The
biggest news of the week came to our community in disappointing fashion as
unfortunately the WIAA voted down the amendment to sanction lacrosse here in
our state. It is extremely disappointing
that the WIAA does not recognize the future and it is odd that they do not want
to be on board with such a positive movement for kids. However, the WHSBLA will carry on and only
continue to grow and someday it will happen.
For now, take a look at a great piece done on the subject from King-5 Television.
Also, visit the Seattle Times site to view their take in the High School Sports Blog and vote in support of our
disappointment as a lacrosse community.
A
big thanks to The
Varsity News for their continued support as once again their weekly
Wednesday show included plenty of lacrosse highlights!
The Division I Stroll…
- Biggest stories from the week that was:
o Coincidentally, the two best games of the week ended in identical scores. First, Skyline managed to steal one from Curtis on the Vikings home turf. Despite allowing a five goal performance from Curtis standout, Taylor Dean, the Spartans hung tough and Charlie Engel found the back of the net with just 8 seconds left in regulation to break a 10-10 tie and send Skyline home in jubilation. Unbeaten in league play just last week, the Vikings have now dropped two straight and face Bellevue next. Meanwhile Skyline seems to have things moving in the right direction under new coach, Adam Kurtenbach. The Spartans finished the week with another good win over Puyallup that included an 8 goal, 3rd quarter. It’s a good omen for the men in green as one Coach K has already had a pretty good year.
o The other exciting 11-10 finish took place between King’s Way and Lakeside. The Lions sure are glad to have big #37 back in the lineup as not only did Mr. Jernudd register 3 goals, 2 assists but he also won 13 groundballs (several of them at the face-off X) to lead Lakeside to a thrilling overtime victory over the Knights, the #1 team in the Southwest Conference. An amazing effort and turn around for the Lions when you consider that just last week they dropped an overtime game to Southwest #7, Tahoma.
o
The Skyline and Lakeside wins seem to help
validate many people’s notion that the Northeast Conference is the much
stronger conference this year.
o To use a baseball cliché (we know, poor taste for lacrosse people to reference baseball), “If you love a good pitchers duel” then you might have enjoyed the 5-2 barn burning defensive struggle between Issaquah and Bainbridge. Bainbridge tried to slow the game down and posses the ball a ton; in essence it worked, though Issaquah’s defense held tough and only allowed 2 goals. Todd Jones put Issaquah on his back in the second half and carried Issaquah to a low scoring 5-2 win.
o Welcome back to the Owls! Overlake took to the field for the first time since March and was able to shake off the rust just in time to beat a feisty Tacoma squad 12-11. The Owls also took a second game this week in defeating Stadium 7-1.
o In checking the box scores, it is worth noting that some top players missed games this week including Bellevue’s Cole Nordstrom, Issaquah’s Jake Fritz, Bainbridge’s Henry Deery-Schmidt and Mercer Island’s Connor Raffety.
- Standout Stats:
o Spencer Matches, SR, Skyline – One of the league’s best faceoff men, Matches gobbled 17 groundballs in the Spartans win over Curtis!
o
Thomas Brook,SR,
- Best match-ups of the upcoming week:
o
4/26 Curtis @
o
4/27
o
4/28 Overlake @
o 5/1 Curtis @ King’s Way – Winner of this one has the inside track to first place in the Southwest, though Bainbridge will still certainly have a say.
The D2 Stroll…
- Biggest stories from the week that was:
o So, let’s see... last week Stanwood beat Lynnwood (10-9). This week, Lynnwood blasts Whatcom (19-5), Snohomish blasts Stanwood by the same score, Stanwood nips Whatcom (8-7) and Snohomish finishes the week with a 10-9 overtime victory over San Juan. Looks like Snohomish is surfacing as the team to beat, though the Panthers still must face Lynnwood again and the Tigers are responsible for Snohomish’s only league loss.
o Congratulations to North County for grabbing a season first victory this week. This leaves only two teams (Mt Si and Silver Lake) still searching for a win. The coming week is a great opportunity for Mt. Si to get their first W as they battle in a rematch with Liberty.
o No change in unbeatens as Lake Washington and Wenatchee remain unblemished.
o Alex Wright scored just 26 seconds into overtime to help Nathan Hale score their biggest win of the year so far by beating Garfield. Ian Harvey led the Red Raiders with 4 goals. The win splits the season series with Garfield and keeps Hale in the playoff hunt.
- Standout Stats
o Josh Pedersen, SO, Snohomish – Scored 4 goals to help dismantle a Stanwood team coming off a big victory over Lynnwood. Then followed with a 3 goal, 1 assist performance including the double overtime game winner against San Juan.
o Kurtis McFadden, JR, Whatcom – Despite two tough losses, McFadden, a junior, made 31 saves this week, including a career high 21 saves in a loss to Lynnwood.
o Cody Braam, JR, North County - The junior scored two goals and grabbed a career high 12 groundballs at midfield in helping the Cavaliers to their first win of the season. Further testament to Cody’s great all-around game, he has also played in net during 5 games this season and has recorded 42 saves!
- Best match-ups of the upcoming week:
o 4/27 Lynnwood @ Providence – Ironically this one will be played at Lynnwood High School, Providence’s home field.
o 4/28 Roosevelt @ Garfield – Roughriders can feel the Blanchet Braves breathing down their neck. Need this one to remain atop the Metro.
o 5/1 Stanwood @ San Juan – San Juan took the first meeting this year in overtime. This one could decide the Skagit Conference.
Lacrosse The Country…
·
Sam Snow (Bainbridge) continued his remarkable
freshman campaign for
· Discovered some pics of former Seattle Prep standout, Shane O’Neill, on the field for Cornell.
· Former Lakeside attackman, Dylan Holmes is second in scoring for Oberlin. Holmes will meet up with Bainbridge alum, Max Olson, when Oberlin takes the field against Kenyon this week in an NCAA Division III contest.
Lacrosse Four Thought…
Will any team from the Southwest Conference reach the WHSBLA Division I Semifinals?
Why are key guys missing games? Injuries? Academics? Other issues?
What is your reaction to the WIAA’s decision to turn down the opportunity to sanction lacrosse?
Which programs do you think will be on the move next season (reassigned to Division I or reassigned to Division II)?
Parting Shots…
- “Looking at the Div.II standout lines, I
think you forgot someone who did very good
this week. Issac Simpson for Highline had 7
goals and 3 assist in Highline's first win of
the season over Selah; 15-14 on Saturday!”- Xavier Gardner
·
“How long will Bellevue continue to wear its new white
uniforms with yellow numbers on them? No one can read them and even the Comcast
announcers were bashing them.” – Anonymous
·
As to the validity of stats being posted, “The number of parents/spotters/volunteers who are milling
about giving their input on scoring decisions and then checking the book after
the game and you have a flawed system. It validates my belief that you can
tell lacrosse is becoming a legitimate sport in the Northwest by the
way parents are starting to screw it up.” –Anonymous
·
“As far as storylines go, I like the season that San
Juan's got going, especially in the face of a tough travel schedule. Calen Mayer might be the real deal between the pipes. The
race between Stanwood, Lynnwood and Snohomish also intrigues me.” – Patrick
Boyd
·
“For uniforms, it's hard to beat MI's Black set.
They're sharp and help keep them easy to hate, in an Oakland Raider kind of
way.” – Anonymous
We’ll give a shot to the best emails of the week and include your
comments/quotes/etc in next week’s Sunday Stroll.
Time to hear from you! Feed us
your thoughts, edits, questions… bring it! EMAIL: TheSundayStroll@gmail.com