Seven Knights' girls lacrosse players ink National Letters of Intent

By Ben Spector
Winning After MidKnight

                                  

The athletics programs at Middletown High School have not only been successful in winning on the field but they have also been successful in delivering players to the college level. Almost every Varsity team in the school ends up having 1 or 2 players who move on to the collegiate level. While some teams produce more (such as a girls soccer team that has produced 9 in the past 4 years), most teams have a minimum of one who will move onto college athletics.

The girls lacrosse team may have set the gold standard today though as they had seven seniors sign their National Letters of Intent (NLI’s) to play college athletics.

Most teams at the high school level won’t have seven players who go on to play college sports on a single team let alone a single class but the Knights have seven who after this year will be spreading out across the eastern coast to pursue the future advancement of their lacrosse careers.

The seven signees are Brittney Levine who will play at University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC), Carly Tolino who will also play at UMBC, Casey Aguilar-Gervase who will play at American University, Sami Breeze who will also play at American, Olivia Ginebra who will play at Edinboro University, Bailey Skubon who will play at Robert Morris University (and who just recently transferred from Governor Thomas Johnson High School), and Hannah Powell who will play at Seton Hill University.

Aguilar-Gervase and Breeze will join former Middletown girls lacrosse player and current American freshman defender Jennifer Desimone down in the District of Columbia beginning next year.

The mood in the Middletown Media Center where the signings took place was a mixture between excitement, relief, and a readiness for the future.

“I’m really proud of us,” said a clearly excited Brittney Levine, just minutes after putting pen to paper and locking herself into a lacrosse career as a Retriever.

“It shows how good of a team we are together, how we can play together, how we can get recruited individually and I just hope it shows on the field this year,” said Levine.

Even though the focus today was clearly on the 7 signees extending their lacrosse careers into the future the upcoming season for Middletown wasn’t far from anyone’s mind as today only cemented the strong notion that this year’s team could be something special.

“After the season ending last year how it did, which is still kind of on the back of everybody’s mind, it really puts in perspective this is our last year,” said Tolino who will be the goaltender for the Knights this year and will most likely have a shot at a starting job at UMBC in the near future.

“We don’t want to go out like we did last year,” added Tolino.

For Tolino and Levin this was an even more special process considering the relationship the two forged when debating which school’s they would go to.

And, after Levine verbally committed, Tolino admitted that Levine may have just swayed her decision to don the black and gold of UMBC in the future.

“After Brittney committed, I was torn between two colleges (Denver and UMBC), they (Levine and the college coaches) kind of persuaded me,” said Tolino. “It’s good knowing that you know people, your teammates and how they play.”

When asked if Levine played the role of the devil on Tolino’s shoulder, Levine wouldn’t deny that she definitely wanted to see Tolino behind her in the net in the future.

“It’s the Carly Tolino,” said Levine. "Of course I wanted her to come to my college.”

As the ceremony ended, the crowd dispersed and Knights head coach Gretchen Martin left the Media Center. She’ll have high expectations with a team that is chocked full of talent. Today, that wasn’t on her mind as much as one would expect and who could blame her.

Today, was about celebrating seven seniors who have set the bar just a little bit higher for the future.