weekend PREview!

And the laxiest weekend of the year yet is upon us!

Maryland heads to Navy tonight for an all MD match up. Should be a good game with Navy's disciplined Defense and Maryland's over sized offense. The difference in this game will come from Maryland's offensive middies. If they can pop in a couple extra goals, I like the Terps. On Saturday, Albany visits the Hop where the Jays should cruise to at least a 4 goal win, likely more. Colgate and Lehigh do battle in PA. I like the Mountain Hawks in a close one at home. This could be one of the best match ups this weekend yet it gets absolutely no press, which is a shame. Princeton Plays Cuse at Giants Stadium in Jersey and Princeton could upset the Orange in this match up, I think Syracuse will rise to the occasion as they often do on the biggest stages and wins in a one or two goal thriller. UVA and UNC also face off at Giants Stadium and until UNC wins an ACC game, I'm going to continue picking against them. 5 years, no conference wins. WOW. Hofstra also plays Delaware at Giants Stadium but I like Hofstra by a bunch after a close first half.

Tonight NDNU from Cali heads to LI to face Merrimack of Massachusetts. NDNU is competitive but I can't see them hanging with 'Mack. Merrimack is a really good team this year and could really compete for the NCAA Div 2 NC assuming they keep it up. I can't see them tripping against NDNU though. On Saturday, Bentley travels to LeMoyne and Bentley is better than some think so if I were going to pick a major upset in Div 2 this weekend, this would be the game. However, I am NOT picking an upset this weekend and I think the Dolphins will take this one by a couple. NY Tech heads to CW Post to take on the Pioneers. I will take the reigning champs, Tech, in this one hands down. Unless Post's FOGO paints his face like Lattimer from The Program again... in that case, it is anyone's game. Also Post players love neon lax heads so... respek.

The NESCAC games in Div 3 will provide some great action... check out this link to see a ton of predictions and insider info: http://network.laxpower.com/laxforum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=32627&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=480

Endicott and WNEC could be an AWESOME game... it will decided the Commonwealth Tourney seeding for one thing and could preview the Conference championship game. Both of these teams could be Pool C bids if the lose the AQ Pool A bid. Hampden-Sydney v. Roanoke and Ithaca at RIT will be really big games with big time In-Region consequences. I think Ithaca will remain undefeated at this point but RIT will definitely show us just how good the Bombers really are. I think Noke will keep its winning ways as well. WAC travels to Gburg in what should turn out to be a fantastic game. Both of these teams have won and lost games to good teams and it should be a really emotional tilt. I like WAC by 1 or two in PA.

On the MCLA tip, Michigan faces off against TWO top 10 teams in 2 days. Friday they take on #7 Minnesota-Duluth and then on Saturday they take on #8 Colorado State. Gotta love the fearlessness of MCLA teams... they will take on anyone, anywhere at any time. Michigan just beat #4 BYU so I expect them to take both of these teams down but it won't be easy. Simon Fraser [that undefeated Canadian team in the MCLA] heads South to #11 Oregon on Friday and then plays unranked Oregon State on Sunday. The Clansmen are true contenders this season and having a Canadian national champion [I guess they would actually be an INTERnational champion but whatever] would be great for the MCLA and college lacrosse in general. #4 BYU takes on #17 Colorado at home. I like BYU easily against the Buffs. On the Div 2 side of the MCLA the best game of the week looks to be Kennesaw State - Tennessee Wesleyan. TW is 5-6 but ranked at #9 while KS is #15 in the poll. TW has some sweet uniforms with the white and gold while KS has something else... an undefeated 11-0 season to protect. I like the visitors in this one to keep it going.

Steenhuis: father, all-star, lax n00b?

I have repped Mark Steenhuis as the best current lacrosse player in the world before on this site and just may do so again. However, the article below touches on his ability but it focuses on his relationship with his kids and mentions that he didn't even start playing lacrosse until he was a senior in high school. The guy just keeps impressing me!

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1485690

PotD - Back in the Day Gait Bros.

Jeff Snider to Recover

Geoff Snider suffered a broken trachea... yes, a BROKEN TRACHEA in a recent NLL game and was hospitalized for 3 days at the conclusion of the team's plane ride to Portland where their next game was taking place.

http://www.laxmagazine.com/nll/2008-09/news/031209_snider

Luckily, it looks like Snider will make a full recovery. He was injured setting a pick and didn't think much of the imjury at first. This serves as a lesson to every lacrosse player out there who refuses treatment and shrugs injuries off... DON'T! you might not seem like as much of a tough guy, but it also might save your life.

NLL all star weekend

The NLL all-star game took place over the weekend in Denver.
The players were introduced to the roar of some motorcycles and flame throwers, a geared out Dan Dawson jumped into a hot tub with some scantily clad blondes during the 3rd period, Mark Steenhuis had 13 points [7g, 6a] to capture his 3rd all-star MVP and supposedly a lacrosse game was played.

NLL update

follow the link to get a great update on the NLL season as it currently stands.

http://www.laxmagazine.com/nll/2008-09/news/030509_nllnotes

My questions:

Why didn't Shawn Evans go to college for lacrosse? the kid can obviously ball with the best of them.

How does Gary Gait still put up numbers like he does? Isn't he 108 years old? Kidding, Gary. You're the man still and I'm just jealous.

How do you even go about suffering a broken trachea? that sounds painful... and confusing.

Team USA 84-man player pool

The 84 man player pool has been established for the next iteration of the USA's national outdoor lacrosse team. The pool will be cut to 40 and then eventually to the ILF mandated 23 man roster. It is interesting to note that neither Casey [pictured] nor Mike Powell are listed, although Ryan is still eligible.

Most of the guys on the list played at the top [Cuse/UVA/UMD/Hopkins/Duke] tier of college lacrosse but there are a couple of notable exceptions in division 3 players Stephen Berger [WAC] and Eric Martin [Salisbury] and division 2 player Tom Zummo [NY Tech]. All 3 of them are big time players in the MLL.

It is impressive that Brian Dougherty is still in the running even though he graduated from UMD 13 years ago but what is even more impressive is that Dman John Gagliardi is still being considered. I mean, let's face it, goalies can stand around for much of the game and they don't have to be in tip-top shape if they are naturals [like Doc]. Dmen are expected to be able to cover the best offensive players in the game and in order to do so, they need to be in top condition. Gags is something special in that respect because he has always been a beast but his skill and precision with the longstick never ceases to amaze me. For further proof [and the opportunity for young dmen to learn some new skills!] check out this video from Maverik and Lax.com:

http://www.lax.com/story.phtml?story=2233

It will be interesting to see where the team ends up in terms of roster but so far the 84 men selected are skilled athletes that will represent the USA with pride and determination. A lot less repeat players were selected and that makes some sense considering what happened during the last world championships where the US lost to our neighbor to the North.

To see the entire list: http://insidelacrosse.com/page.cfm?pagerid=2&news=fdetail&storyid=198911

Best Lax Player in the WORLD!

You always get an interesting response from laxheads when you ask them who the best player in the world is. Right now, my answer would be Mark Steenhuis of the Buffalo Bandits. He plays forward and transition in the NLL and is a point scoring machine. He had 17 points against the Toronto Rock last week on 4 goals and 13 assists. Both the 17 point mark and the 13 assists are NLL records for a single game. He is leading the league in points at this point in the season as well.

The 28 year old Canadian is not that tall [5'8"], not that big, but he runs hard and he can do it all day. He takes a lot of punishment and can dish it out. He's a shifty righty who can flat out fly and wants it more than the other guys. On top of all that, he has some of the best hair in the entire NLL since Tom Ryan cut his dreads.

Although I cover outdoor lacrosse primarily, I really do like the NLL and think Steenhuis represents the best they have to offer.

Great success in Boston for new NLL franchise

Gone are the days of the Green, Black and Orange, gone are the days of spandex shorts and huge hockey jerseys yet the Boston Blazers are back and showing the rest of the league how to do things right. Considering the economy and their expansion status, the Blazers are drawing good numbers and winning games. They are doing so by asking their players to make a real commitment. A lot of players in the NLL and MLL don't live where they play, show up for games and are on the first plane out of town after the game is over. Not so in Beantown. The players live near one another, hang out off the field, play a lot of lax and are really trying to get the larger Boston community interested. Read the whole article to hear the whole story:

http://www.laxmagazine.com/nll/2008-09/news/022509_blazers

An approving nod of the head to NESCAC legend, NLL legend and Dreadlock legend[even if he eventually cut them off], Tom Ryan, for leading this team to success both on and off the "box".

Re-birth of the bag!

Earlier this week, I said that the bagged out lacrosse pockets were dead. This picture of Boston Blazer Dan Dawson says, "we aren't done with bags in the NLL, homes!"

Bryant proving they belong immediately

Bryant has done a great job early on this season after making the jump from Division 2 to Division 1. They have started the season at 2-1 by losing to UVA, crushing Sacred Heart and with a win over Dartmouth in NH. Mike Pressler has obviously done a great job at Bryant and he is an outstanding coach but the real man behind Bryant's early success is Zach Greer. He will only play there for one year but it is the most important; the first year as a Division 1 team.

Now, Pressler will lead the team for years to come and is leading the team now but the impact that a player like Greer can have on a team can not be underestimated. When Greer practices, he practices hard and sets an example as to what a Division 1 practice should look like and how high the intensity level has to be. He showcases what kind of athlete you need to be, he has experienced the best the college lacrosse world has to offer and knows what it takes to reach that level. Coaches always say to lead by example and Pressler has to be thrilled to have a guy like Greer doing just that.

ZG is putting up points when the team needs them most [as evidenced by his run-squelching goals against Dartmouth], keeping Bryant competitive in big games while being unselfish [against Virginia] or lighting it up [against Sacred Heart] when playing an opponent Bryant feels it should best. http://insidelacrosse.com/page.cfm?pagerid=2&news=fdetail&storyid=198213

Bryant won't make the tourney this year no matter what because of their D1 probationary period but Greer has to be in the running for PoY regardless because without him, I sincerely doubt Bryant would be doing nearly as well as they are now. On a side note, it seems like Greer is still using the Gait Triton even with Bryant Lacrosse being sponsored by Brine.

weekend review

Duke's blue helmets are simple as are the 'Gate's jerseys but I'm a big fan:
http://www.lax.com/story.phtml?story=2226
as you can see, Colgate seems to be here to stay and while Brandon Corp is the real deal, he has some work to do in order to be in the running for PoY.

I watched the Maryland-Georgetown game and I must say that I was not that impressed with Maryland even though statistically the game was pretty even. Maryland's offense seems a little stagnant as they take too long to set up dodges and then dodge slowly allowing the defense to adjust. Georgetown did an excellent job of not forcing slides. Defensively, the Terps looked a little slow and Brian Farell had an awful day for someone who is supposed to be a top level d-man. I guess I'll reserve judgement though, seeing as only a tenth of the season has been played. Barney Ehrmann looked really good down low after a season at LPM and could be the best defender in the country based on what he did against ND transfer and current Terp Yeatman.

Hopkins-Siena was fun to watch for the first half but JHU showed they were simply the better team in the 2nd... which is fun to see if you are a Hop fan! Also, I liked the Captains' "C" on the Hop jersey... like I said, they will do something classic with their uniforms. Their helmets were all traditional but well-designed.

Surprise of the weekend: HAS to be Harvard over Duke IN DURHAM, NC. Harvard was the kind of team that people thought could be a top 20 team but the jury was still out. Definitely expect to see them ranked this week. Congrats to my buddy, Charlie Congleton, the goalie coach at Harvard!

Then again, the surprise win of the weekend could also go to a Division 2 squad as Belmony Abbey [a recent addition to the lax world] bested perenial power Limestone 9-8 in OT. Jedd Gardner had 4 goals, including the OT game winner.

Big Scorers: Bryant won their first D1 game 22-8 over Sacred Heart. Zach Greer finished up 11 points as 6 of those 11 came on goals and 5 on assists. Also dropping 11 points was UVA's Garret Billings who did so on 8 goals and 3 assists in a 20-10 thumping of Stony Brook.

The D2/D3 side of things: Whittier lost to D2 NDNU 7-6 in the battle of Cali. You can be assured it was a tough, hard-hitting game. Salisbury keeps rolling with ease, 'Noke and OWU won convincingly. Stevenson was picked to be a real contender this year but they only bested Widener by 1.

MLL Craziness! Part III

follow the link below to a more detailed explanation of the MLL's impending contraction:
http://www.examiner.com/x-1475-Boston-Lacrosse-Examiner~y2009m2d13-Major-League-Lacrosse-reportedly-contracting-teams-Boston-Cannons-safe-for-now

I like the move to Toronto. Rochester was given their shot and couldn't make it work. Toronto did well with the NLL's Toronto Rock franchise so I sincerely hope the MLL team sees the same successes.

Seems like Boston, LI and the Bayhawks will all be fine. Chicago seems to be sticking it out but the fortunes of the Chicago Shamrox do not bode well for the Machine's future, nor do the Machine's past attendance numbers.

MLL in Canada? Possibly...

An investment group in Toronto is looking to lure Rochester's MLL franchise up to the great white North.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090210.LACROSSE10/TPStory/Sports

With a considerable amount of Canadian talent already on the team, the Rattlers would be primed for success in Toronto, where lacrosse is a relatively well known sport [albeit the indoor version]. The NLL franchise, the Toronto Rock, does quite well over the winter so it makes sense that fans would come out for lacrosse outdoors once the weather warms up a little.

It is interesting that while one team in the MLL is entertaining a move to another country, 5 others teams are still owned by the league... seems like all of these teams need to get on the same page because a fragmented league in an economic situation like our current one spells disaster.