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32 Independent & Free Press,Thursday, October 6, 2011 SPORTS & LEISURE MacDonald joins Ivy League school By EAMONN MAHER Staff Writer Men's field lacrosse has been an athletic fixture at Princeton University since the late 19th century and no Canadian had ever played for the venerable Ivy League school's varsity team. Not until Georgetown South's Mike MacDonald started taking classes there this past month has a recruit from north of the border taken up a spot on the roster, and the 18-year-old lefty attackman didn't hesitate in making the commitment to spending the next four years in New Jersey. "I don't think anyone anyone will even know (I'm Canadian), honestly, and it'll just be one of those things that'll be a cool to think about later on. I've heard they've just committed to another kid from Peterborough for next year, so I won't be the only Canadian for long," said MacDonald, who received the Headmaster's Award For Excellence at Trinity Pawling prep school near New York City after earning the second-highest grades in his senior class, while finishing seventh in Founders League scoring with 61 points this past season. "Princeton wasn't my first choice, just because I didn't think I could get in there. Rutgers and Fairfield were interested, but I just held out because I wanted to go Ivy. Originally, I wanted to go to Yale but that didn't work out, so when Princeton called, I committed a couple of days later." MacDonald will major in economics and minor in French at Princeton, which doesn't grant scholarships per se, but supports students on an individual basis. At 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, MacDonald said he'd like to bulk up by about 10 pounds in order to hold his ground against opponents who can be five or six years older. The 2011 season was a disappointment for the Tigers, who finished out of the playoffs with a 4-9 record, after winning the 2010 Ivy League Tournament. "They had a lot of injuries last year and our coach was worried about some of the guys being able to recover, but we should have a pretty good team because everyone's back except for one guy, and he actually played my position," he added. MacDonald was a first-round pick (3rd overall) of the reigning Minto Cup-champion Whitby Warriors in last year's OLA Jr. A draft, but isn't sure where he'll play box lacrosse next summer. After winning the Founders Cup Canadian title with the Halton Hills Jr. B Bulldogs in 2010, MacDonald was again a major contributor to the 'Dogs' run to the Ontario finals this year with 37 points in 15 playoff games. The sting of missing out on another trip to the Founders Cup with a loss to Six Nations in a fifth-anddeciding game could compel him to return to his hometown team for another year to play alongside older brother Brendan, a sophomore attackman at the Rochester Institute of Technology. "Getting drafted by Whitby was a great honour, but right now it looks like I'll be back with the 'Dogs, because it will be (Brendan's) last year of Jr. B and we should have a strong team again. But if Whitby calls, I'll have to consider going to play there." Local resident Mike MacDonald of the Halton Hills Jr. B Bulldogs graduated from Trinity Pawling prep school in New York in the spring and has begun classes at Princeton University, becoming the firstever Canadian to play for the varsity men's field lacrosse team. Photo by Eamonn Maher Point taken Georgetown Rebel Josh Green provided some big hits and key defensive plays at the net to help propel his squad to the championship of a 12-team senior boys' high school volleyball tournament at Christ the King last week, coming back to defeat the host Jaguars 20-25, 27-25, 15-8 in the final. Braden Leonard was named MVP of the championship game for the Rebels, who are 5-1 in HSSAA Tier I league play, while the Jags are right behind with a 4-0 record. Those two rivals collide again on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 3:30 p.m. at GDHS in a breast cancer fundraiser called The Big Pink Game. Photo by Eamonn Maher Hill leads Canada to upset win He gave up three hits and a walk to Manager Ernie Whitt was just hoping to get a few solid innings from earn the win. The former Toronto Blue Georgetown's Shawn Hill Monday at Jay has battled arm injuries throughout his pro career, including the World Cup of Baseball tournament in Panama two Tommy John surgeries. City, Panama. He has also pitched for the Montreal Expos, the "If we can get three or Washington Nationals and four innings out of Shawn the San Diego Padres. that would be great and In a brief stint last year then we can just fill it up with the Blue Jays, Hill postwith our bullpen," Whitt ed a 1-2 record with a 2.61 told The Canadian Press earned run average through before Canada played its second game of the tourfour September starts. Canada is 3-0 in the nament. World Cup after pounding The 30-year-old Hill, SHAWN Greece 12-2 on Tuesday and who pitches in the Florida HILL has four round-robin games Marlins' organization, was much better than Whitt remaining. It has yet to be had hoped. He threw five shutout in- determined whether Hill will see acnings to lead Canada to a 3-1 win over tion Saturday against the Netherlands or Sunday versus the U.S. defending-champion Japan. THE TIME IS NOW FOR 2012 CIVIC'S! 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