The Division I Stroll…

 

  • Friday Night Lights this week…some huge results on Friday that helped shape the playoff picture
    • Bainbridge 19, Curtis 9 – Spartans prove Vikings aren’t ready to compete with the big boys
    • Bellevue 17, Northshore 5 – Apparently the Wolverines read our column and wanted nothing to do with a sixth seed
    • Puyallup 8, Seattle Prep 4 – This sets up the potential for a three-way tie for the #8 seed with these two and Vashon

 

  • Mercer Island benefited from the home field advantage to capture a northwest showdown in defeating Lincoln of Oregon in a thrilling 13-12 contest.  After once again trailing early, the Islanders carried a 10-9 lead into the 4th quarter and extended that lead to 13-9.  But the Cardinals and Colgate bound Senior, Peter Baum fought back to close to 13-12 with a minute left.  Baum had a shot to tie but it hit the pipe and Lincoln’s final shot at the buzzer went wide.  Daniel Shields continues to be ridiculous in big games as he registerd 5g,3a.  The Islanders are now ranked 129th nationally according to Max Preps.com

 

 

  • The Playoff Picture: 
    • Barring a slew of monumental upsets, Mercer Island is #1, Issaquah is #2 and Bainbridge is #3
    • If Mercer Island beats Curtis, Bellevue beats Seattle Prep and Northshore beats Vashon then Bellevue will be #4, Curtis #5, and Northshore #6. 
    • Skyline is most likely #7 unless they pull two huge upsets this week
    • Three-way tie brewing for #8 seed.  If Vashon loses two (Issaquah and Northshore), Seattle Prep loses to Bellevue and Puyallup beats Lakeside the three will be tied with Vashon having beat Puyallup, Puyallup having beat Seattle Prep and Prep having beat Vashon.

 

  • Best match-ups of the upcoming week:
    • 5/12  Lakeside @ Puyallup –  Rematch of last year’s tie-break game.  Lakeside is out but can spoil Panthers chance at playoffs again.
    • 5/15  Northshore @ Vashon – Northshore most likely finishes 6th win or lose, but Vashon needs this for chance to play-in to the playoffs.
    • 5/15  Curtis @ Mercer Island– Chance for Vikings to stay in 4th and thus a home playoff game, otherwise they likely fall to #6 seed

 

 

The D2 Stroll…

 

  • Skagit Conference: Mukilteo has secured the #1 seed here, but still much intrigue left after that.
    • If Lynnwood beats North County to close the season they earn the #2 seed based on head-to-head goal differential vs San Jaun
    • If Lynnwood loses to North County then San Juan is #2 and Lynnwood is #3 regardless of how Stanwood finishes as the Tigers beat Stanwood in both head-to-head match ups this season.
    • If Stanwood beats Mukilteo they are at #4.  Should the Spartans lose and Whatcom knock off Skagit Valley then Stanwood and Whatcom would have to play a tie-break game for the #4 seed as the teams split one goal games this season.

 

  • Evergreen Conference: Last big game of the season will determine the #1 seed here
    • If Overlake beats Redmond by six or more then Owls are #1 seed, otherwise the Mustangs take it.
    • Snohomish is #3, Blanchet is #4

 

  • Cascade Conference: The four playoff berths have been clinched, one game left to determine the last two seeds
    • Eastside Catholic is #1, Lake Tapps is #2
    • If Three Rivers beats Selah to close the season they are #3 based on head-to-head goal differential vs Sammamish
    • If Selah can upset Three Rivers, Sammamish will bump up to #3.

 

  • Olympic Conference:  Only conference that is all set
    • King's Way #1, Stadium #2, Tacoma #3, Klahowya #4
    • Big win by Stadium over Tacoma this past week to capture the #2.  Martin Park’s 3g,1a led the way while brother Kevin gobbled 14 groundballs.
    • Tacoma has lost 4 of last 5 heading into the playoffs.  The only win was a lopsided non-league victory over Nathan Hale.

 

  • Games to watch
    • 5/12 – Redmond @ Overlake – Colossal showdown to determine the #1 seed out of the Evergreen Conference.
    • First Round Playoffs – Friday 5/21 and Saturday 5/22 (only 3 of the 8 match-ups have been set)

 

Blanchet @ Eastside Catholic – Jesuit schools and metro rivals will battle it out

Klahowya @ Mukilteo – Knights are one of the favorites to win it all

Snohomish @ Lake Tapps – On paper this is the best of the first round match-ups

 

Lacrosse The Country…

  • Former Bainbridge Spartans, the Gilbreath brothers continue to make headlines.  Dayton was named Newcomer of the Year in the GWLL while taking home 1st team All-League honors.  Bryan earned second team All-League honors while leading the nation in scoring as a defensive player. 

 

  • Former Garfield All-American, Caldwell Rohrbach went for 2 goals and an assist to help Saint Lawrence defeat Nazareth in an NCAA play-in game midweek.  The win earned the Saints a Saturday match-up with #2 seed Middlebury where unfortunately their season ended in defeat.

 

 

Lacrosse Four Thought…

Who is the dark horse, the sleeper… the team no one wants to play as the playoffs begin?

What player will step up and lead their team to a playoff upset?

Where should the semi-finals be played?  Neutral site? One team hosts?

When will the level of officiating reach the level of play?

(Quint Kessinich commented during this weekend’s NCAA playoffs that the level of officiating is below that of the level of play at  both high school and college levels around the country)

 

 

Any thoughts? Ideas for future stories? Feeling the need to comment or vent?

EMAIL: TheSundayStroll@gmail.com