Nearly 40 teams from seven states and the Iroquois nation faced off for the third annual IMG Nationals year-end lacrosse national championship at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., Nov. 21-22. After two intense days of competition, four teams earned national championships in the U13, U15, U17 and U19 divisions. The U19 division came down to a contest between the IMG Academy National team, seeking a third straight U19 title, and Lacrosse Club Orlando (LCO). The Orlando squad put IMG to the test from the very start, blasting off to a 3-1 advantage within the first 10 minutes of play. However, the IMG Academy team answered, entering the half tied 4-4, before taking the lead once and for all with a 10-7 win for their third straight title. “It feels great, and we had a great opponent in LCO and really took us to our limits,” said IMG Academy National Team Head Coach Jason Basso of the win. “It’s been great having great teams from all over the world come here, and it’s a credit to our players being able to dig in and battle to get the win.” To reach the final, IMG Academy had to get past Stealth Lacrosse (FL) in the semifinal, 11-5. Leading the way for IMG Academy were Ian Foster and Massimo Bucci (Georgetown commit) on face-offs, goalie Drake Porter (Syracuse commit) and the attack led by Tehoka Nanticoke and Ben French(Vermont commit). In the U17 division, the final came down to two first-time qualifiers, Brotherhood (NJ) and Maryland Xtreme (MD). The two squads fought to an 8-8 tie entering the waning minutes, before Brotherhood pulled away with two late goals for a 10-8 victory, and the U17 title. Remarked Brotherhood Head Coach Brian O’Rorke, “I’m so proud of these guys, they’ve grinded all summer and we’ve been winning games a lot of different ways, but ee don’t have one star, this team shares the ball and they play like a family.” Brotherhood was started in 2008 by O’Rorke and Kyle Ojakain. The two played lacrosse together in college at Providence, and wanted to give players in Bergen and Essex County, New Jersey and Rockland County, New York another means of playing high level lacrosse outside of their regular season. The team turned in workmanlike performances and played to the final whistle, led by the likes of Liam Horton, Kevin Griffith, Chris Castigilia, Joe Angrick and Connor Giliffin. In U15 Division play, Team Atlanta (GA) and defending U15 champ Texas United clashed at the end and played a tight contest through the early part of the second half. Unfortunately for the champs, Atlanta pulled away with a flurry of late goals for an impressive 15-8 win in the program’s first appearance at the IMG Nationals. “We knew it was going to be a tight final, and that (Texas United), but it was a great experience,” said Team Atlanta Head Coach Scott Price. “A win like this will help a lot for the kids, they come from out of about four high school in the Atlanta area, and a real confidence boost heading into spring.” Price added, “This is the best facility we’ve ever played in, the weather held out for us and the competition was great.” Team Atlanta’s scoring efforts were led by Payton Miller, Harris Koppelman and Zachry Jones, who each netted key goals in the later stages of the final to clinch the win. Finally, there was no shortage of excitement in the U13 division when Team Atlanta, looking for a second title to bring home, came up against SWARM Orlando. Team Atlanta carried momentum through the early goings, but the SWARM pulled away in the final minutes for a 7-5 win. “It has been exciting, and the kids have been really looking forward to this event and they came out here wanting to win,” SWARM Head Coach Richard Sanfilippo. “Ninety-five percent of this team come from one elementary school, so this is a group of neighborhood kids who have grown up together, love playing together, and it showed this weekend.” SWARM was making their first appearance at IMG Nationals, and several players keyed the program’s title. Hudson Bohn, Ben Calvert and R.J. Sanfilippo were lauded for their efforts throughout the event.