Gavin Pantelidis is only just a sophomore but after an 84-goal season with the Saugus boys’ lacrosse team and a U-19 Heritage Cup win with the Greece national team, the soon-to-be-junior is playing with seniority.
Pantelidis, who just wrapped up his sophomore high school campaign with offensive player of the year honors in the Foothill League, took the momentum from Saugus High School to the international stage.
The Heritage Cup, which is an international lacrosse tournament held in New Jersey in late May, featured countries from around the world competing across multiple age levels.
In the U-19 division, the Greece national team went undefeated in group play with a 4-0 record and defeated the Philippines, 8-4, to win the championship.
“Last year I was on the U-15 team and this time, [Greece coaches] decided it wasn’t right for me to be on the U-15 team,” Pantelidis said in an interview with The Signal. “They asked me to play up with the U-19 team and we won the championship.”
Pantelidis, who just ended his sophomore year, added it was the second consecutive championship win for Greece after the team won the U-19 championship win in last year’s tournament.
The win meant more than just hardware on a trophy shelf, but as a memory for Pantelidis as he got to share the victory with his father, with whom he shares Greek lineage.
“It’s an honor to play for Greece and for my dad, who is Greek,” Pantelidis said.
With the opportunity to play in a higher age group, Pantelidis went into this year’s tournament with the mentality that he needed to prove himself.
“I was like, ‘I need something to prove’ and I know that I belong here with these guys who are 18, 19 years old,” he said. “And some of them are in college already, and I needed to show that I can hang with them.”
For a high schooler coming off his sophomore year, playing in a higher age group can be intimidating.
But for Pantelidis, the success and momentum from his second year helped shape the soon-to-be-junior as a leader when on the pitch.
“Last year, I was really passive with the ball when I was playing with Greece and Saugus helped me,” he said. “Saugus helped me form into more of being the ‘quarterback on the field.’ And when I got to Greece and played with them, it helped me like how I can help them and where they want me to go and be more vocal on the field as a leader.”
Pantelidis ended his sophomore year having led the Saugus Centurions in goals, goals per game, and points. And following the end of the high school boys’ lacrosse season, Pantelidis was awarded an all-CIF honor – the only sophomore to be named in the Division 2 category.
As Pantelidis begins to train for his junior season, he’s looking to continue to evolve his game not just as a threat to score but as an all-around player who can lead his team to win.
“For my junior season, I want to gain more assists, more ground ball because everyone knows I can shoot the ball and a threat to score,” he said. “I want to gain more assist, dish the ball more, play more, and get more defensive stats on the board.”
