Northwest Lacrosse News - Washington, Oregon and Idaho Lacrosse News

HIGH SCHOOL
WRAP CHECK

by Brandon Fortier

The High School Wrap Check …by Brandon Fortier
Week Twelve: May 21, 2006

WRAP CHECK WRECAPS

DIVISION II

Semi-Finals
5/17
Lynnwood 11, Overlake 3
The magic carpet ride came to an end for Overlake as too much offense from Lynnwood was too much for the Owls to overcome. The Tigers got hat-tricks from Curtis Wisser and Sean Girgus. Girgus also added 2 assists tying him with Alex Burns for the high point man on the evening. Burns finished with 1g, 4a. Kyton Blair and Casey Bloomquist each added a pair. Possibly even more impressive than the offense was the 12 saves from Ben Ambrey. Having only seen action in 3 games before the playoffs, Ambrey was called back into duty and did so in style.

5/18
Eastlake 5, Skyline 3
Eastlake/Skyline Part III didn’t disappoint. Two very solid defenses kept the game close until the very end. Skyline did well to limit Eastlake’s biggest guns, so the Wolves adjusted and found ample reserve. Senior attackman, Chris Howe found the net 3 times; two of them were beautiful catch and finish goals, the other saw Howe take advantage of a loose ball. After the first quarter and half, the majority of possession actually belonged to Skyline. The Spartans controlled much of the tempo of the game and outshot the Wolves, but Eric Tao was the MVP of the game. Eastlake’s netminder finished with a season high 22 saves! For much of the 2nd half the storyline seemed to be: Skyline shot, Tao with the save, solid Skyline ride wins the ball back and do it all again.

Despite the defeat, Skyline has to be proud of their efforts. The first year program made it all the way to the Semi-Finals and gave Eastlake all it could handle. The Spartans graduate just 3 players from the program and will certainly be a force next season.

Division II FINALS
5/20 Memorial Stadium

Eastlake 8, Lynnwood 5
Two great stories each in their own as two second year programs met for the Division II crown. Both teams entered the title game unbeaten in league play at 14-0. Eastlake fared well in its first season, reaching the playoffs. This season, the Wolves were on top all year long displaying a well rounded offense. Yet, it was their defense that seemed their strength and provided the backbone when the offense struggled. After going 2-10 in 2005, the Tigers boasted Division II highest scoring offense.

Eastlake’s Chris Fey opened the scoring and Greg Veintimilla followed suit to give the Wolves a 2-0 lead. But a string of Eastlake penalties allowed Lynnwood to get right back in it. The Tigers scored 3 unanswered and took a 3-2 lead. But Eastlake tied the score at 3-3 to close the 1st. Collectively, the first quarter seemed very slow, filled with too many penalties. Several poor clears and other turnovers kept the clock from moving. The 2nd quarter went by a bit quicker. Veintimilla found Fey to put Eastlake back up and the Wolves took the lead to halftime.

With 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Grant Beyer found Fey and he was somehow able to squeeze it in, near side, stick side high against Ben Ambrey. Casey Bloomquist responded for the Tigers but Eastlake led 6-4 headed to the 4th. Eastlake controlled the ball and went up 7-4. Tigers got one back, but Eastlake calmly responded again. Lynnwood saw much of the ball in the final 3 minutes but never truly threatened. Eric Tao made a few saves for the Wolves and the clock ran out on the Tigers. The 2006 Division II champions; Eastlake Wolves.

The loss ends a great season for Lynnwood and a great turnaround from 2-10 a year ago. In the end, Eastlake’s experience, ball control and solid defense won out. The tempo did not seem to favor Lynnwood. The Tigers like to run and gun, get to the cage and get lots of shots. The Wolves defense forced them to be more patient and it frustrated them at times. Eastlake’s ball control also was a huge difference. Lynnwood isn’t used to playing defense for such a large percentage of the game. The Wolves wore them down. A few times the Tigers seemed reluctant to send a slide, maybe due in part to witnessing crease attackman, Chris Howe finish three against Skyline in the semis. Instead the Tigers left their defenders to fend one-on-one vs Fey and Veintimilla and those two made them pay. Eastlake’s midseason contests against the DI finalists Issaquah and Mercer Island probably did well to prepare them to handle defensive pressure and to maintain possession on offense. Congratulations to Eastlake.

DIVISON I

Semi-Finals
5/17
Issaquah 7, Garfield 6 (ot)
Plenty of jitters in the first half for both teams. Issaquah did its collective best to shut down Drew Snider, but Snider still found ways to score both of Garfield’s first half goals. Issaquah kept even with goals from Alex Bates and Travis Wright; 2-2 at the half. Issaquah took its first lead half way through the 3nd quarter on an unassisted goal from Brendon Frye. A fastbreak goal from Wright to Bates put Issaquah up two a few minutes later, but Caldwell Rohrbach scored 9 seconds after the face-off to bring Garfield back to down one; 4-3 Issaquah into the 4th.

In the 4th, Garfield tied the game with 6:31 to play. Snider again found a way to get free, this time picking up a loose ball and firing it home. But less than a minute later, Issaquah scored twice in a span of 10 seconds to take a two goal lead again. Wright dodged and found a cutting David Campi for the first. Then Wright won the face-off to Andrew Morris who pushed it hard to Nick Yaap. Yaap curled by a defender and sizzled a sidearm lefty shot. Game was far from done though as Issaquah took a silly foul behind its own net. The Bulldogs capitalized as Snider took advantage of a poor rotation to get of a left handed shot of his own. Issaquah had the ball back with under two minutes, but Jason Montoya saved a shot that would have iced it and sent Garfield the other way. With under 20 seconds left, it seemed like a case of déjà vu…Danny Hoffman had the ball and he fired it home, tying the game just as he had done back in April when these two team met in the regular season.

In overtime, Garfield got the first look, but Issaquah knocked the ball loose and cleared. Issaquah’s first chance provided a great look from Brendon Frye to Bates, but Montoya made a huge save and won the race to the endline. Garfield’s second chance saw Rohrbach drive and attempt to feed the crease. The ball was knocked loose and Snider won it on the high crease again. But just as he was looking to shoot, Garfield was whistled for interference, turning the ball back to Issaquah. Issaquah cleared, but the first offensive pass was intercepted. Yaap did well to ride and won back the groundball, as he was slashed in the process. Yaap got the first look on the man-up, but his shot sailed wide ride. Off the restart, Jake Director moved the ball to Campi. Garfield’s defense failed to shift and Campi crept from behind GLE to sneak in a lefty wrap-around!

The goal marked the end of two incredible careers; Garfield’s All-American netminder, Jason Montoya and 2-time All American, Drew Snider. It also brought to close an incredible 3 year rivalry between these two clubs. In six games over the past 3 seasons, no team ever won by more than two and both of this season’s games went to overtime. Issaquah headed back to the finals, a feat many thought they’d never accomplish at the beginning of the season.

Mercer Island 8, Bainbridge 7
Despite being outshot and winning less groundballs, the Islanders found their way back to the finals. Less than a month ago, Mercer was staring at a possible third place finish in their own conference and thus a possible spot in the play-in game just to make the final bracket of eight. They rattled off wins against Bainbridge, Bellevue, Vashon and then Bainbridge again to get back to the finals.

Spartans got a surprise goal from Garret Lund to get things started. Mercer tied it up before long-pole, Bryan Gilbreath took it the distance and finished himself; 2-1 Spartans at the half. Bainbridge came out hot in the third, dominating the possession. Sean Forsyth and Dylan Masi each scored and Bainbridge was up 4-1. However, the last 5 minutes of the period belonged to the Islanders. Greg Mahony started the comeback with an unassisted goal. Kevin Mahony would get the next three. The last came with 4 seconds in the period to put Mercer up 5-4 headed into the 4th.

Mercer stayed hot to start the 4th and after Kevin had scored his fourth goal of the night, Mercer found themselves up 7-4! After being down 4-1 six minutes into the 2nd half, the Islanders had scored six unanswered goals to go up three in the span of 10 minutes! Bainbridge’s turn to mount a comeback; Masi found Fiore Alilima for one and Willy Delius finished another to bring the Spartans back to 7-6. Minutes later, an errant clearing pass allowed Mercer a slam dunk on the doorstep to put them back up two. Willy Delius scored again though and the Spartans closed to one again with just less than 3 minutes left.

Mercer looked to run out the clock as time neared a minute left, but Bryan Gilbreath was able to strip the ball and Mercer was called for a trip as Bainbridge attempted to clear. On the man-up, a poor pass sailed out towards midfield. In trying to keep the ball from rolling over, a Bainbridge defender was called offsides and that all but sealed it for the Islanders. Bainbridge did get the ball back one last time, but was unable to get a shot off. Two victories over the Spartans in less than two weeks and the Islanders were back in the finals!

2006 WHSBLA Division I FINALS
5/20 Memorial Stadium

2006 was a remarkable season league wide. The parity was evident all season long. Midseason, the league appeared wide open; and it was! Mercer had already dropped three games before the end of March and a fourth before Spring break was over. Issaquah dropped games to Bellevue, Garfield and Bainbridge. Bainbridge remained unbeaten for most of the season while Garfield’s only loss was to the Spartans. Bellevue sat in 1st place in the Mountain conference much of the year and were 11-3 before 3 straight losses ended their season. Even Vashon looked like a potential contender with a win over Mercer and a two goal loss to Bainbridge. Despite all of this though, we still found ourselves right back where we were last year. The same four teams prevailed to reach the semi-finals and although this year’s semi-final match-ups were reversed, Mercer and Issaquah were still back in the title game.

Many said Issaquah had lost too much to graduation. Depth would be an issue and the young guys would have too big of shoes to fill. Issaquah had lost 5 of its top 6 scorers from a year ago and even had a big hole on defense losing Dustin Cramer. The purple and gold filled in with a freshman, two sophomores, two senior role players and three guys turning out for lacrosse for the first time. Depth and seniority weren’t thought to an issue for Mercer as they carried a roster chalk full of seniors. However, after the first month of the season it became apparent how much they had lost; from Ben York winning every face-off, to Chris Taylor’s overall athletic ability and all-around game, to David Sandman and Jacob Sonkin’s ability to catch and finish and let’s not forget Noah Symington in goal. Many would argue that Symington was the best to ever suit up in goal in this state. Yet, while the Mahony’s led, the pieces started to fill in around them and finally came together the last month of the season.

The sun broke after a drizzly morning and provided for a wonderful setting in the old confines of Memorial Stadium. Mercer came out focused, dominating the first four minutes of possession and getting off 3 shots. But, Garrett Johnson was up to the task on all three and kept the game scoreless. Issaquah showed nerves and an inability to clear the ball early. They kept giving the ball back to Mercer and the Islanders finally broke through. Taylor Dawson was able to dip inside his defender from the right wing and put Mercer up 1-0. After winning the next face-off, the Islanders settled into their offense. As Mercer worked the ball around, no one stepped to Ian Kaminski, so he simply caught and fired ; 2-0 Islanders. After a timeout, Issaquah regrouped and started to establish some possession. However, Jon Schwartz made the saves on the few shots Issaquah was able to muster. With just over a minute left, Kevin Mahony found Dawson open on the back side. Issaquah responded immediately as Travis Wright found David Campi on the doorstep; 3-1 Mercer at the end of the 1st.

A minute into the 2nd quarter Mercer kept it rolling and got a huge contribution from Steven Frankel. Frankel fought his way through a check and snuck one home unassisted. Islandres won the face-off and Kevin hit brother Greg at the point of the fast-break. Greg ripped it himself to put Mercer up 5-1. After a short Issaquah possession, Mercer looked to clear, but Campi and Nick Yaap were able to capitalize on a solid ride, forcing the ball to the ground. Yaap rushed one-on-one with a defender, spun and ripped it past Schwartz. Two minute later, Greg Mahony scored unassisted on a high hard bounce shot that stuck right up underneath the top pipe. The Islander defense had begun shutting off Issaquah’s Travis Wright. After an Issaquah clear, Wright found himself wide open stepping onto the field. Issaquah immediately got him the ball and he dodged and finished. With less than 30 seconds in the half, Issaquah called timeout. Wright took the ball, dodged from top center, drew plenty of attention and found Campi creeping from below GLE. The shot was similar to the one that ended the Garfield game. Mercer led 6-4 at the half.

Issaquah came out a new team in the 2nd half. Nick Yaap got it started 45 seconds in, driving from X and firing one low past Schwartz. Halfway through the quarter, Garrett Johnson hit a streaking Brendon Frye with a clearing pass. Frye took it right down the lane, defense never slid and he fired over Schwartz’ left shoulder himself. 45 seconds later, Yaap found Andrew Morris in the high slot. Morris ripped a low side-arm shot to give Issaquah it’s first lead. Issaquah kept the pressure on, but Schwartz made two huge point blank saves, stuffing Issaquah attackmen right on the crease line. Mercer took a penalty late in the quarter, but killed Issaquah’s man-up. However, just after the penalty had expired, Cale Frye found a loose ball and quickly evaded one defender to sneak a lefty shot in. Garrett Johnson made huge save of his own as Dawson was all alone on the back side again. Mercer did get one last shot in the period though and the ball went in, but was ruled after the horn had sounded, so score remained 8-6 Issaquah headed into the 4th.

Just seconds into the 4th quarter, Issaquah moved the ball to Brendon Frye. Very similar to Mercer’s goal by Kaminski early in the game, no defender stepped up. So, Frye simply fired himself from about 10 yards out straight to the low left corner. Issaquah had scored seven straight unanswered goals and changed a 6-2 deficit early in the 2nd quarter into a 9-6 lead early in the 4th! After winning a groundball near midfield, Issaquah called timeout with about 8 minutes to go. The ball was back in Wright’s hands and again he dodged straight from the top. This time a Mercer defender was able to get just enough pressure on his hands. Schwartz made the save kept Mercer within three, with plenty of time to start their own comeback. Taylor Dawson was able to dip in from the left wing again. The goal was almost identical to the first of the game, but with a little less angle this time and at the opposite end of the field. After Mercer won the face-off, Issaquah took a penalty. It was only their second of the game but it was costly. Kevin Mahony was able to fire a 20 yard pass from high right to AJ Ellis on the doorstep. Ellis stuck it underneath Johnson. The next four minutes were back and forth. With 3 minutes left, Dawson found himself open again, but this time at the high left. He caught and finished right handed from about 8 yards to tie the game!

Though rattled, Issaquah seemed to find a spark and appeared to take the lead back. Alex Bates had a shot, but his stick was partly checked and the shot partially deflected as 3 defenders engulfed him. The shot rebounded to Yaap who put it in, but Bates was ruled in the crease and the goal was disallowed. That gave Mercer a final chance. Kevin Mahony looked to initiate, but was defended well and he passed it off. The ball went to the ground, but Kevin was able to track it down just outside the top left corner of the box. With just 8 seconds on the clock he dodged towards the middle. Issaquah had defenders right on his hands, but he ripped the sidearm right dot to the upper right corner, just over Johnson’s left shoulder with 1 second on the clock! The face-off was just formality, the Islanders completed the three-peat!

This was the greatest Final Four in the history of high school lacrosse in Washington. These 4 teams were as close as could be. Bainbridge was only team to beat all three of the other, though it went 1-2 versus Mercer. Garfield split with Issaquah, lost to Bainbridge and beat Mercer. Issaquah lost to Bainbridge, split with Garfield and finished 2-1 vs Mercer. Mercer lost to Issaquah twice and never did beat Garfield, but beat Bainbridge twice. All three games were decided by a single goal; one in overtime and the final outcome with 1 second left on the clock. An improbable season, an improbable finals match-up, an improbable series of ebbs and flows in an incredibly entertaining and exciting final four. But, the bottom line: Mercer Island is still #1 in Washington.

WEEK’s BEST WRAP CHECKS

• Taylor Dawson, JR, Attack, Mercer Island
Dawson picked a tremendously great time for a break out game, scoring a season high 4 goals in the Division I Final to help Mercer Island three-peat as champions. Taylor had only scored 1 goal in the previous two losses to Issaquah. Furthermore, he hadn’t scored more than 2 in a game all season, accomplishing that only 3 times. Certainly he had to be happy about the way he finished the season as he walks away from the Finals with a big game ball!