2007 PNCLL All-Stars

[kladis]

Oregon's "Turtle" is without a doubt the MVP this year. He wins damn near every face-off, giving the Duck's potent offense the opportunties to score. Without posession, it doesn't matter how good your offense is. Not having Turtle "fuel" their team, the Ducks would be much different.

When any team in the country plays Oregon, here's is how the think (or should think):
Oregon's offense is really good, so we need to prevent them from having the ball as much as possible. To do this, we need to possess the ball. However, to win the game, you need to score at some point. But the thing is, everytime you score, you need to have a face-off. This is not good for other teams because the odds of Oregon winning the faceoff is real good, and therefore, scoring almost becomes something you don't want to do. You essentially score, and in doing so, give Oregon the ball and they will probably score, back to a face-off, and thanks to Turtle, and Oregon possession and another goal etc. It is a constant battle because of Turtle. Without him, the face-off would be an opportunity for the other team to possess again and stop the bleeding. Turtle is the guy who holds the flood gate open.

This award is not for the "best" player, it is for the most valuable. Sometimes they go hand in hand and the most valuable player is the one who also gets points, but it isn't dependent on that. Turtle doesn't rack up points, he's not the best player, but he does the work that allows the other great players on his team to rack up the points which makes him the most valuable.

[teslax14]

I couldn't have said it better myself Rick

[westlax]

Just my take on everything.

Division A
Attack:
Julian Coffman, UO
Mike Christians, SFU
Clay Knope, UO
Ben Towner, SFU
Midfield:
Nick Tierney, UW
Kevin Crowley, SFU
Trevor Tesar, UO
FOGO:
Scott Miller, UO
Defense:
Andrew Vincent, UO
Todd Jolly, UO
Steve Carpenter, OSU
Goalie:
Paul Swanson, UO

Division B
Attack:
Townsend Hall, UM
Sam Cameron, UM
Andy Young, WWU
Cody Hart, AC
Midfield:
Peter Drake, WC
Jake Schuit, WWU
Reid Anderson, WWU
FOGO:
Travis McCarthy, UM
Defense:
Dan Snell, SOU
Jim Baumstark, WWU
Justin Brown, WOU
Goalie:
Noah Symington, WWU
Steven Blair, WOU

[Basquelax]

Wuerfel--- B league 1st team if not Defensive MVP. Skill/power/brains

[litlax5]

Let's have some fun, who's on your second teams?

[TheNino57]

Goaltending nominations (opinions based on teams/players I've seen this season) should go toward Symington (WWU), Ulshafer (WU), and Maggin (CWU). Ulshafer isn't going to stick out as he is playing for a rebuilding team- please don't overlook this guy.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

Anyone know if there are archives of past league all-stars?

At the PNCLL website there is a pretty decent history dating back about 6 years (when our website started with Daryl). . .

Some years have better detail than others, but there is a fair amount of history there.

[dukphan]

I wrote this before, but it didn't post. Sorry if it duplicates.

Due, in large part, to Oregon high schools and coaches, the Ducks have been the beneficiary of a boatload of lacrosse talent. Unfortunately, because of this largesse, it looks like some very, very good lacrosse players may be overlooked as Oregon appears to have too much of the all-star pie. Are all-star teams required to have symmetry or be "equitable", i.e., 2 all-stars for Oregon, 2 all-stars for Oregon State, 2 all-stars for SFU, etc.? If we want to be politically correct, let's just do it that way from now on.

I realize that recognition in sports is highly politicized, from Little League on up, but if Sunshine from Oregon is passed over because of some delicate creature's notion of equity, it will only serve to prove the point. Aldrich shoots as hard from his left as he does his right, it is next to impossible to strip the ball from him, he has laid out more opponents than most of his teammates (as a former hockey player, it drives me nuts, when a player can and should use his body against an opponent, that many elect to swipe with their stick instead), and he makes very few mistakes. You could probably count his unforced errors this ENTIRE season on the fingers of one hand, way fewer than many names on the all-star list, and unforced errors hand the ball over to the other team and give them a chance to score. Basically, this was the Ducks undoing in Arizona, and when other teammates were struggling, Cody produced. When other teammates struggled against BYU, Aldrich was tying them into knots. In big games, shouldn't all-star players play big? More often than not, if Oregon needed to control the ball, it seemed they handed the ball over to Aldrich, and he made it look easy, which is perhaps the reason some may overlook him...he makes lacrosse look easy. Other people look like they're running a million miles an hour, and he's just loping, but they can't catch him.

It appears that this fine player may be passed over in deference to those less talented because of sensitivities about Oregon being over-represented?

For everyone to be happy, I guess I should broadcast email all the Oregon high school lacrosse coaches and tell them to tone down their programs. After all, isn't it the great rule of life in this day and age that everyone deserves to be happy?

And you're right, Get_Some, Retallick should be recognized. He's a baller thru-and-thru.

[TheBearcatHimself]

For everyone to be happy, I guess I should broadcast email all the Oregon high school lacrosse coaches and tell them to tone down their programs. After all, isn't it the great rule of life in this day and age that everyone deserves to be happy?

I think that the scariest thing about Oregon is that I personally know 5 players (there have to be many more, these are just some from the Salem area I know personally) that were all-league in Oregon that go there and don't play, not all-state, but still that means they were no slouches on their teams in high school and they can handle a stick. I know that I would love to have just one of those guys playing for me, it's an embarrassment of riches down there in Eugene and I think it just goes to show how much more amazing it is what they do with the players they have and they still have more clamoring to be on the team.

All of these players being mentioned on this thread deserve to be mentioned and deserve accolades. It's the nature of the beast that not all of them will make it on the list. If I had to throw my hat to one side of the ring I would have to lean toward supporting more varied jersey representation, despite the fantastic things all the Ducks do on the field I just don't think 9+ spots should go to them, it just doesn't fell right.

Scott Miller for MVP in '07, president in '08

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

For everyone to be happy, I guess I should broadcast email all the Oregon high school lacrosse coaches and tell them to tone down their programs. After all, isn't it the great rule of life in this day and age that everyone deserves to be happy?

Wow.

First off, I agree with you with respect to Aldrich. I hadn't seen him play before I witnessed him against ASU-- and beyond Julian, he might have been the most difficult matchup for the Sun Devils that day. Everything you say about his ability is accurate. . .He is a rising star in this league.

But in all honesty,

It appears that this fine player may be passed over in deference to those less talented because of sensitivities about Oregon being over-represented?

What the heck are you talking about here? Have you seen the all-star team? Are you privvy to information that no one else has? If so, I guess it makes sense that you have "hidden" your identity.

There are no "quotas" for all-stars in this league. The best players, as voted by each coach in the league, will be recognized.

Maybe we should just ditch our current system of voting and let you pick the team. Would that stop this nonsense? I'm sorry for venting, but you can't criticize the all-star team until you've actually seen it. I'm sure there will be complaints after it is released - there always will be. We're comparing some players with different strengths and weaknesses on very different teams. It is apples and oranges at times, and everybody wants "their guy" to be recognized. . .that is only human. I get that.

But I must say this was the first post in history that criticized the all-star team before anyone knew who was on it.

[TheNino57]

To all UO supporters, fans, coaches and players:

Since I often hear about good players who attend UO but don't turn out for the team for various reasons, please (I believe my opinion is shared by most of the other coaches and players in the league) let them know that there are 18 other schools in the Conference. Many of whom are always looking for more committed lacrosse athletes. I know CWU would welcome those players with open arms. If they want to play, I'm sure they can find room at, pretty much, any school (baring grades and admission requirements, of course).

[Kyle Berggren]

For those that don't know, the all-star voting is pretty simple.

Each coach votes for a first team, without using his own players.

He then selects & ranks his players as to what he thinks is appropriate. After all, perceptions from the league might not be 100% accurate regarding a player's role or a player might have been over looked by other teams.

We total the votes & move on. In the event of a tie, the board discusses it & use the coaches' rankings to find a solution. What amazes me is the utter lack of ties in the voting. This is why we always defend ourselves as saying YOU select your all-star teams, not your Board.

With as large as our league has become, it is very difficult to make the 1st or 2nd teams. Think 18 teams between the A & the B, 25 guys on each roster, that's roughly 450 guys for 44 spots (2 A & 2 B teams). The guys discussed here should really feel good about what they've done this year & the people they've impressed.

People like Coffman get a lot of votes (who'd have guessed it, I hear he's pretty good) & that only leaves 2 other spots on the 1st team attack. When you start to think about the other players in the league, grabbing the 1st team honor really means you have to impress many coaches with your overall ability. These are complete players, not someone that only shoots from the outside. There aren't a lot of votes to go around for bubble players. Either you had a great season & impressed 5 other A coaches, or 9 other B coaches, or you probably didn't receive as many votes as you would have thought. Keep in mind there are only 3 spots for each position. We don't vote on the 2nd teams, they're selected via our votes for 1st team. If you were the 4th player at midfield for even a few coaches, 1st team isn't as likely as you think. Actually 2nd team is less likely as well.

[teslax14]

To all UO supporters, fans, coaches and players:

Since I often hear about good players who attend UO but don't turn out for the team for various reasons, please (I believe my opinion is shared by most of the other coaches and players in the league) let them know that there are 18 other schools in the Conference. Many of whom are always looking for more committed lacrosse athletes. I know CWU would welcome those players with open arms. If they want to play, I'm sure they can find room at, pretty much, any school (baring grades and admission requirements, of course).

First of all, why transfer away from an amazing school ? Secondly, many of those players who get cut or choose not to come out for our team stick around and play for the Eugene mens club team.

It is difficult to cut a player that was all-state in high school. But then again, some players that didn't get any all-state mention make the team because they are amazing role players. Sometimes the first team all-state players don't do the best because they are used to being the "go-to-guy", but once matched up against equal or better competition, they tend to fade. Only the strong survive right? But those guys who are willing to accept a role as apart of the TEAM, then they are the ones who succeed. As I mentioned, we have a lot of great role players on our team which allows us to succeed. It is often those guys that go unnoticed which allows a team to succeed. Too bad players like this can't make some sort of all-star list.

[screwdriver]

do the people that played lacrosse in high school who go to Oregon and
don't play lacrosse have anything to do with the all star voting and the league?

[KrazyKyle]

I think they should get something by default. This type of thing happens at the county fair. Even if you don't win the big stuffed animal for your girlfriend, you still get a key chain.