Ellis School’s Poerio participates in national all-star game

By: Greg Macafee
Wednesday, June 26, 2019 | 4:57 PM

Tegan Poerio took her place among some of the top field hockey players in the country on Tuesday.

A rising junior at The Ellis School, Poerio was selected for and participated in the Stars and Stripes All-Star game that concluded the National Futures Championship U16 girls field hockey tournament in Lancaster.

The elite level all-star game featured some of the top athletes from around the country who were identified throughout the tournament by the USA Field Hockey Junior High Performance selectors. Close to 80 girls were selected to participate in the all-star game and were split into two rosters, U16 and O16. Although Tegan’s team was on the losing end of the 3-0 final score, she thought it was a great experience.

“I had played in a national tournament a couple times before, so this time around I kind of knew what to expect, but the all-star game was kind of the next level,” Poerio said. “So, when I saw that I got picked for it I was pretty excited that I was having an opportunity to participate in that next step. And during the game your playing against girls who were also picked so that intensity is kind of that next level atmosphere. So playing in that was a great opportunity to get that high level experience.”

Leading up to the game, Poerio played for the Region 9 team, Rome, which included players from Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Rome finished at the top of its pool, winning two games and tying the third. They also scored the fourth-most goals in the tournament and only allowed one goal. Poerio herself added one goal throughout the tournament but also tallied a few assists because of the position she was playing during the pool play stages.

Her place among some of the top players in the country didn’t stop there. On Thursday, Poerio was selected to the 2019 AAU Junior Olympic Games that will take place on the campus of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem from July 29th to August 1st. USA Field Hockey selects approximately 128 players to compete in this annual event every year.

Poerio has had a successful high school career so far. She already shattered the school record for career goals, when she scored the 27th goal of her sophomore season last year. She surpassed the previous record of 59 set by Mackenzie Haney, a 2015 grad who went on to play at Bucknell. After her sophomore season she stands at 65 goals in her career and has hopes of reaching the century mark before she graduates.

“It was definitely exciting to accomplish that so early in my career, but now I can set a new goal for myself,” Poerio said. “The next goal is to try and get 100 next year, so I’m at 65 right now and I’m hoping to score around 35 in this upcoming season.”

Tags: Ellis School