2006 U.S. Men's Team to Make Debut at Lacrosse
for Leukemia Tournament

BALTIMORE — The 2006 U.S. Men’s Lacrosse Team will make its debut at the Price Modern Lacrosse for Leukemia Tournament on Oct. 1 at the St. Paul’s School in Brooklandville, Md. The tournament begins at 10 a.m. and concludes at 3 p.m. Admission is just $5 per spectator.

The U.S. team will play defending national champion Johns Hopkins University along with Loyola College. Other teams competing at the tournament will be Albany, Air Force, Penn State, St. John’s, Syracuse, Towson, UMBC, Villanova and Washington College. Each team will play two full-length games.

The 23-member U.S. team, coached by Syracuse head coach John Desko, was selected following a four-day tryout in June. The team includes 10 players with previous U.S. team experience, seven from the 2002 team and three from the 1998 team.

The U.S. team features two Major League Lacrosse most valuable players — Jay Jalbert (2003, Long Island) and Ryan Powell (2001, Rochester), two-time league defensive player of the year Nick Polanco (2004, 2005, Long Island) and three Tewaaraton Trophy winners — Kyle Harrison (2005, Johns Hopkins), Michael Powell (2002, 2004, Syracuse) and Doug Shanahan (2001, Hofstra). Shanahan was the MVP of the 2002 ILF World Championship.

The U.S. team will defend its title from July 13-22 at the International Lacrosse Federation World Championship in London, Ontario. The U.S. has won the last six ILF world titles and has lost just once in ILF field play, falling in the 1978 championship to Canada.

US Lacrosse, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the national governing body for men's and women's lacrosse. STX is the official exclusive equipment supplier to the U.S. Men’s National Teams program.

The complete schedule of the Price Modern Lacrosse for Leukemia Tournament follows:

10 a.m.
Field 1 - Loyola vs. United States
Field 2 - Air Force vs. Johns Hopkins
Field 3 - Villanova vs. Washington
Field 4 - Syracuse vs. Towson
Field 5 - Penn State vs. UMBC
Field 6 - Albany vs. St. John’s

12 p.m.
Field 1 - United States vs. Johns Hopkins
Field 2 - Albany vs. Loyola
Field 3 - Penn State vs. Syracuse
Field 4 - UMBC vs. Washington College
Field 5 - St. John’s vs. Villanova
Field 6 - Air Force vs. Towson

# # #