Turtle Lax Team Vying for National Title

OCEAN CITY- The Greene Turtle boys’ elite travel lacrosse team headed to Tampa this week to compete in the prestigious Dick’s Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions in Tampa, an invite-only tourney featuring the best high school All-Star teams in the country, with a national championship on the line.

The Greene Turtle club, made up of some of the top high school lacrosse players from across the Eastern Shore including many from right here in the Ocean City and Berlin area, enjoyed its best season ever this year, winning several big-time tournaments along the way. To earn an invitation to the Dick’s Tournament of Champions, each team had to win at least one of the many sanctioned tournaments around the country during the year, and the Turtle earned its place in the boys’ elite division with a championship in the Brine Summer Sizzle this year.

The Greene Turtle will compete in pool play against the Connecticut Seminoles and the Atlanta Elite with a pair of games today. The Turtle is scheduled to play the Seminoles at 10 a.m. this morning and will play the Atlanta Elite later this afternoon. Should the Turtle advance out of pool play, it will compete in bracket play tomorrow with a shot at a national championship on the line. The tournament concludes with title matches in the various divisions on Sunday.

Under the direction of head coach Steve Pappas, with a lot of help from University of Maryland head coach Dave Cottle and assistants Dion Wright, Greg Butler and Jeff “Moose” Mohr, the Turtle has become one of the most successful high school All-Star travel teams on the tournament circuit this year with wins in several events and near misses in others.

The Greene Turtle Ocean City team is not the only team from the ubiquitous bar and restaurant chain competing in the tournament. Also invited to the Dick’s Tournament of Champions this year was the Greene Turtle Fells Point team.