TAMPA, FL — Zombies Lacrosse, a club team made up of high school players from NEPA, won championships in two of the three tournaments it attended this past summer, earning bid to the Dick’s Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions held in Tampa, Florida Dec. 29-31.
The tournament was billed as the only true National Championship since teams have to win a championship at one of over 50 qualifying events held throughout the United States.
At the Tournament of Champions, the Zombies faced all-star teams from Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, as well as a few National All Star teams that consisted of players from throughout the United States.
The Zombies lost their first game to Nations United, one of the national all star teams, but bounced back to win their next four games decisively, earning them a three seed in the Championship Playoff bracket.
They started with an easy first round win, then went on to play an undefeated FCA National Team in the quarterfinals. The Zombies struck first, jumping out to early 4-0 lead but the talented FCA team came back strong and finally gained a one-point advantage with just a few minutes left in regulation. With under two minutes left on the clock, the Zombies scored again, tying up the game, and held off FCA during a Man Down situation, sending the game into overtime. The Zombies secured the faceoff and scored quickly for an exciting win which set up a rematch with the undefeated Nations United team in the championship game.
The Zombies scored first and played a solid first half, allowing them to enter halftime down by one goal, but after a well-fought game the skilled depth of Nations United proved to be a little too much and Zombies ended up earning the silver medal.
