Fallen Heroes Lacrosse Classic Tonight at Navy

Tonight will mark the inaugural Fallen Heroes Lacrosse Classic featuring between DeMatha (Md) and LaSalle (Pa). The two teams are meeting for the first time to honor LT Brendan Looney, USN (DeMatha) and 1st LT Travis Manion, USMC (LaSalle) who gave their lives serving in our Armed Forces. Both graduates of the United States Naval Academy, Looney and Manion were outstanding athletes in lacrosse and wrestling, respectively, best friends, and most importantly outstanding role models for everyone who knew them. Although they died several years apart serving our country overseas, they were laid to rest together at Arlington National Cemetery on October 4, 2010.

After the Stags faceoff against the Explorers the University of Maryland will take on the Naval Academy’s Midshipmen; a perfect fitting considering that Terp Coach John Tillman was an Assistant Coach on Looney’s 2004 team that fell to Mikey Powell’s Syracuse squad 14-13 in an epic championship game. Coach John Tillman had a few words about tonight’s match-up:

“…emotionally, knowing that he’s gone, that will require a lot of mental toughness and discipline to stay composed because he is a hero. He was one of the finest young people I ever had the chance to be around, and it’ll bring up some great memories or being around him. Seeing his family is always a treasured time for me. They’re just awesome, awesome people. I’m still very tight with [younger brothers] Billy and Stephen. … Certainly, we’re happy to be a part of it. Anything we can do to honor a hero like Brendan, we’ll go above and beyond.”

DeMatha’s Scott Morrision also noted:

“We all get caught up in our own little lacrosse worlds sometimes focusing during the season, but at the end of the day, there’s a bigger picture out there than wins and losses, and I hope that Friday will help my players get that message loud and clear.”

The game will be streamed live via the La Salle Website (www.lschs.org/stream), in the meantime check out this vid –

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