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| (above) DU recruit Gordie Koerber |
In a tight affair, the Under Armour boys' South team beat the North team 12-11, led by a fantastic game by a future DU Pioneer. The Under Armour All-America Classic featured 44 of the best high school lacrosse players in the country.
Attackman Gordie Koerber scored three goals, including the final South goal to give his team the victory, and won MVP honors for his work in the game. Koerber is bound for the University of Denver this fall
Koerber, with his team up just a goal with less than three minutes to play, took a feed from Spencer Parks behind the net and ripped a shot low past North goalie William Ryan. He was named the game's Most Valuable Player after scoring on all three of his shots.
"We knew the North was going to come back strong after the first half," Koerber said. "But I just got that great pass and I was wide open in front and buried it low."
Koerber, a humble and gracious MVP winner, deflected praise and credited his teammates for putting him in good positions to score.
"I had a lot of great players around me, and they made my job easy. I just stuck a couple close ones," he said. "To win MVP was a great honor. I'm humbled to even be at this event."
Koerber is a crafty lefty who "plays Canadian," said South coach Ryan Boyle, the four-time All-American at Princeton and five-time MLL All-Star.
"Gordie catches everything. He's got great wrists," Boyle said. "He's a heady player. He knows how to get open. When he gets the ball, and he catches everything, then he finishes everything. I told him, 'Denver is a perfect fit for you.'"
Koerber smiled when he said he has "no clue what the deal is, or what to expect," going to Denver next year, but added that offensive coordinator Matt Brown's Canadian-infused "system is pretty similar to the way I play, so I'm real excited to get out there."
Koerber's left-handed finishing ability could make him a logical candidate to slide into the role previously played by All-American Mark Matthews, now with the MLL's Denver Outlaws.
