'05 Vail Discussion

[bste_lax]

Pete Nelson (UMD), Tom Lauria (UMD), and Chris Fleck (UMD) will be playing for Northwest Nirvana.

[CATLAX MAN]

We are excited about playing with the UCSB guys. Our defense should be pretty good.

I'd say so, that's a virtual MDIA all-star team. It will be interesting to see how this group stacks up against the D1 guys.

[Gopherlax29]

"Mark Plonkey (CSU) and Damon Conklin-Moragne (UCSB) - LSM "

that is dirty!

[colaxg8]

Rock-it Pocket beat Team Guttman (Middlebury) today 11-6.

[Andy Sharp]

#6 Rock-It Pocket won again today, beating the #3 Jammin' Salmon 10-7

Here's a link to the stats: game report

Alex had another great game, major props.

A tough match-up Sunday at 11 am vs. #2 GMH out of Philly, a team sponsored by the owner of the Philadelphia Barrage.

[Sonny]

*Noteworthy Material - Saturday, July 2nd*

-The top story of the day was #10 Team 21's come from behind 7-6 upset victory over top-seeded Mammoth (Defending Champion). Team 21, comprised completely of Cornell graduates, chose this title for their squad as a tribute to #21 Mario St. George Boiardi. Boiardi was a senior Cornell lacrosse player who died on March 17, 2004 in a game against Binghamton after he took a lacrosse ball to the chest. Boiardi’s roommate in college was David Coors, son of Colorado brewery owner Pete Coors. When David Coors decided to play on Team 21 in Vail Pete immediately signed on as a sponsor.

-In other news, No. 6 Rock-It Pocket upset No. 3 Jammin Salmon. While this appears to be an upset between close seeds, the “rest of the story (Paul Harvey)” shows that Rock-It Pocket is comprised almost entirely of USL-MDIA club players from Colorado State University while Jammin Salmon fields a contingent of athletes from the legendary Salisbury NCAA DIII program along with one Division I player each from Dartmouth, Notre Dame and Loyola (Ross Johnson, Kyle Frigon and Blaine Mitten, respectively). While Jammin Salmon have finished third or better in each of the past five years, this will be Rock-It Pocket’s first semifinal appearance.

*Saturday's Men's Elite Semifinals Results*

Game 9
#10 Team 21 defeats #1 Mammoth, 7-6
Game 10
#4 Team Go Fast defeats #5 Merrill Lynch, 14-12
Game 11
#6 Rock-It Pocket defeats #3 Jammin Salmon, 10-7
Game 12
#2 GMH defeats #7 Rocky Mountain Oysters, 10-3

*Men's Elite Semifinals Schedule - Sunday, July 3rd at Ford Field in Vail, Colo.*

#2 GMH vs. #6 Rock-It Pocket @ 11:00 a.m.
#4 Team Go Fast vs. #10 Team 21 @ 1:00 p.m.

*Previous Noteworthy Material*
U19 Boys News-

In the U19 Division, Team Colorado defeated the Baltimore Crabs 13-12. That's Colorado's second-ever high school lax championship and their first over a Baltimore. Also, the tiny town of Vail fielded a team for the second consecutive year. Both of these points show the progression of talent in the Rocky Mountain Region.

*Vail Lacrosse Shootout Background*

The Vail Lacrosse Shootout is now in its 33rd year. It began in the summer of 1972 in Aspen and moved to Vail in '78. In the men's division you can commonly find some of the best active NCAA and National Lacrosse League (NLL) players. The rest of the division is comprised of former NCAA/professional athletes and USL-MDIA players (club lacrosse). The women's tournament has been operating now for 20 years. Due to a lack of a women's pro league, Vail traditionally draws the most talented laxers in the world! Last year (2004), University of Denver's own Jen Adams (assistant coach) won the Women's Elite MVP. She is considered by many to be the next Wayne Gretzky or Gary Gait of the sport. This year the men's elite division has fielded 16 teams while the women have 11.

If you'd like other information let me know. You can also check out the website for complete schedules and field locations.

Trent Nielsen
Vail Lacrosse Shootout
Media Relations
303-902-5927 (cell)
trent@vaillacrosse.com
www.VailLacrosse.com

[Sonny]

-Sunday, July 03, 2005
Trent Nielsen
gwllreporting@yahoo.com
303-902-5927
www.VailLacrosse.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

#2 GMH blows by #6 Rock-it Pocket, 13-2 UMass’ Morris leads GMH to July fourth final with five-point outing

Vail, Colo. – In the first semifinal of the Vail Lacrosse Shootout men’s elite division, No. 2 GMH breezed by sixth-seeded Rock-it Pocket 13-2 today on Ford Field in Vail, Colo. The Philadelphia-based GMH squad was paced by Sean Morris (UMass ‘06) who led all scorers with five goals and an assist. Rock-it Pocket, a team predominantly made up of USL-MDIA club players
from Colorado State University, saw a goal each from Craig Nolan (Ohio State ’06) and Lance Vitt (Ohio State 05). With the win, GMH earns the right to play for the Vail Lacrosse Shootout championship against
No. 4 Team Go Fast tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. on Ford Field.

GMH dominated play throughout the game, scoring the first seven goals before Vitt scored his eighth goal of the tournament at the 11:49 mark of the third quarter to get Rock-it Pocket on the board. Four more goals came from GMH’s as a response until Nolan scored his team’s final goal of the game at 3:04 of the fourth. The final few minutes of the game saw two more GMH goals to reach the 13-2 final.

Overall GMH out-shot their opponent 47-20 and held an edge in face-offs (10 of 18) and clears (20 of 23; 13 of 25 for Rock-it Pocket). In Rock-it Pocket’s first semifinal appearance the team did carry a slight advantage in groundballs (32-31) and saves (15-8).

GMH’s championship opponent Go Fast fields five Johns Hopkins players who are fresh off their 2005 NCAA Division I National Championship. In addition, Go Fast fields eight active and former University of Denver athletes as well as five past and present Hofstra players.

Line Score- 1 2 3 4 F
#6 Rock-it Pocket 0 0 1 1 2
#2 GMH 4 3 2 4 13

SCORING-
Rock-It Pocket- GOALS: Lance Vitt 1; Craig Nolan 1.
ASSISTS: Mike Roth 1.

GMH- GOALS: Sean Morris 4; Brian Jacovina 3; Marc
Morley 2; Xander Ritz 1; Mike Holloway 1; Matt
Ryan 1; Tony Frick 1.
ASSISTS: Brian Jacovina 1; Sean Morris 1; Xander
Ritz 1; Dusty Smith 1.

PENALTIES –
Rock-it Pocket 1/1:00, GMH 7/6:30

For more information visit www.VailLacrosse.com.

[Sonny]

2005 Vail Lacrosse Shootout
________________________________________
Vail • Edwards • Avon


-Sunday, July 03, 2005
Trent Nielsen
gwllreporting@yahoo.com
303-902-5927
www.VailLacrosse.com


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

#4 Go Fast Rips #10 Team 21, 11-5

Mike Law blasts through Team 21 ‘D’ with five goals; Go Fast advances to final

Vail, Colo. -- In the Vail Lacrosse Shootout’s second men’s elite division semifinal, No. 4 Go Fast defeated tenth-seed Team 21 11-5 today on Ford Field in Vail, Colo. Leading the way for Go Fast was Mike Law (Denver ’01) who scored five goals, including his 16th goal of the tournament and 21st overall point. Team 21 was paced by two players who each contributed two points. Scott Lee (Cornell ’02) scored two goals and JP Schalk (Cornell ‘03) added a goal and an assist. Go Fast will now advance to play No. 2 GMH in tomorrow’s championship game on Ford Field at 2:00 p.m. GMH downed #6 Rock-it Pocket 13-2 in today’s earlier semifinal.

Go Fast ended the first quarter with a 3-1 lead before scoring twice within the first 27 seconds of the second for a 5-1 advantage. During that early quarter explosion Law recorded his third consecutive hat-trick of the tourney. Team 21 did answered with goals from Chris Viola (Cornell ’03) and Schalk at 8:53 and 4:56 respectively, setting up a 5-2 second half.

From that point on Go Fast shut down their opponents with a five-goal blitz that lasted until the final minute of the game. Law earned his fourth goal (3:06-3rd qtr.) of the game in the attack and Kip Malo (Hopkins ’05) earned his second (5:36- 3rd qtr.). The two teams traded a goal each in the final 51 seconds which resulted in the 11-5 final.

The overall statistics were dominated by team Go Fast, who out-shot their opponents 50-28. The higher seed also collected 31 ground balls to Team 21’s 26 and won 13 of the 20 face-off opportunities. The Team 21 goaltending duo of Adam Buttermore (Cornell ’03) and Justin Cynar (Cornell ’02) did combine for 17 saves to Go Fast’s 10.

Go Fast fields five Johns Hopkins players who are fresh off their 2005 NCAA Division I National Championship. In addition, Go Fast fields eight active and former University of Denver athletes as well as five past and present Hofstra players.

Team 21, consisting completely of Cornell grads, represents former Big Red lacrosse player Mario St. George Boiardi who wore number 21. Boiardi was a senior who died on March 17, 2004 in a game against Binghamton after he took a lacrosse ball to the chest. Boiardi’s roommate in college was David Coors, son of Colorado brewery owner Pete Coors. When David Coors decided to play on Team 21 in Vail Pete immediately
signed on as a sponsor.

Line Score- 1 2 3 4 F
#10 Team 21 1 2 0 2 5
#4 Go Fast 3 2 3 3 11


SCORING ­
Team 21- GOALS: Lee Scott 2; JP Schalk 1; David
Pittard 1; Chris Viola 1.
ASSISTS: JP Schalk 1.
Go Fast- GOALS: Mike Law 5; Kip Malo 2; Adam Stifel
1; Scott Davidson 1; Kyle Barrie 1; Paul Rabil 1.
ASSISTS: Adam Stifel 2; Scott Davidson 1; Matt
Monfett 1.
PENALTIES ­
TEAM21 3/3:00; GOFAST 5/3:30

[byualum]

#6 Rock-It Pocket won again today, beating the #3 Jammin' Salmon 10-7

Here's a link to the stats: game report

Alex had another great game, major props.

A tough match-up Sunday at 11 am vs. #2 GMH out of Philly, a team sponsored by the owner of the Philadelphia Barrage.

Alex was absolutley fantastic on Saturday...kick save in the fourth was the save of the weekend.

[Sonny]

*Noteworthy Material ­ Sunday, July 3rd*

- In the first semifinal of the Vail Lacrosse Shootout men’s elite division, No. 2 GMH breezed by sixth-seeded Rock-it Pocket 13-2 today on Ford Field in Vail, Colo. The Philadelphia-based GMH squad was paced by Sean Morris (UMass ‘06) who led all scorers with five goals and an assist. Rock-it Pocket, a team predominantly made up of USL-MDIA club players from Colorado State University, saw a goal each from Craig Nolan (Ohio State ’06) and Lance Vitt (Ohio State 05). With the win, GMH earns the right to play for the Vail Lacrosse Shootout championship against No. 4 Team Go Fast tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. on Ford Field.

- In the Vail Lacrosse Shootout’s second men’s elite division semifinal, No. 4 Go Fast defeated tenth-seed Team 21 11-5 today on Ford Field in Vail, Colo. Leading the way for Go Fast was Mike Law (Denver ’01) who scored five goals, including his 16th goal of the tournament and 21st overall point. Team 21 was paced by two players who each contributed two points. Scott Lee (Cornell ’02) scored two goals and JP Schalk (Cornell ‘03) added a goal and an assist. Go Fast will now advance to play No. 2 GMH in tomorrow’s championship game on Ford Field at 2:00 p.m. Team Go Fast includes five Johns Hopkins players who are fresh off their 2005 NCAA Division I National Championship. In addition, Go Fast fields eight active and former University of Denver athletes as well as five past and present Hofstra players.

To see complete recaps from Sunday’s action please
visit www.VailLacrosse.com.

*Sunday’s Men's Elite Semifinals Results*
Game 17
#4 Team Go Fast defeats #10 Team 21, 11-5
Game 18
#2 GMH defeats #6 Rock-it Pocket, 13-2

*Men and Women's Elite Finals Schedule ­ Monday, July
4th at Ford Field in Vail, Colo.*

Women’s
#4 ReLAXers vs. #7 Team Wild @ 12:30 p.m.
Men’s
#2 GMH vs. #4 Team Go Fast @ 2:00 p.m.

*Previous Noteworthy Material*

Men’s Elite News (Saturday, July 2)-

-The top story of the day was #10 Team 21's come from behind 7-6 upset victory over top-seeded Mammoth (Defending Champion). Team 21, comprised completely of Cornell graduates, chose this title for their squad as a tribute to #21 Mario St. George Boiardi. Boiardi was a senior Cornell lacrosse player who died on March 17, 2004 in a game against Binghamton after he took a lacrosse ball to the chest. Boiardi’s roommate in college was David Coors, son of Colorado brewery owner Pete Coors. When David Coors decided to play on Team 21 in Vail Pete immediately signed on as a sponsor.

-In other news, No. 6 Rock-It Pocket upset No. 3 Jammin Salmon. While this appears to be an upset between close seeds, the “rest of the story (Paul Harvey)” shows that Rock-It Pocket is comprised almost entirely of USL-MDIA club players from Colorado State University while Jammin Salmon fields a contingent of athletes from the legendary Salisbury NCAA DIII program along with one Division I player each from Dartmouth, Notre Dame and Loyola (Ross Johnson, Kyle Frigon and Blaine Mitten, respectively). While Jammin Salmon have finished third or better in each of the past five years, this will be Rock-It Pocket’s first semifinal appearance.

U19 Boys News (Tuesday, June 28)-

-In the U19 Division, Team Colorado defeated the Baltimore Crabs 13-12. That's Colorado's second-ever high school lax championship and their first over a Baltimore. Also, the tiny town of Vail fielded a team for the second consecutive year. Both of these points show the progression of talent in the Rocky Mountain Region.

*Vail Lacrosse Shootout Background*
The Vail Lacrosse Shootout is now in its 33rd year. It began in the summer of 1972 in Aspen and moved to Vail in '78. In the men's division you can commonly find some of the best active NCAA and National Lacrosse League (NLL) players. The rest of the division is comprised of former NCAA/professional athletes and USL-MDIA players (club lacrosse). The women's tournament has been operating now for 20 years. Due to a lack of a women's pro league, Vail traditionally draws the most talented laxers in the world! Last year (2004), University of Denver's own Jen Adams (assistant coach) won the Women's Elite MVP. She is considered by many to be the next Wayne Gretzky or Gary Gait of the sport. This year the men's elite division has fielded 16 teams while the women have 11.

If you'd like other information let me know. You can also check out the website for complete schedules and field locations.

Trent Nielsen
Vail Lacrosse Shootout
Media Relations
303-902-5927 (cell)
trent@vaillacrosse.com
www.VailLacrosse.com

[Sonny]

Vail Shootout Men's Elite Championship Won by GMH

GMH Claims 2005 Vail Shootout Crown, 13-7

Stellar GMH defense allows just 14 goals over four games

Vail, Colo. – GMH continued their dominance of the Vail Shootout's tournament field today, routing team Go Fast in the Men's Elite Division Championship Game by a score of 13-7. GMH attackman Sean Morris (UMass '06) led all scorers with three goals and two assists, followed by Marc Morley (UMass '02) and Xander Ritz (Maryland '06) who each contributed two goals and two assists. Morris' effort earned him All-Tournament Team and Tournament MVP status. This was the 33rd annual Vail Lacrosse Shootout.

GMH jumped out to a 4-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Go Fast goaltender Jesse Schwartzmann (Hopkins '05) played well early, making four saves in the opening period, but he didn't stand a chance on many of the shots. GMH's attackmen got a lot of good looks early and helped put their team in a strong position for the rest of the game.

GMH simply controlled play through the entire first half, scoring another three goals in the second quarter to take a 7-1 lead into halftime. Go Fast could not seem to solve the GMH defense, which waited in the middle and pounced on dodgers with regularity through the opening twenty-four minutes. Meanwhile, the overwhelming depth of the GMH midfield began to take its toll. The Philadelphia-based boys had nearly three very good lines of middies and started to wear down Go Fast as the game wore on.

But the story of the day was the GMH defense. Led by Brett Moyer (Hofstra '06) and Jack Reid (UMass '06), the GMH poles did not allow many opportunities all day, and when Go Fast did get chances, goaltender Kevin Keenan was there to snuff them out. Go Fast's attack featured former Team USA member Mike Law (Denver '06). Law had tallied 21 points in the first three games, but was held to only one goal in the finals by the stingy GMH defense.

Go Fast made a run in the second half by closing the gap to 10-5 at the end of the third. They then scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to make it a three-goal game with 8:36 remaining. Go Fast middie Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins '08) took it upon himself to get his team back in the game with two goals. Rabil was one of the most exciting players in the tournament, but struggled at times with the GMH defensive midfield.

The win marks GMH's first ever Vail championship after finishing as the bridesmaid two years in a row. GMH was stronger than ever in 2005 and did not have a lot of trouble in any of the four games. Combined, they outscored their opponents 51-14 over the four days and left little doubt as to who deserved the title.

Line Score: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 = F
Go Fast: 1 - 0 - 4 - 2 = 7
GMH: 4 - 3 - 3 - 3 = 13

Go Fast SCORING: GOALS: Steven Brooks 2; Paul Rabil 2; Mike Law 1; Noah Hollander 1; Greer Hanlon 1.
ASSISTS: Kyle Barrie 2; Garth Miles 1.

GMH SCORING: GOALS: Sean Morris 3; Marc Morley 2; Xander Ritz 2; Bill McGlone 2; Patrick Heim 2; Mike Holloway 1; Brian Jacovina 1.
ASSISTS: Marc Morley 2; Sean Morris 2; Xander Ritz 2; Jack Reid 1.

PENALTIES - GOFAST 4/4:00; GMH 5/4:00.

[Sonny]

All-Tournament Team and Awards

Vail, Colo. – The 2005 Vail Lacrosse Shootout men's elite division All-Tournament Team and Tournament Awards were announced following the final today in Vail, Colo. The highest honors went to GMH's Sean Morris (UMass '06) who earned a spot on the All-Tournament team as an attacker as well as being named the Tournament MVP. Morris scored 10 goals and five assists in four games for the 2005 tournament champions while collecting five ground balls. Morris was one of two University of Massachusetts lacrosse players. Jack Reid (UMass '06) joined his classmate as an All-Tournament Team member in one of the defenseman slots. Another notable was Paul Rabil from the NCAA Division I Champion Johns Hopkins ('08) roster.

Attack
No. Name Team (Current/Prev. School)
#25 Sean Morris GMH (UMass '06)
#3 Mike Law Go Fast (Denver '01)
#16 Lance Vitt Rock-it Pocket (OSU '05)

Face-Off
#39 Dan Spinella Merrill Lynch (Hobart ‘08)

Midfield
#33 Bill McGlone GMH (Maryland '06)
#19 Paul Rabil Go Fast (Johns Hopkins '08)
#42 Scott Lee Team 21 (Cornell '02)

Long-Stick Midfielder
#42 DJ Driscoll GMH (Notre Dame '06)

Defense
#24 John Urbana Go Fast (Villanova '05)
#18 Jack Reid GMH (UMass '06)
#34 Troy Ergenbright Rock-it Pocket (Rutgers '01)

Goalie
#20 Kevin Keenan GMH (Penn State '99)

Men's Elite Tournament MVP
#25 – Attackman – Sean Morris (GMH; UMass '06)

Men's Elite High Scorer
#3 – Mike Law – 17G, 5A (Go Fast; Denver '01)

Men's Elite All-Tournament Coaches
Mike Busza, Jeff Murray, and Gary Halloway (GMH)

The Earl Bill Award for the Most Outstanding Staff Member Stephen Mott Kyle Wallenhaudt

[onpoint]

http://www.laxpower.com/gallery/sarsen3/LP7305_0005

Damon and Mark in action . . . I hope hell didn't freeze over.

We had a great time this weekend. The UCSB guys were great and fit right in. It was Rock-it Pocket's first trip to the semifinals and we finished in third with another good win yesterday over Team 21 (Cornell alumni). It was also the first year we ever got anyone on the All-Tourney team. GMH was absolutely one of the best teams I've ever played against, but we probably could have played a little better against them. Lance Vitt and Craig Nolan (Ohio State) played well with Nick Stanitz-Harper and Luke Wilson at attack. Our defense was the key with two solid "lines" going out there. We ran Dave Gorham and Mike Towers with Ryan Price on one line and Pat Coy, Kellin Bershinsky and Troy Ergenbright (Rutgers '01) on another. Troy and Lance both got All-Tourney awards.

Thanks to all who came out to Vail, both to play and watch, it was a great tournament.

[MandibleS4L]

Fantastic to see the players on fiece rivals come together and play on the same summer team. Nice work to all of the guys on a great finish, it speaks well of the development of the USLIA as a whole. As far as I can remember, and admittedly the week spent there way back in ought one is a hazy conglomeration of distilled debauchery, the CSU Ram-a-thorns play the role of host quite well. Now Mr. Smith, what are the chances of getting some of you guys out for Tahoe or San Diego this next year? Surely Plonkey and Mr. Robinson aren't the only ones who dare take the trek to the West-side? You could always take a little extra time and film a reality show a la Mr. Pat Coy- (http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bi ... art&page=1)

[CATLAX MAN]

http://www.laxpower.com/gallery/sarsen3/LP7305_0005

Damon and Mark in action . . . I hope hell didn't freeze over.

How unusual that Damon would be introducing another player to the turf!

3rd place is a great result against some top flight competition. You guys should be proud!