Justin Brown of Nazareth Area High School is The Express-Times 2011 Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

The Nazareth Area High School boys lacrosse team has evolved a great deal over the last four years.

So has Justin Brown.

The senior midfielder was the centerpiece of a Blue Eagles team that soared into uncharted territory this season -- recording the first two District 11 playoff victories in program history, including a 12-11 overtime shocker over perennial power Emmaus.

Brown was one of the most productive players in the region. He scored 48 goals and dished out 25 assists, was named to the All-Lehigh Valley Conference first team and led Nazareth its first district final.

For his prolific scoring, tireless work ethic and influential role in pushing the Blue Eagles to a new level of accomplishment, Brown is The Express-Times 2011 Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year.

"I feel great to be a pioneer of the better days of Nazareth lacrosse," said Brown, who lives in Upper Nazareth Township.

Lacrosse first came onto Brown's radar when his older brother, Josh, was playing for the Blue Eagles. When Nazareth Area Middle School created a team while Justin was in seventh grade, he began his own career.

Nearly five years later, he is preparing to continue his playing days at Albright College, and his path to this point has been filled with plenty of hard work.

"Back in my freshman year, my brother was still a senior and he would never have dreamed of beating Emmaus or even playing in a district championship game," said Brown, who was also a 2010 All-Area first team selection.

During Brown's first season, Nazareth posted a 4-15 record and struggled through the growing pains that most young programs endure. This season, the Blue Eagles were 14-8 thanks in large part to Brown and fellow seniors Matt Broderick, Victor Bill and Richard Tonnies.

"It has just been a complete transition," Brown said. "It's been extremely rewarding to come from not having anything to almost having it all - to come from rags to riches almost."

Prior to his senior season, Brown trained at CoreXCell in Catasauqua five days a week and honed his skills through countless practice sessions of wall ball. The training paid off as he bettered his junior campaign totals by 30 points.

"Since his freshman year, he has dedicated himself to this sport and he has just gotten better and better and better," Nazareth coach Kevin Fogerty said. "If you say to him, go do wall ball two times a week, he'll go do it four times a week. If you had 10 of those (players) on the field at all times, it would be so easy."

Brown, who only failed to record a point in one of 22 contests, scored five goals in wins over Moravian Academy and Lansdale Catholic. He also accounted for at least five points in six different games.

When Nazareth defeated Southern Lehigh 9-8 for a first-round district playoff win, the senior played the role of distributor, tallying three assists and a goal.

However, regardless of which games contained his largest statistical successes, nothing will replace Brown's fondness of the district semifinal against Emmaus, a team the Blue Eagles had never beaten.

"It was probably one of the most amazing times of my life, just to know that they're walking off the field and we were still standing," he said. "The fact that it was a playoff game and they were going home for the season just made it all the better."

Nazareth staved off a late rally by the Green Hornets, delivering a measure of payback to a conference opponent that had dealt out its fair share of lopsided margins of victory in the past and had beaten Brown and Co. three times in 2011 -- twice in the regular season and again in the LVC tournament.

"It was almost heavenly," said Brown, who contributed two goals and an assist in the district semifinal.

Unfortunately for Blue Eagle fans, the momentum from the landmark victory didn't translate into an upset of Central Catholic in the district championship. The Vikings won 16-5.

According to Brown, lacrosse provides the recent Nazareth graduate with peace of mind whenever he faces problems or anxieties.

"Lacrosse, to me, has been a way out almost of everything," he said. "When I'm playing lacrosse, there's nothing out in the world that's a care for me. It's really like a little break from reality."

The close relationship the midfielder has developed with the sport goes a long way toward explaining why he diligently works to improve.

"Everyone that plays lacrosse just loves to play," Brown said. "They're not getting the fame. Even up to the pros, they aren't getting millions of dollars to play."

Fame might not be on the immediate horizon, but Brown and his fellow senior captains have made their own bit of history at Nazareth.

Now, when kids put on their blue and white jerseys and take their sticks onto the Andrew Leh Stadium turf for the first time, the journey to the top won't be nearly as far as it was before Brown arrived on the scene.

And that makes No. 44 feel pretty good.