Now that the high school is over, perhaps of most interest to the people on this forum will be the players in the elite bracket. I had the benefit of checking out most of the teams' rosters and here are some of the MDIA guys who will be up in Vail this weekend and the teams they will play for. We keep the entire tournament on statcrew (something I recommend the MDIA think about for the future - it allows you to keep detailed stats for a four day tourney, including point scorers, face-off men, saves, etc. Very interesting stuff, perhaps would be more so in the MDIA tourney then in Vail, but it is still cool here) so you can track your favorite players online at
www.vaillacrosse.com. Here are some guys to watch for (I apologize for the guys I miss, please add them):
Team Rock-it Pocket:
This team has more per capita MDIA players than any other in the tourney. Only three guys on our squad did not play in the MDIA. We have a good squad and will play Team Guttman (Middlebury alums) in the first round.
Nick Stanitz-Harper, Danny Stevens - Attack - CSU
Luke Wilson - Attack - UCSB
Kale Nelson, Pat Bird, Tim Farquhar, Mike Roth, Ryan Ferrin, Mike Murphy, and others - Midfield - CSU
Eric Johnson - Midfield - UCSB
Kellin Bershinsky, Pat Coy, Ryan Price - Defense - CSU
Dave Gorham, Mike Towers - Defense - UCSB
Mark Plonkey (CSU) and Damon Conklin-Moragne (UCSB) - LSM
Alex Smith and Pete Jokisch - Goaltender - CSU
We are excited about playing with the UCSB guys. Our defense should be pretty good.
Team Mammoth:
Mike Napolilli - Midfield - CSU (he's a traitor, we know . . . if you know him, make fun of him for it)
Tap Room:
Chris Bluse - Goaltender - Colorado
Northwest Nirvana:
Chris Shogun - Attack - Gonzaga
Josh Saunders - Midfield - Washington State
CityGille/Flying Dog:
Jason Anderson - Attack - Colorado
Brian Kinsella and Matt McConaty - Boston College
Like I said, I'm sure I missed some guys. There will also be a "replacement" team for one of the squads that did not show that will have a bunch of CSU guys on it too. Stay tuned for more!