Lacrosse: Who's Playing Where This Summer?

Lacrosse: Who's Playing Where This Summer?

The high school lacrosse season may be over, but that doesn't mean Rhode Island's best have stopped working on their games. Several big-name players are hitting the summer circuit in search of top-level competition.

La Salle head coach Steve O'Donnell runs the highly-successful Next Level Lacrosse, which fields teams in six different age divisions. (11, 13, 15, 16, 17, and 18 year old).

Next Level's U-19 team won the Bryant/Bulldog Classic at Bryant University last week, going 6-0 in the tournament, which hosted 75 teams. Next Level dominated the competition, outscoring opponents 54-14.

Team members Brady O'Donnell, John Manown, Matt Andrews, Jack Collins, all of La Salle, and Jack Dillon of Barrington are among a select group of players who will represent New England at the Gatorade National Lacrosse Classic in Gaithersberg, Md., this weekend. Those players were selected at a tryout in February.

The team will head to the Tri-State tournament in Princeton, N.J., next weekend. Next Level sent shockwaves up the east coast when it captured the Tri-State tournament championship two years ago, which featured teams from Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

"If you're playing on our A team, there's a pretty good chance that you're going to play in college," Steve O'Donnell said. "We want to make sure we play in tournaments where the right coaches are, where there are opportunities to get noticed. We play the best competition out there."

Barrington head coach Jeff Popham runs Ocean State Lax, which is an independent summer team that also competes in the northeast. Ocean State fields U-19 and U-17 teams.

Six players from the two-time defending Division II champion East Greenwich Avengers play for Popham at Ocean Lax, including standout goalie Jack Trutza, midfielders Jack Payette and Matt Cruise, and attackers Colin Bernier and Ryan Trinque.

North Kingstown attackers Colin Vincent and Aaron Binek, and Mount Hope's Alex Copeland, Ronnie Roberts, and Aaron Booth also play for Ocean State.

The team will compete in two other tournaments, the Big Dog Challenge at Brown University on July 13 and 14, and the Beast of the East Challenge at UMass-Amherst on July 21 and 22.

"Our program runs for six weeks, and gives guys the opportunity to work on their game, have some fun, and gain some recruiting exposure," Popham said.

Players who are looking for more exposure can participate in the Battle of the Hotbeds Showcase, which is hosted at the University of Delaware on July 28-29.

Marshall Huggins is the head of the Beach Dogs Lacrosse program, which is scheduled to compete in four tournaments this summer. The Beach Dogs are fielding three teams (U-13, U-15, and U-17), and will be  The U-17 team finished 3-2 at the Bryant Bulldog Classic