Milwaukee Eagles are National Champs

This post is an excerpt from an article written and published by "SpokesNSports”. The article was written by Jennifer Sheffield {Source}

Emotions were high for Milwaukee Eagles wheelchair lacrosse player Michael Zvara, a non-combat U.S. Coast Guard veteran and a 20-year above-the knee-amputee. He was thrilled to be playing in the 2023 Wheelchair Lacrosse (WLUSA) Nationals, and in his second year with this sport, he now has a spectacular memory.

Michael Zvara of the Milwaukee Eagles holds the Division A Championship trophy. (Photo by Jennifer Sheffield).

Milwaukee finished the Aug. 25-27 tournament 5-0, defeating the Colorado Mammoth, 6-5, Aug. 27 in the A Division championship game at River Works in Buffalo, N.Y., and dethroning the defending champions.

“I’ve never won a championship before, so this is a big deal,” Zvara says. “They [my teammates] make me more than I am and lift me up; these guys, and these ladies are brave and give me a lot of courage and strength.”

Milwaukee’s top weapon, 26-year-old Mark Krenz, scored the game’s first goal, unassisted, in the first two minutes and then added four assists, including two to teammate Kyle Cornelius, who scored three goals.

Krenz has a form of spina bifida called myelomeningocele and said this tournament was tough. “Games got more intense as the days went on, but we learned to adjust to play one goal, and one defensive stop at a time,” he says.

For retired U.S. Army Sgt., First Class and Milwaukee’s Terrance Greene, the Eagles’ strategy, was simple.

“We lost last year, and we weren’t happy about it,” he says.

Colorado hurt itself with penalties, including two slashing penalties and one late-game crosscheck that sent a player high into the boards.

“We couldn’t stay out of the penalty box, and they capitalized,” Mammoth player and WLUSA Mountain Regional Manager Shawn Maloney says.