Another week of pretty good games – and something a bit disturbing. All teams had 9-12 on the bench and the length of games seemed just about right – no one appeared to be (obviously) running out of gas in the last 10 minutes so nothing will change for another week or so (if ever).

In game one, Team Russ scored early and often but Team Juniors kept coming back to get close or tie. JKOW seemed to be the difference this week as he was able to score consistently enough to drag Team Russ over the finish line – final score Team Russ 15  –  Team Juniors 12.

Game two was a (relatively) lower scoring game. Ian Gordon was the go to guy for Team Blair and was able to outscore Team Joe’s Little Chess leading Team Blair back to the win column after 2 straight losses though it was close right to the end. Final result Team Blair 11 – Team Joe 8.

Disturbing part of the game – right at the start of the 2nd period, after catching a painful shot on the wrist the period before, I distinctly heard (what I thought was) “shoot for his hand” coming from the Team Blair bench. Really? Doesn’t quite seem to be in the spirit of Masters HL lacrosse. Hopefully someone that was on the bench can clarify what I might have misheard? (apparently I may have misheard – see explanation in comments –  G2).

Next week is Week #7 June 11, 2014

Team Blair  vs. Team Juniors     8:00pm

Team Joe  vs.  Team Russ     9:15pm

G2

Another week done gone – player turnout was a bit low for 3 teams but more or less full for the fourth. Everyone seems to like the full 3×20 period game structure (at least no complaints have been heard to date). Probably keep this format for a few more weeks to see if any major issues arise.

In the first game Team Joe came out flying and was essentially scoring at will. After cruising to a 6 goal lead, complacency set in (or the Juniors woke up) and Team Juniors picked away, scoring one goal after another until the margin was much tighter. Team Joe bore down again and scored a few goals to pull away, but Team Juniors kept plugging away, getting closer but never quite drawing even. Time eventually ran out with the end result Team Joe 13 – Team Juniors 9.

In the second game, a full benched Team Russ scored on the initial face off and never looked back. Team Blair was somewhat short handed and couldn’t keep up with the hard running younger lines of their opponents. Final score Team Russ 15 – Team Blair 8. After  putting together 3 wins in a row to start the season Team Blair has now been spanked 2 weeks in a row. Do trades have to be made, free agents brought in – who knows? season is still young but the risk of falling out of playoff contention looms large….oh yeah….everyone makes the playoff and the only games that matter are the last 2 weeks!

Next is Week #6 June 4, 2014

Team Juniors  vs.  Team Russ     8:00pm

Team Blair  vs. Team Joe     9:15pm

G2

Another week’s games in to the record books – player turnouts were a bit lower than usual – might be something to do with the Knights and Chicago/LA games on TV plus the JrB game going on at Nicholls. First game went a bit long with the 3×20 min periods and specific curfew procedures will have to be distributed to the refs and timekeepers to keep the early games on track. The second game was, for some reason, switched back to 3×15 min periods, possibly due to the shorter benches. Some discussion will be required to see if we want to make shortening games optional or not – we have the time to 10:30 and we are paying the officials to that time as well.

Anyway on to the  results – first game seemed to be back and forth with Team Russ getting to Justin a bit early and threatening to blow the game wide open. The visiting (ringer/import) goalie from Fergus played well with an interesting style that seemed to confuse some of the shooters but he wasn’t able to stop Team Joe from eventually pulling ahead for good and winning the game. Final score Team Joe 10 – Team Russ 7.

Second game had the unbeaten Team Blair looking to extend their lead at the top of the standings over the struggling Team Juniors. This might have been a good PROLINE underdog pick as Team Blair showed up flat, unable to pass, score or play defense while Team Juniors were relentless, picking the corners and coasting to an easy victory – Team Juniors 12 – Team Blair 4.

On the league discipline front, Mike Frith is serving a 3 game suspension for his Game Misconduct and Gross Misconduct for unsportsmanlike behavior/verbal abuse of officials from last week. Just a reminder our rules are fairly strict – there is zero tolerance for verbal abuse or unsportsmanlike conduct. You may not be warned when you get close to the line and the penalties are …severe. You have been cautioned.

Next is Week #5 May 28, 2014

Team Juniors vs Team Joe     8:00pm

Team Blair vs Team Russ     9:15pm

G2