The Division I Stroll…

 

  • A little excitement down the stretch as Vashon defeated Northshore 11-10 in overtime after teams played a scoreless 4th quarter.  The win captures the final playoff berth and dashes the hopes of Seattle Prep and Puyallup.  The Vultures had all their big guns back in the lineup while Northshore was down a Wisman (Foster).  Northshore failed to capitalize on any of 12 extra-man opportunities while Vashon scored 3 times man-up, including the game winner.  Ross Bowers ended it in overtime to send Vashon back to the playoffs!

 

Goals – 47, Sam Snow, Bainbridge

Assists – 36, Daniel Shields, Mercer Island

Groundballs – 127, Spencer Matches, Skyline

 

 

  • Congratulations to Landon Carr, Daniel Shields and Sam Snow on being named 2009 All-Americans.

 

  • Sam Snow and Jordan Goldstein were selected to participate in the 2009 NSEW Senior Showcase.  Both will participate for the West Squad in the event that is set to take place on June 20th at Bryant University in Rhode Island.

 

  • The Playoff Picture:  The playoff bracket is now online
    • As expected Mercer Island is #1, Issaquah is #2 and Bainbridge is #3
    • Vashon’s victory over Northshore broke the potential 3-way tie for 4th and Curtis beat Bellevue head-to head: Curtis #4, Bellevue, #5
    • Northsore#6, Skyline #7, and Vashon earns #8

 

  • Best match-ups of the upcoming week:
    • 5/22  Bellevue @ Curtis –  Wolverines hungry to avenge regular season loss, Vikings trying to reach semis for first time since 1998.
    • Follow the rest of the Division I playoff bracket here

 

The D2 Stroll…

 

  • After splitting a pair of 1-goal games in the regular season, Stanwood and Whatcom played a tie-break game that Stanwood took with a decisive 10-3 victory to earn the Skagit Conference #4 seed.   

 

  • First Round of Playoffs:
    • King’s Way 10, Stanwood 4 – Spartans ran out of gas after tie-break having to travel to Vancouver the next day
    • Eastside Catholic 13, Blanchet 10 – David Carlton and Mike Rambaldini each accounted for 6 points to lead the Crusaders
    • Overlake 15, Three Rivers 4 – Owls soar into 2nd round behind 3g,5a and 22 groundball performance from Devon Schmidt
    • Lake Tapps 10, Snohomish 9 – Titans pull out the OT thriller in the best game of the first round (see below)
    • Stadium 13, San Juan 6 – Carter Chaffey’s 5 goals lead Stadium to the relatively easy win
    • Tacoma 10, Lynnwood 9 – Only “upset” of the first round, based on seeds as #2 seed Lynnwood falls
    • Redmond 10, Sammamish 2 – Redmond only led 2-1 at half but poured it on and coasted to victory
    • Mukilteo 13, Klahowya 10 – Knights took care of business in round one to set up huge showdown with Overlake

 

  • Crazy series of events in the Lake Tapps overtime win over Snohomish.  Tapps scored the go-ahead goal with under 30 seconds left in the game and the Titans thought they had moved on to the second round… not so fast… Snohomish won the ensuing face-off and scored with under 5 seconds on the clock… disbelief for the Titans… bedlam on the Panther’s sideline… game went to sudden-victory overtime and Cory Carson scored to win it for Tapps!

 

  • All the talk about the Evergreen Conference being the top conference… the one that contained three of the top 5 teams… yet when the dust settled in round one there is only one conference with three teams still standing… would you have guessed it would be the Olympic Conference… King’s Way, Stadium and Tacoma!

 

 

  • Best match-ups of the upcoming week:
    • 5/21  Overlake @ Mukilteo –  This could easily be the final as winner of this game may be the favorite to take it all!
    • Follow the rest of the Division II playoff bracket here

 

 

Lacrosse The Country…

  • Chapman defeated BYU to reach the MCLA National Championship game before they fell to Michigan.  Follow this link and click on the 7th picture in row #1.  You’ll find former Roosevelt star, Derek Mills, wearing the #1 jersey for Chapman.

 

 

  • Rumor has it more new teams will be joining the WHSBLA next season.  Possibilities include Providence (moving up from JV status), Silver Lake (Everett School District), Woodinville, Shoreline and maybe others.

 

  • Former Seattle Prep star, Shane O’Neill became the first WHSBLA alumn to reach the NCAA final four as Cornell will take on Virginia

 

Lacrosse Four Thought…

Who do you feel got left off the Division I All-State teams?

What players got snubbed from the Division II All-Conference Teams?

Where else will new teams pop up next year?

When do you think more teams will start wearing jerseys like Chapman’s new Nike uniforms?

 

Fans Sound Off…

“Love, love, love the Sunday Stroll. Keep it comin” – Patrick Boyd

  • Thanks Patrick!  We love knowing people are reading our column.  We’ll keep it comin’ for yah!

 

“Laxpower.com computer National Rankings have Issaquah ranked 121, MI at 123 and Bainbridge at 138” – Randy Pfluger

  • This quote was as of Monday, May 11th.  The rankings have shifted a bit since, but you can view them here.

 

“As a topic to consider, there seems to be a jump in scoring in Division I games this season.  What is the cause? Lack of defense?  Running up the score?  Offenses getting better faster than defenses?  Lack of parity (7 good teams, 7 not as good)?  Better depth on the better teams?” – David West

  • Some great questions…. We’ll leave this one for the readers to run with!

 

“Why is this game slowing down?  Why is this game becoming SO BORING? Why isn’t there a penalty for “Stalling” other than “a stall warning, keep it in”?  Why not a turnover after 30 seconds or a shot clock?  Just eliminate the stall in the High School Game.  It’s BS and the coaches know it.  Why is it good sportsmanship and “honoring the game” to have a player (or two) hold the ball the 2-4 minutes on each attack or the last 2 minutes in a game whether up by 10 or by 1? Why is that good lacrosse?  Is it that critical to get a miss-match (shortie on a shooter)?  I notice in higher level games that in 48 playing minutes, a team may take around 20-30 shots during the game; the ball is literally held for  2-4 minutes on each attack.  All the refs can do is a stall warning, and a “keep it in.”  It’s become a boring game for the refs, fans and the players. Yep, BORING and horrible!!  Referees and the crowds are lulled into a glazed state.  Is this skill?  Maybe for one or two players holding the ball, or surviving a “double team”, but this is just an excuse.   The game’s strategy has made the game boring.  Has anyone noticed that the game is slowing down, way down?  The number of horns, the stalls; the delayed substitutions, etc., the game is being manipulated.  This “strategic” offense should be banned, immediately. Coaches know this, players know this.  It’s too bad, don’t ya think!?  What a SHAME this great game is being ruined.

 

Perhaps a future story should be an interview with some “new” refs (kids who would rather work LAX games than work at McDonalds or other minimum wage jobs) – to provide some perspective on how they are treated as they learn.  We can also interview other “new refs” with one or 2 years experience – guys who make the transition from Football, Hockey or Baseball to Lacrosse, it’s a learning curve for sure.  What we need, in both cases, is to mentor and support them as they mature and gain experience so we have enough refs to cover games.   The mentoring is not just from the Referees themselves, but from the coaches (first), players and fans (second).  Statistics have proven that most “new” referees will drop out after year 2 due to “not having fun” or the hassle (abuse).  Finally, we can interview our most seasoned referees – the guys who do the big college games, the big high school games as a group (like a panel) and provide additional perspective for coaches, players, fans and other referees.  All could be under a banner in your Sunday Stroll called the “The Ref’s Corner”.  This could provide a very valuable perspective and other view point.”  

Regards, Peter Maftieu

 

  • Wow, looks like you top Mr. West in the number of great questions.  Thanks for taking the time to write such a long response.  We love the idea of “The Ref’s Corner” and will certainly look into the idea for future issues.  As to the first half of your note we again hope the readers run with this and we get some good widespread feedback with all sorts of viewpoints.  From our standpoint, here are a few quick things to consider:
    • Love idea for a shot clock… might be hard to implement in high school without electronic shot clocks at each end of the field, but love the idea.
    • If this game is becoming as boring as you say, why does attendance increase every year at the NCAA final four?  And why does lacrosse continue to be one of America’s fastest growing sports?
    • Is it not a coach’s job to teach and bring strategy to the game? To help give his team the best possible chance to out duel the opponent?

 

 

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

EMAIL: TheSundayStroll@gmail.com