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Four years ago, Nick Myers and his staff set out to find 23 of the nation’s best young lacrosse players to represent the United States in the U19 men’s world championship.

The result?

A gold medal, and a talent-laden roster featuring 17 future All-Americans at the collegiate level.

On Friday, Myers begins another quest for a gold medal when 104 players will come to US Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md., for a three-day tryout to begin selecting the U.S. team that will represent the country in the 2020 World Lacrosse Men’s U19 Championship in Limerick, Ireland.

Myers’ approach won’t change.

“You win with people,” Myers said. “These first three days are about laying the foundation for who we are.”

The staff will be looking for outstanding players, but also players that are willing to embrace the process.

“Talent gets you in the door, but the guys that take this opportunity to commit to Team USA is the differentiator,” Myers said.

Myers looks back to his 2016 team for examples. Austin Sims was a bona fide offensive star at Princeton, but he played the role of defensive midfielder on the U.S. team.

Recent Penn grad Tyler Dunn was an attackman on the 2016 U.S. team, but willingly picked up a long pole at one point during the world championship when asked to do so by the coaching staff.

There’s no shortage of adjectives to describe the talent of recent NCAA champion Dox Aitken from Virginia, but what Myers remembers was his attitude.

“Right away, you could tell he was all in,” Myers said.

The task ahead is not an easy one. This weekend’s tryout, which will include five sessions over three days, is the first stage of the process. Following this tryout, a selection committee consisting of the current U.S. U19 staff, previous U19 coaches and high school coaches will select approximately 50 players to attend a second tryout weekend from July 12-14 at US Lacrosse.

“I hope they make Sunday night for me and my staff next to impossible,” Myers said. “It’s an incredible challenge, but that’s the process. Regardless of what happens, I want these three days to be a remarkable experience for these young men.”

Following the second tryout, approximately 30 players will be selected to participate in training weekends in November, January 2020 and June 2020 leading up to the naming of the final 23-player roster, the maximum number of players allowed under World Lacrosse regulations.

The U.S. has won all eight World Lacrosse Men’s U19 championships conducted since the beginning of the event in 1988.

The 2016 championship was a thriller. The U.S. rallyied from a six-goal halftime deficit and a three-goal deficit with under nine minutes left to beat Canada 13-12 on Ryan Conrad’s game-winning goal with eight seconds remaining.

The U.S. men’s national team trains and plays using best-in-class products provided by Nike (apparel and footwear), Cascade (helmets), Warrior (equipment), SISU Guard (mouthguards), The Pearl by Guardian (balls) and DJO (sports braces).

In addition to these partners, Greenfields, Krossover, MedStar Sports Medicine and Sports Performance Tracking are official sponsors of Team USA. Team training is also aided by products from Motive Pure, NormaTec Recovery and Athletic Republic.

Notes

• The 104 players invited to tryouts include one college freshman (Lehigh’s Cole Kirst), 55 high school seniors and 48 high school juniors from the 2019 season.

• Players have to be under 19 as of Aug. 31, 2019 (the year before the championship) to be eligible per World Lacrosse regulations.

• Players from 20 different states were invited to the tryouts.

• The U.S. coaching staff consists of head coach Nick Myers (Ohio State) and assistant coaches Pat Myers (Lafayette), Stan Ross (Oxbridge Academy) and Andrew Stimmel (Marquette).

Updated Tryout List

Name Pos. High School HS Grad College Commitment
Michael Alexander D West Islip (N.Y.) 2019 Yale
Robert Almand M Vandegrift (Texas) 2019 Rutgers
Collin Almeida M Falmouth (Mass.) 2019 Penn State
Christopher Arceri FO Smithtown East (N.Y.) 2020 Penn
Xavier Arline A Shoreham-Wading River (N.Y.) 2020 North Carolina
James Ball M Chaminade (N.Y.) 2020 Yale
Emmett Barger A St. Anne's Belfield (Va.) 2019 Notre Dame
Evan Barr G Somerville (N.J.) 2020 Duke
Dylan Bauer A Park City (Utah) 2020 Johns Hopkins
Canyon Birch A Manasquan (N.J.) 2019 Penn State
Aiden Blake M Haddonfield Memorial (N.J.) 2019 Cornell
Edward Sutton Boland D Victor (N.Y.) 2019 Penn State
Jackson Bonitz D McDonogh (Md.) 2020 Navy
Jack Brennan A Irondequoit (N.Y.) 2019 Maryland
Drew Brennfleck M Mountain Lakes (N.J.) 2019 Virginia
Graham Bundy Jr. M MICS (Mo.) 2019 Georgetown
BJ Burlace LSM St. Mary's (Md.) 2019 Yale
Connor Calderone FO Smithtown West (N.Y.) 2019 Maryland
Sean Cameron M Bishop Guertin (N.H.) 2020 Harvard
Gregory Campisi D St. Anthony's (N.Y.) 2019 Harvard
Jake Caputo M Middle Creek (N.C.) 2019 Duke
James Cipolla A Parkland (Pa.) 2019 Ohio State
Maxwell Cooney D Georgetown Prep (Md.) 2020 North Carolina
Mac Costin M Haverford School (Pa.) 2019 Utah
Gabe Craven G Hun School (N.J.) 2020 Navy
Aidan Danenza M St. Anthony's (N.Y.) 2020 Duke
Connor Drake A Salisbury School (Conn.) 2019 Duke
Drew Elder FO Lake Norman (N.C.) 2020 Ohio State
Elijah Ensor M Lassiter (Ga.) 2019 Ohio State
Liam Entenmann G Chaminade (N.Y.) 2019 Notre Dame
Jack Fabean D Manasquan (N.J.) 2019 Richmond
Gerald Filardi Jr. D Half Hollow Hills West (N.Y.) 2019 Penn State
Cole Finley-Ponds D Denver East (Colo.) 2019 Johns Hopkins
Michael Gianforcaro G Culver Military (Ind.) 2020 Princeton
Gabriel Goforth M Bishop Shanhan (Pa.) 2020 Maryland
Jack Graffagnino D Islip (N.Y.) 2020 Ohio State
Joey Graham A Landon (Md.) 2020 Harvard
Reilly Gray M Chaminade (N.Y.) 2019 Notre Dame
Brendan Grimes A Boys' Latin (Md.) 2020 Johns Hopkins
Patrick Hackler M Skaneateles (N.Y.) 2019 Yale
Colin Hart D Garden City (N.Y.) 2019 Brown
Cameron Henry D McCallie (Tenn.) 2019 Duke
Cole Herbert M Calvert Hall (Md.) 2020 North Carolina
Ben Hull A Kennesaw Mountain (Ga.) 2020 Michigan
Hunter Jaronski D Academy of the New Church (Pa.) 2019 Johns Hopkins
Gerard Kane A Lambert (Ga.) 2020 Ohio State
Patrick Kavanagh A Taft School (Conn.) 2019 Notre Dame
Daniel Kelly A Calvert Hall (Md.) 2020 North Carolina
Griffin King M Niskayuna (N.Y.) 2019 Brown
Cole Kirst A Seton Hall Prep (N.J.) 2018 Lehigh
Christopher Kirst A Delbarton (N.J.) 2020  
Caden Kol D Salisbury School (Conn.) 2020 Syracuse
Jack Koras A Loyola Blakefield (Md.) 2020 Maryland
Cole Krauss D Delbarton (N.J.) 2020 Duke
Connell Kumar A Seton Hall Prep (N.J.) 2020 Virginia
Kevin Kuttin A Chaminade (N.Y.) 2020 Yale
Ethan Larson D Ward Melville (N.Y.) 2020 North Carolina
Peter Lehman A Council Rock North (Pa.) 2020 Lafayette
Ryan Levy A East Chapel Hill (N.C.) 2020 North Carolina
Russell Maher A Mt. Sinai (N.Y.) 2020 Virginia
Eric Malever A Woodward Academy (Ga.) 2020 Maryland
Brett Mallee D LaSalle College (Pa.) 2019 Yale
Joseph Marshall G Calvert Hall (Md.) 2020 Maryland
Xander Martin D Gilman (Md.) 2019 Yale
Quentin Matsui D Eden Prairie (Minn.) 2019 Virginia
Patrick McIntosh A Salisbury School (Conn.) 2020 Virginia
Grant Mitchell M Calvert Hall (Md.) 2019 Ohio State
Connor Mitchell M Calvert Hall (Md.) 2019 Ohio State
Jack Monfort M Syosset (N.Y.) 2019 Yale
Christian Mule' A Half Hollow Hills West (N.Y.) 2019 Duke
Owen Murphy A Avon Old Farms (Conn.) 2019 Johns Hopkins
Jake Naso FO St. Anthony's (N.Y.) 2020 Virginia
Charlie O'Connor A Paul VI (Va.) 2020 Duke
Brennan O'Neill A St. Anthony's (N.Y.) 2020 Duke
Connor O'Reilly D St. Anthony's (N.Y.) 2019 Georgetown
Michael Page LSM Manasquan (N.J.) 2019 Syracuse
Dylan Pallonetti A Ward Melville (N.Y.) 2019 Maryland
Jared Paquette G West Islip (N.Y.) 2019 Yale
Daniel Parker M St. Anthony's (N.Y.) 2019 Virginia
Carter Parlette M Ponte Vedra (Fla.) 2020 Notre Dame
Joseph Pezzimenti A Victor (N.Y.) 2020 Ohio State
Carson Raney D Episcopal School of Dallas (Texas) 2019 Ohio State
Colin Reilly M Avon Old Farms (Conn.) 2020 Penn State
Logan Santos M St. Paul's (Md.) 2020 Ohio State
Jack Sawyer M Calvert Hall (Md.) 2019 Maryland
Maximus Schalit D Ponte Vedra (Fla.) 2019 Notre Dame
Jack Schirtzer D Mt. Sinai (N.Y.) 2020 Maryland
Ryan Schriber D Wilton (Conn.) 2019 Michigan
JJ Sillstrop A La Costa Canyon (Calif.) 2019 Denver
Alex Slusher A Oregon Episcopal School (Ore.) 2019 Princeton
Jacon Snyder D Calvert Hall (Md.) 2019 Ohio State
Jack Spence M Springfield (Pa.) 2019 Lehigh
Alec Stathakis FO Culver Military (Ind.) 2019 Denver
Dane Swanson M McDonogh (Md.) 2020 Navy
Jake Taylor A Regis Jesuit (Colo.) 2019 Notre Dame
Colton Teitelbaum G Locust Valley (N.Y.) 2019 Loyola
Lance Tillman A Valor Christian (Colo.) 2019 North Carolina
Christian Tomei G Oxbridge Academy (Fla.) 2019 Ohio State
Will Tominovich D St. Mary's (Md.) 2020 Georgetown
Benjamin Wayer LSM St. Stephen's & St Agnes (Va.) 2020 Virginia
Charles Weitzel D Roxbury Latin (Mass.) 2020 Yale
Alex Wicks M St. Mary's (Md.) 2020 Maryland
Justin Wietfeldt FO New Canaan (Conn.) 2020 Michigan
Ajax Zappitello D Sunset (Ore.) 2020 Maryland