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Defending Champs Appear To Stick Out

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By CHRIS ERRINGTON, Tribune correspondent

Published: January 5, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - Just about anywhere you look concerning this weekend's Dick's Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions at Wesley Chapel District Park, the message is the same: The defending champs are once again the team to beat.

So why is it that first-year Edge Lacrosse coach Bob Burke is one of the few who thinks otherwise? And, maybe more importantly, why is he trying to convince his team of the same?

"There's no doubt we all have big shoes to fill," he said. "We have nowhere else to go but down if we don't win this, but we only have two kids who played on last year's elite team and we haven't played together yet.

"My approach is to get the kids' mind-set as the underdogs, because we haven't been together and can't take anything for granted. We need to come together pretty quickly and not stutter-step at all. If you lose a game, you'll be eliminated from getting to that championship game."

A year ago at Gettysburg (Pa.) College, Burke coached the Edge Rising Stars and watched the Elite team capture the inaugural boys high school lacrosse national championship. Today, he will be coaching an elite team with eight new members, a team that won't have played together until its first game at 8 a.m. against Team Carolina.

The Edge Elite, based out of Ontario, is paired with local favorite Tampa Tribe in the first of seven, three-team pools for today's opening rounds. The top teams from each pool advance to the single-elimination championship bracket, and a national champion will be crowned following Sunday's 12:30 p.m. final.

Burke, who was a member of Team Canada's national team that defeated the heavily favored U.S. at the 1978 world championships - a victory he said spurned national interest in the sport - said despite the team's lack of continuity, he plans on reaching the finals. With a run-and-shoot style geared toward quickly changing from defense to offense and one that's considered much quicker than the style played by many of their U.S. counterparts, as well as a bevy of talent, it may be a foregone conclusion.

Even with the knowledge they'll enter as a marked team.

"There's some teams that we've beaten in the past, but they'll be gunning for us," Burke said. "I know our kids won't take anything for granted. We appreciate winning and always come down to win, but certainly don't come to Pasco County with any arrogance."

Two Edge Elite players, defenseman Reid Acton (Loyola College, Md.) and Rob Koger (Georgetown), already have committed to play at the next level, and several talented newcomers also enter the mix. Left attack Carter Bender is in his second season as a starter, as are midfielders Alex Crepinsek and Kiel Matisz, while rookie left attack Mark Mathews already could be one of the team's stars.

So talented is this group that it's not inconceivable to envision an all-Edge championship game with the Elite team facing the Rising Stars squad. At least not to Josh Gross, sales and public relations manager for NDP Lacrosse in Denver and a spokesman for the championships.

"Edge's Rising Stars team is known as the 'Dream Team' because they have so much talent," Gross said. "There's going to be some outstanding lacrosse being played by great players, but just as easily as Edge Elite could get knocked out, you could see both teams in the finals."

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Dick's Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions national high school lacrosse tournament

WHERE: Wesley Chapel District Park, 7727 Boyette Road, Wesley Chapel
WHEN: Today and Sunday

ADMISSION: Free

WHO: Twenty-five teams from the United States and Canada

WEB SITE: www.ndplacrosse.com

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