The 2013 Northstar Invitational took place from Sunday, July 28 through Wednesday, July 31 at the Northwood School in historic Lake Placid, New York site of the 1980 Winter Olympic Games and the famed United States victory over the USSR in the Miracle on Ice.
The invitational featured 160 of the best girls players in the country from the classes of 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Northwestern graduate and 2005 National Champion Ashley Gersuk ran the event, which operated seamlessly from start-to-finish. Helping Gersuk were two upstate New York lacrosse icons perennial MLL All-Star Kevin Leveille and George Leveille, who has been involved in with the game in the area since the 1970s.
Here are five players that stood out and some others who made an impression.
Click here for some great highlights from Lake Placid.
NORTHSTAR INVITATIONAL FEATURED FIVE:
1. ALEXANDRA VANDER MOLEN
Position: Midfield
Class: 2016
High School: Rockford High School (MI)
Overall: Vander Molen is an impressive goal scorer with excellent stick skills. She has a knack for getting to the cage, and is extremely effective in the eight-meter. The Michigan product has good speed and a quick first step, which she uses to beat defenders cleanly. Once inside, her scoring touch is incredible she has great awareness and can adjust her shot according to her position on the field. In one game we took in, she was able to score from the outside on a hard shot, put the ball in a small window coming from X, and finish with a crafty cross-handed shot when a late slide altered her path.
From the Notebook: Scorer. Crafty. Great stick. Good dodger. Quick first-step. Automatic inside.
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2. GRAINGER ROSATI
Position: Midfield
Class: 2016
High School: Mountain Lakes (NJ)
Overall: A tall and athletic player, Rosati was dominant at times in the middle of the field. She used her reach and speed to gain an edge on draw controls, and used a deft stick to corral lose balls. An all-around player, she was equally effective on offense or defense. Offensively, she showed good scoring touch and great awareness, cutting hard to open areas or dodging to the cage with the ball in her stick. Defensively, she has outstanding footwork, utilizing great lateral movement to stay in front of dodgers.
From the Notebook: Tall. Athletic. Great draw controls. Good handle. Great athletic positioning defensively. Smart on O.
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3. MICHAELA BRUNO
Position: Midfield/Attack
Class: 2016
High School: Garden City (NY)
Overall: An outstanding dodger, Brunos ability to get the cage was on display in Lake Placid. A versatile athlete, she was able to get a step on defenders almost every time she went to the cage, showing great awareness in the eight-meter seeing cutters or taking the ball to the goal on her own. The Long Island product was constantly involved in the action, moving without the ball and hustling after grounders. She plays hard and wastes little motion, doing everything with a purpose.
From the Notebook: Fast. Great first step. Gets to the cage with ease. Good scoring touch. Hustles.
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4. RILEY HERTFORD
Position: Goalie
Class: 2017
High School: Lake Oswego (OR)
Overall: Hertford headlined an impressive crop of goaltenders at Northstar. While younger than most of her counterparts, Hertford played well above her age, making very difficult saves look routine. She displayed excellent positioning and technique, and utilized lightning-quick hands to make multiple stick saves. Her outlet passes were crisp and accurate in addition to happening quickly, not allowing the shooting team to set up an effective ride.
From the Notebook: Quick hands. Strings together saves. Great stick. Squares nicely to the ball. Good, quick outlets. 2017!
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5. BARRETT CARLSON
Position: Midfield
Class: 2016
High School: John Burroughs (MO)
Overall: An athletic player, Carlson is an impressive midfielder who had a great few days at Northstar. She was outstanding through the middle of the field, corralling numerous 50/50 ground balls. She was able to push transition with ease, and displayed solid awareness of when to slow the ball down. The Missouri product was most impressive on draw controls, where she used her height and excellent stick skills to win the ball to herself or teammates.
From the Notebook: Athlete. Excellent in the middle of the field. Pushes tempo smartly. Good stick.
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Others who made an impression:
Emily Velez A 2016 Milton (GA): Velez is a crafty, smart attacker who is outstanding from behind the goal. She has excellent vision, and dodged to pass, finding open cutters routinely. While pass-first, she also got into the goal-scoring act, showing good awareness of when to attack the cage herself. She also also displayed great recognition and timing brining defenders to shooting space when her teammates dodged from up top, creating numerous opportunities.
Claire Rushin D 2015 Loyola Academy (IL): A standout player, Rushin is a great athlete who is excellent defensively. She has tremendous footwork, moving laterally with ease to cut off her opponents path to the goal. Her stick was always in excellent position, leading to interceptions and knockdowns while blocking passing lanes.
Christine Long M 2016 Mendham (NJ): Long is a fast midfielder who made her mark with outstanding play on the defensive end and in the middle of the field. She played excellent position defense on dodgers, thwarting numerous runs at the goal easily with her outstanding footwork. She was most impressive getting the ball back to her offensive teammates, fighting hard for ground balls and then legging out numerous clears herself from end-to-end using her outstanding speed and quickness. She could also get to the goal, and showed a nice scoring touch inside the eight-meter.
Galen Lew M/A 2017 Glen Ridge (NJ): A quick attacker, Lew impressed offensively at Northstar. She has a great stick, and was outstanding inside the eight-meter arc. She scored plenty of goals, but what stood out most was her work ethic. She was constantly moving to get open without the ball, and on multiple occasions cut hard to the ball to retrieve it from teammates in the clearing game before using her speed to bring it into the offensive zone and set-up.
Holly Regan A 2016 Ward Melville (NY): Regan is an intelligent attacker who is a fantastic goal scorer. She has a great lacrosse IQ, which she displayed off-ball. She was able to get open by slipping under the defense numerous times, cutting to open areas with conviction. She has excellent stick skills, handling passes in tight areas with ease. Once the ball was in her stick, she was able to beat goaltenders consistently with great poise.