The Division I Stroll…

 

  • Mercer Island completed the toughest two week stretch of their season and the Islanders proved they are the team to beat in 2009.  Consecutive wins over Bainbridge (previous Friday) followed by wins over Bellevue and Issaquah this week put the Islanders at 8-0 in league play and barring a slew of major upsets, positions Mercer to hold the #1 seed heading into the playoffs.  No question as to the captain of the Islander’s ship; Daniel Shields has lived up to every bit of the hype in scoring 10 goals and adding 3 assists in the last three big victories. 

 

  • The Mercer Island vs Bellevue game was a rather spirited one.  A raucous crowd caused the game to be delayed a few times and a few were escorted away.  The energy spilled onto the field as an extremely entertaining first half took a black eye with a little 2nd quarter melee that had players ejected from both teams.

 

  • The #11 is proving to be a good number this year as Curtis’, Landon Carr and Mercer’s, Daniel Shields vie for the league scoring lead.  The two won’t meet until the regular season finale for both teams in mid May.

 

  • Skyline quietly finds themselves back in the middle of the playoff standings just as they were a year ago.  A big reason could be the face-off play of Spencer Matches.  Matches missed an early season loss to Mercer, but having now appeared in 5 league games, he has collected double digit groundball numbers in all but one league game and ranks first in the league in groundballs per game with an astounding 11.4 per.  He ranks second overall in total groundballs behind Bainbridge’s, Dugan McDermott, but Matches has appeared in 3 less games.

 

  • Northshore was thrown into the fire to start the season as they were welcomed to Division I by facing Curtis, Bainbridge, Mercer and Issaquah in their first four league games.  To their credit, they grabbed a win over Curtis and took solid notes in their 3 losses.  Now looking well groomed for Division I play, Northshore has won 3 straight, including a 17-8 statement win over Seattle Prep.  They now sit in a tie for sixth place and with the back end of their schedule much easier then the front end, they seem a lock for the playoffs.

 

  • Lakeside standout, Sten Jernudd finally made it back onto the field and had an immediate impact.  He scored 4 goals in helping Lakeside beat Eastlake

10-9 in overtime, though it was teammate, Hector Rhodes that ended it with a behind-the-back game winner!

 

  • Best match-ups of the upcoming week:
    • 4/28  Bainbridge @ Issaquah –  Rematch of last season’s State Championship and a battle for the #2 seed… always a good one!
    • 4/29  Skyline @ Northshore – Northshore is on the rise and trying to establish solid hold on a playoff position.
    • 4/30  Seattle Prep @ Lakeside – Might be room in the playoffs for winner of this game… loser is all but out.
    • 5/1    Bellevue @ Bainbridge – Wolverines have had a quality season but have yet to find that quality win
    • 5/1    Vashon @ Mercer Island – Last time Islanders won the state title (2006) was the last time Vashon beat them.

 

The D2 Stroll…

 

·        All four undefeateds remain unbeaten and there is certainly a chance that the Division II playoffs could start with four #1 seeds without a loss in conference play…would certainly make for an exciting playoff.  Mukilteo appears to have the best shot to remain unbeaten as no remaining opponent has come closer then 9 goals.  Eastside Catholic also appears to have a fairly easy road if they can get past Lake Tapps this week… last time around saw a high scoring

18-14 shootout.  King’s Way must still face Tacoma again, while Redmond has games left with Snohomish and Overlake.

 

  • Eastside Catholic’s, David Carlton has taken over the point per game lead in Division II having registered 40 points in 6 games, while Lynnwood’s, Cameron Girgus holds the overall points lead with 49 in 9 games.  However, many have commented that each player’s stats are skewed by 11 point performances over teams with two combined wins.  Eastside Catholic has now posted 3 victories in which they have scored 20+ goals.

 

  • The lead in goals scored is actually a tie between Port Angeles midfielder, Dustin Walsh and Klahowya midfielder, Danny Zimny.

  

  • Coming off a 2-8 season in 2008, Stanwood already has 6 wins this year and appears in good shape to make the Division II playoffs for the first time in program history.  In fact, the 6 wins is already one more then their season best 5 back in 2007.

 

 

  • Games to watch
    • 4/29 – Stanwood @ Whatcom – Whatcom needs this one bad to stay in the playoff hunt.  Stanwood can smell the post-season.
    • 4/30 – Eastside Catholic @ Lake Tapps – Tapps could be Crusaders last true obstacle to an undefeated regular season.
    • 5/1 – Tacoma @ King’s Way – Lions make the trip down the I-5 corridor hoping to come back with a tie for first in the Olympic.

 

Lacrosse The Country…

  • Saturday, April 25th, 2009 should be noted in the history books for us WHSBLA fans.  It marks the first time that three WHBLA alumns all scored in NCAA Division I games in the same day.  Bryan Gilbreath was at it again as he scored 2 more goals in Air Force’s 10-7 upset of Denver.  With three straight wins, the Falcons now sit in 2nd place in the GWLL behind Notre Dame.  Chris Taylor scored his 3rd goal of the season in Georgetown’s 15-7 win over Rutgers and Greg Mahony netted a pair for Yale in a loss to Harvard. 

 

 

 

 

Lacrosse Four Thought…

Who do you feel has the best chance to remain unbeaten in Division II?

What constitutes an All-American?  Is it just lacrosse ability or should on field/off the field character be considered?

When is it time to call of the dogs?  Should starters being playing in the 4th quarter and teams be dropping 20 goals in blowouts?

Why have Garfield and Tahoma fallen so far?

 

Fans Sound Off…

(The best comments from the past week)

 

“Elias Rothblatt is on the roster at Weselyan.” – Jeff Pattison

  • Rothblatt is a former Lakeside Lion

 

“Madsen played in goal because he was hurt and couldn’t run well, but he is actually a legitimate goalie as well.”

  • Stats don’t lie.  David Madsen is Roosevelt’s leading scorer, but has also made 23 saves in goal in 4 games.

 

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

EMAIL: TheSundayStroll@gmail.com