12 seemed to be the number last night – at least for one of the goalies. In the first game lead changed hands for the first 2 periods, neither team getting ahead by more than 1 goal. In the 3rd period Team Juniors were able to pull ahead a bit and held off Team Russ for a hard fought win – Team Juniors 12 – Team Russ 9. Couple of players got a bit testy at the end – GUYS! this is for fun, scouts and contract negotiators were only here for the second game last night.

In the 2nd game, there was no contest at all. Justin stood on his head the few times Team Joe was able to test him and Team Blair must be in contract negotiations or have half season performance bonus calculations coming up because they were pushing hard right to the end to score that 12th goal with less than a minute to go. Final score Team Blair 12 – Team Joe 2.

Next week, July 2, 2014 is Week #10.

Team Joe  vs.   Team Russ     8:00pm

Team Blair  vs.  Team Juniors     9:15pm.

G2

A couple of high scoring but close games last night. In game #1 Team Juniors were eventually able to pull away from Team Joe and run out the clock at the end – final result  Team Juniors 12  – Team Joe 10. In the 2nd game Team Blair kept getting a few goals  and then letting Team Russ catch up. Entering the last few minutes in a hard fought and not particularly friendly game, Team Blair was up by 2, but they couldn’t keep the young speedsters off the scoreboard and Team Russ tied it up and pulled ahead to win in a close one. Final result Team Russ 13 – Team Blair 12. Good turnouts with Team Juniors having a very full bench. Next is week #9 – June 25, 2014.

Team Juniors  vs.  Team Russ     8:00pm

Team Blair  vs.  Team Joe     9:15pm

G2

In last night’s first game Team Blair left Dan hanging in the wind – lots of uncontested breakaways and easy cuts to the net.  Team Juniors scored early and often and led 8-0 at the end of one and their full bench allowed them to run and run and run…… A short benched Team Blair was finally able to break Justin’s shutout near the end of the 2nd period and doubled their score again near the end of the game. Final score Team Junior2 12 – Team Blair 2. Missing top scorers Ian Gordon and Matt Vlemmix puts a major limit on the Team Blair scoring capability.

Second game of the night was back and forth the entire game. Lead changed hands a number of times before Team Joe was able to pull ahead by one and run out the clock at the end to post a win to move them into first place in the standings. Final result Team Joe 9 – Team Russ 8.

Next is Week #8 – the half way point of the season – already. – June 18, 2014

Team Juniors  vs.  Team Joe     8:00pm

Team Blair  vs.  Team Russ     9:15pm

G2

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