It should come as no surprise that when 44 of the nation’s best senior boys lacrosse players gathered for the fourth annual Under Armour All-America Senior Classic, there was plenty of scoring — and one unforgettable play.
The South outlasted the North 19-16 before 2,364 fans at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md., on June 27.
The unforgettable play happened early in the third quarter and involved Syracuse University-bound JoJo Marasco (Somers, N.Y.) and University of Virginia-bound Matt White of the North team.
“We were riding and I was able to scoop up a ground ball by the box, and it was a two-on-one with myself and Matt, and I waited for the defender to slide and I threw a behind-the-back pass to Matt and he finished behind-the-back.
“I threw it behind the back because I had confidence in throwing the pass and thought it was the right time to throw it.”
Marasco and White, who became friends at last summer’s Jake Reed Blue Chip Camp in Maryland, roomed together at Towson.
“We have been working on tricks for the game for the past month saying, ‘We have to get on ESPN’s Top 10 plays,’ ” Marasco said.
They got their wish. The goal, which tied it up at 8-8, indeed did make it on SportsCenter’s “Top 10 Plays of the Week.” It drew the No. 3 ranking among the 10 plays.
“We knew we would be able to,” Marasco said. “It was just a matter of what trick we could pull off and if it would go smoothly and luckily enough, we had the opportunity.
“We watched it (on ESPN) all night. It was insane.”
White, who finished with four goals and two assists for the North, also scored off a feed from Marasco 2:56 into the final period to give the North a 13-12 lead.
File photo by Jim Stout
JoJo Marasco, Somers
The South team took a lead it would not relinquish just over four minutes into the fourth quarter as Georgetown-bound attackman Brian Casey of Georgetown Prep (North Bethesda, Md.) scored his third goal of the game off a feed from North Carolina-bound Marcus Holman of the Gilman School (Baltimore, Md.). White also scored the first goal of the game for the North, which tied it at 1-1.
Other players from the New York metropolitan area who played in the game were Ian Braddish (West Islip), Connor English (Manhasset), John Fennessy (Yorktown), Jeff Frocarro (Port Washington), Steven Murphy (Floyd) and Nick O’Reilly (South Side) and John Ranagan (Yorktown).
It was such a special day for Fennessy and Ranagan that they decided to miss their high school graduation to play in the game. Fennessy got a preview of playing on the field at Towson, where he will continue his lacrosse career. Ranagan got to play on the same midfield line as LaFayette star John Greeley, who will be joining him at Johns Hopkins this fall.
“It was awesome hanging with Johnny,” Ranagan said. “We have been talking a lot about next fall and how we are both very excited. He is enormous and has great stick skills. It's going to be a battle (for playing time at Hopkins) in the fall and we both cannot wait.”
Joe Lombardi, who has been a fixture on the lacrosse scene during the sport’s rapid growth in the New York metropolitan area, produces editorial and video content for LaxLessons.com. He may be reached at joe@laxlessons.com.