Portsmouth High, Abbey Students Finish Fifth at New Jersey Lacrosse Festival

PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J. -- 's Matt Brigham will eventually have to choose between lacrosse and football as his college sport.

Luckily, for him, that decision doesn't need to be made now.

This summer is about lacrosse, as the senior-to-be who plays with Next Level lacrosse, an All-Star team made up of area kids, including 's Kevin Fitzgerald.

The two locals competed last weekend in the annual Tri-Lax National Summer Festival, a tournament that features more than 200 teams of varying ages and skill levels.

Though severly short-handed, the Next Level team finished fifth out of their 36-team bracket, losing in the Sunday quarterfinals to a team from Smithtown, NY. Not that the results mattered, according to the coach.

"I've been coaching high school boys' lacrosse since 2002, almost 10 years, and have never had an experience like this weekend," Next Level coach Michael Cappelletti wrote in an e-mail to the team. "You were a team in every sense of the word: unselfish, gritty, working together, talking, laughing, everything. I can't thank each and every one of you enough for your tremendous effort, and absolutely flawless attitudes."

For most players, attending tournaments like Tri-Lax increases their chances of being seen by the colleges, as many scouts come to watch the three-day event. An added bonus is seeing national competition that is considerably more difficult than at the high-school level.

"You get to see teams from all over the country and see how they play," said Fitzgerald, who is entering his senior year for a Patriots' team coming off a 7-6 season. "You learn a lot more moves that you can take to the scholastic league."

When the high-school season begins, Portsmouth players like Fitzgerald return to being enemies with players like Barrington's Ryan Kelly or LaSalle's Ryan Comolli, their teammates on Next Level.

Brigham plays in the Eastern Independent League, helped the Ravens to a 14-2 record and a 7-0 mark in the EIL. The team won its third EIL championship in four seasons with a 12-3 win on May 10 over rival Pingree School.

That doesn't take anything away from the club season.

"I like the summer league because you get to know a lot of the guys who you're trying to beat in the spring, and you click as a team," Brigham said. "And you get to compete at a high level."