Sams Script


Apuzzo, Geiersbach help Top Guns (N.Y.) break through to U15 national championship


By Paul Krome S


amantha Apuzzo and Samantha Geiersbach grew up down the block from each other in West Babylon, N.Y. Their lifelong connection, forged through practicing lacrosse in the neighborhood, took root in earnest


in 2012 when — with Apuzzo a freshman and Geiersbach in the eighth grade — they helped the West Babylon High varsity team to a 13-2 record against Suffolk County foes. Fittingly, thfriends that grew up separated by just


a few doors on 1st Street helped their summer club program kick in a door it previously could not open. Geiersbach had six goals and an assist and


Apuzzo added four goals and an assist to lift the seventh-seeded Long Island Top Guns (N.Y.) to their first gold medal in the fifth-annual US Lacrosse U15 National Championship, powered by Lacrosse Unlimited, with a 14-12 win over fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets Blue (N.Y.) in an all-Long Island final July 25 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. After two years of semifinal heartbreak, the Top Guns


completed an 8-0


run through a capacity 32-team field in three days of heat, humidity and rain at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.


quarterfinals, Geiersbach evaded a double-team on the right wing just long enough to find Darcie Smith open in front of the goal for the winner with 34.9 seconds left. That the Samanthas played large roles in their team’s historic


run came as no surprise to Colleen Kilgus, their coach at West Babylon. “They have a great work ethic and push each other in practice,” Kilgus said. “Even in running drills, you never know who’s going to beat whom. They have that fight to push each other and make each other better.” Geiersbach is a left-handed attacker and adept at feeding


as well as scoring. Apuzzo can score with either hand and will move into the midfield to take draw controls, often feeding them to Geiersbach. “She’s like a sister to me,” Geiersbach said of Apuzzo. “We work so well on the field together. It’s awesome to play with her.” The combo confounded the Yellow Jackets in the U15 final as they connected on give-and-gos and off the draw. The Yellow Jackets closed to within 14-12 in monsoon-like weather, but the Apuzzo-Geiersbach connection was too much to overcome. “I love playing with Sammy. We’ve been playing since we were 10,” Apuzzo said. “We know what we’re going to do and we make great eye contact.” The Top Guns’ victory erased the pain of one-goal


losses in the semifinals in 2011 and 2012. “I’m just really happy for the girls. They worked so hard for it,” coach Shannon Smith said. “We came here


with a goal and we achieved it.” Smith, herself a West Babylon alumna and now the coach


at Hofstra, went on to great success as a player, winning the Tewaaraton Award and two NCAA championship MVPs at Northwestern and a gold medal with the 2007 U.S. U19 team. West Babylon also sent Christina Esposito to Northwestern and Alyssa Murray to Syracuse. On the heels of winning the US Lacrosse U15 National Championship, thriving in a pressure situation together, what’s in store for Apuzzo and Geiersbach? “We’ve had a lot of good talent,” Kilgus said. “They’ll be right up there.” LM


said


“It’s an honor,” Apuzzo, a


third-year tournament participant and a two-time selection to the Lacrosse Magazine All-Tournament Team. “It was finally our turn to win.” To do it, the Top Guns’ big guns


came through when it counted most. In an 11-10 win over NEM&D in the round of 16, Apuzzo lit up the Marylanders for six goals, including the game-winner with 4:40 to play. That came after a thunderstorm lit up the complex and suspended the contest with 5:04 left, tied at 10. Later, in an 8-7 win over defending national champion Sky Walkers 2016 (Md.) in the


48 LACROSSE MAGAZINE September 2013>>


LACROSSE MAGAZINE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM


Samantha Geiersbach, A, Long Island Top Guns (N.Y.)


Allyson Mayle, A BearLax 2016 Blue (Calif.)


Sara Szynal, A, STEPS 2016 (N.J.)


Samantha Apuzzo, A/M, Long Island Top Guns (N.Y.)


Kaitlyn Cerasi, M, Long Island Top Guns (N.Y.)


Katie Hoeg, M, Yellow Jackets Blue (N.Y.)


Kerrigan Miller, M, Yellow Jackets Blue (N.Y.)


Taryn Ohlmiller, M, Yellow Jackets Blue (N.Y.)


Olivia Conti, D, Long Island Top Guns (N.Y.)


Manuela Cortes, D, Long Island Top Guns (N.Y.)


Cara Trombetta, D, Yellow Jackets Blue (N.Y.)


Julie Krupnick, G, STEPS 2016 (N.J.)


“Keeper of Lacrosse” Sportsmanship Award Desert Heat (Ariz.)


A Publication of US Lacrosse


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68