men's lacrosse coach J.B. Clarke and featuring seven current and former Shoremen recently won the 10th annual Prague Cup, an international lacrosse tournament held in the capital city of the Czech Republic. The team, known as "A-Team," went 4-2 in round robin play. In the championship round, "A-Team" defeated the two teams who had beaten it in round robin play to take home the cup. The trip to Prague and the tournament took place June 24th-July 1st.

Rising Washington College seniors Nicholas Gregory (Riva, MD/South River), Steve Humphries (Fairfax, VA/Hayfield Secondary), and Andrew Generazio (Springfield, VA/West Springfield/Bridgton, ME) and rising juniors Jimmy Kielek (Baltimore, MD/Archbishop Curley), Matt Moreton (Darnestown, MD/Northwest), and Kyle van Oostendorp (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) all played for "A-Team," as did former Shoreman Sam Lane and Blaine Mitten, the brother of current Washington College assistant coach Kyle Mitten. The remaining 11 players on the team were from schools including Dowling, Marymount, Lees-McRae, and Lycoming.

Kielek scored the game-winning goal in the team's semi-final victory. Generazio was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament and was named to the ten-man All-Tournament Team along with Gregory. Other teams in the tournament included two squads from the Czech Republic, one from the United Kingdom, one from Chicago, and two from California.

"A-Team" also had the chance to visit several sites in Prague, touring the city daily with stops at Prague Castle, the Czech seat of government, and the Terezin concentration camp.

"This was a great experience for all our student-athletes," noted Clarke. "We approached the trip as an opportunity to see the czech republic and play some lacrosse. The WC lacrosse family should be very proud of the way the guys represented the school, lacrosse program, and our country. The players quickly made friends with the players from the other schools that were on our team and also with players from around the world. Lacrosse truly brought us all together. The competition was good and I think we were all surprised how much we wanted to win the Prague Cup!"

2007-07-12