PNCLL Final Four Weekend

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

Does anyone know the all conference teams yet?

Yes. . .

First off, here are the award winners:

A Division

Overall MVP: Scott Miller, Oregon
Player of the Year - Offense: Julian Coffman, Oregon
Player of the Year - Defense: Todd Jolly, Oregon
Coach of the Year - Joe Kerwin, Oregon

B Division

Overall MVP: Townsend Hall, Montana
Player of the Year - Offense: Cody Hart, ACI
Player of the Year - Defense: Dan Snell, SOU
Coach of the Year - Mark Brown, SOU

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

I will post the teams in the PNCLL All-Stars thread. . .so go there if you're trying to find the teams. . .

[Dan Wishengrad]

My two cents on today's A games: Oregon got a bit of a scare, as Boise State definitely came to play and battled tough for about a quarter and a half, taking a surprising 4-3 lead early in the second. BSU's Shawn Carmen gets my personal vote as the PNCLL's top Goalie now that Pascas and Cordova are gone, but settles for 2nd team behind UO's Paul Swanson, Oregon's fine Keeper from Mercer Island. Carmen played out of his mind again today (27 saves), just as he did against us. But Boise just could not cope with PNCLL MVP Scott Miller, who won 15 of 17 faceoffs. The two faceoffs that Boise did win while Miller was still in the game were both then taken away by the ferocious Duck ride. Essentially UO won the first 17 faceoffs. The Ducks are a flat out nasty riding team. They collapse two, three, and even four defenders around would-be clearers and take no prisoners. Riding is all about desire and teamwork, and the Ducks simply dominate the middle third of the playing field. A one goal deficit might have woken up UO, who certainly played like it the final two plus quarters. Oregon ran off about ten unanswered goals, and limited Boise to only a few successful clears down to it's offensive end. Oregon more than lived up to the billing as an MCLA elite team, while an out-manned Broncos team never quit and has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of in their first PNCLL playoff game. The better team simply won.

Simon Fraser's rout of Oregon State in the second A semi was a methodical surgery performed by the Canadians. The Clansmen led 8-0 halfway through the second, 10-1 at half and emptied the bench early in the third. The final score was immaterial in this game, which was effectively over well before half-time. SFU displayed both a lethal transition attack and a settled motion offense that is simply a joy to watch, unless of course you were wearing the black and orange of OSU today. The Beavers are a good team, and they had been playing well of late after a tough schedule against some great OOC opponents. But OSU was no match for Simon Fraser, which is ridiculously under-ranked at #23, having dropped another spot in the last poll, I guess, for "only" beating UW 20-14 in Canada. Well the Clansmen get their chance tomorrow, the only shot they have to get to Dallas.

This should be an epic battle, Ducks and Clansmen. This is Oregon's best team, the Ducks are playing focused, all-out team lacrosse. Joe Kerwin absolutely deserved his Coach-of-the-Year award today, and he will have them prepared for the Finals again tomorrow. But the Ducks have to win one more if they want to extend their consecutive PNCLL titles streak, and they will get a game, make no mistake. Jeff Cathrea and Brent Hoskins have done their own own great coaching job with one Senior (Christians) and a bunch of Freshmen and Sophomores who have come together over the season to become a great team. The watching Ducks surely noted this was not the same Clansmen team they saw on opening weekend in February. Both teams will be ready and neither team is, shall we say, particularly fond of the other. I can't wait to see it, see you all there in a few hours!

[Dan Wishengrad]

That was indeed Kyle Tolzman wearing #3 for Oregon, added to the roster for the post-season. This could prove ro be a significant move.

[Sonny]

Final score from PNCLL Div. B Championship:
Montana 8, Western Washington 6

[Dan Wishengrad]

MVPs for the tourney were Jake Bagley of Montana and Josh Schane of Oregon.

Oregon manhandled SFU from the opening faceoff which Turtle won, and made this one a laugher. I'll admit I was wrong, I expected a much closer game. The difference between SFU's play last night and today was, well, it was the difference between night and day. Hats off to the Ducks, they dominated conference play all year and roll on to nationals as one of the teams to beat in Dallas. Good luck, UO, represent the PNCLL well.

In the B Division, Montana and Western Washington gave us the only good game of the weekend, and what a great a nail-biter it turned out to be! The entire second half was played with either a tie score or one team leading by a single goal. Bagley netted the game-winner to break a 6-6 tie, but there was time remaining and Montana was called for a personal foul. The Griz man-down unit was equal to the task, and Montana killed the penalty. UM added an insurance goal with 19 seconds left, and the final score was 8-6. The two teams were very evenly matched. WWU should easily remain a top-10 team and earn an at-large invite. Congrats to Montana, good luck in Dallas. I sure hope both the Griz and Vikings are both there, representing the PNCLL.

[tbvance]

anyone going to post the final numbers? thanks,

[OldSchool]

I heard it was 22 to 7, Oregon over the much vaunted surgical lethal canadian clansmen. None of the "officials" have confirmed the score yet...any experts care to confirm the final ?

[Laxfan87]

I heard it was 22 to 7, Oregon over the much vaunted surgical lethal canadian clansmen. None of the "officials" have confirmed the score yet...any experts care to confirm the final ?

did somebody at SFU call you a name?

[Kyle Berggren]

22-7 sounds right. I wasn't on the table, I was running around, but the game had no rhythm from start to finish. There was some great shooting from both teams, SFU scored first, but UO scored often. Josh Shayne was incredible, Trevor Tesar was also great to watch, & SFU had some standouts also. SFU was a young small group of guys, but they're commited to getting back to the top of the MCLA. The final of this game shows Oregon was in control (which they were), but they won the vast majority of the face-offs (Turtle). SFU seemed just as talented & just as capable as other teams that have faced the Ducks. The Ducks just shot the ball so well today. I found myself pulling the ball boys back from the end lines many times to keep them clear. In the end, SFU couldn't match the Ducks & the score got ugly. Tolzman's a pretty good add for their already strong defense, I'm excited to see them play this well (together) in Dallas.

I agree with Dan, Carman was a phenom in cage Saturday. His 27 saves were the most impressive I've ever seen. Very few hit body & very few were the result of poor shooting. He kept Boise. St. in the game.

WWU vs. Montana was a fantastic game. Both keepers were great, & both teams seemed to play good ball. I'm excited to see WWU prove their worth in Dallas (nothing confirmed yet). Both teams are playing excellent ball & utilizing the talent they have. Each were unselfish from start to finish & it was exciting to be on the sidelines.

[Dan Wishengrad]

Old School, it's tough having to write this stuff week after week. I do my best, and if you dislike my prose I'd guess you will have always have plenty of company. But I do stand by my reporting of SFU's win over OSU, which you have disparaged here and in another thread. I am not wounded by your barbs, I really could care less. It's my job, and Kyle's too, to generate discussion about the PNCLL. You are welcome to be a part of it, provided you abide by the Message Board rules. And you are correct that I forgot to report the final score, which was 22-7. I apologize for the omission, I thought it had been posted by someone else while I was making the drive home from Tacoma.

My final thoughts after a day to digest what I witnessed: What makes Oregon a special team in '07 is not what they do when they have the ball. Yes, the Ducks' offense is balanced and effective. They have good shooters, move well off-ball and are unselfish as a team. But what makes UO so good is their team ride, which creates turnovers and denies offensive opportunities to the opposition. Even SFU, with all their great team stick skills, speed and athleticism could not clear the ball consistently into the offensive zone against Oregon. This fact, in turn, frustrated SFU into uncharacteristic, unforced turnovers when they they did have the ball. The Clansmen played poorly, but the Ducks forced this breakdown in execution to a large extent. Simon Fraser simply never got much of a chance to run it's offense, where the Canadians excel. In the end they suffered the same fate as most teams before them this year -- being dominated by UO. If Oregon can sustain that level of dedication in Dallas to the rides and to team defense, they have a legit shot at bringing the trophy home to the Northwest for the first time.

[Shawn Carman]

Dan and Kyle,

Thank you for you praise and kind words. My job could have been a whole lot harder if it were not for the 6 other guys out there helping me out. Which included our 4 defensive players being rookies at their position this year. I would like to thank them as well for their hard work all year, making my job a whole lot easier.

Myself and my team would like to thank the league for putting on such an enjoyable and competitive event. Our team enjoyed being able to showcase many of our talented players on such a stage.

With some hard work ahead of us for next year we look forward to possibly making another team trip to next years playoffs.

Good luck to the Ducks and Montana for playing some outstanding lacrosse over the weekend and all year. As well as Good Luck to them in representing the PNCLL at this years Nationals.

[nhoskins]

The SFU team on Sunday was certainly not the same team we saw Saturday. The same can be said for the Ducks. A slow-starting, often unsettled Oregon team on Saturday was replaced by a high octane, offensive force Sunday. Dan's surgical SFU team wouldn't have been trusted to perform any surgery Sunday, but with solid performances by a number of rookies, this looks to be the team that will turn around SFU's slide of late on the national level.

I'd have liked to see 4 teams in Dallas from the PNCLL, but still hope to see strong performances from the 3 we are sending.

[Laxfan87]

The SFU team on Sunday was certainly not the same team we saw Saturday. The same can be said for the Ducks. A slow-starting, often unsettled Oregon team on Saturday was replaced by a high octane, offensive force Sunday. Dan's surgical SFU team wouldn't have been trusted to perform any surgery Sunday, but with solid performances by a number of rookies, this looks to be the team that will turn around SFU's slide of late on the national level.

I'd have liked to see 4 teams in Dallas from the PNCLL, but still hope to see strong performances from the 3 we are sending.

It would benefit SFU if they could retain a National Ranking at the end of the year( even 25) as it could help them get OOC games next year against Higher Ranked teams. Allowing for the opportunity for SFU to make Nationals through the polls along with the the AQ.

This is merely my opinion, but SFU may be a team that some Ranked teams wouldn't want to play. I've seen some people refer to them as an "enigma", unsure of how good they actually are. Since many of those teams have nothing to gain by facing them and there is a chance they could lose and feel it in the polls. Cause looking at SFU's record, they dominated everybody (albeit middle-tier competition) and only lost to arguably the #1 team in the entire league. It is possible (albeit unprovable) that SFU was better then some of those teams in the 10-20 spot in the rankings, or at the very least competitive with them. To put it simply, SFU is a "risky" team for some of those ranked teams to face. Nothing to gain, tons to lose.

But anyway, good luck to the teams off to Nationals, bring the PNCLL some glory.

[TheBearcatHimself]

This is merely my opinion, but SFU may be a team that some Ranked teams wouldn't want to play.

I would really agree with this and equate them to Fresno State in football. Fresno State was an up and coming program several years ago and they could not get teams to play them because A) their geography is far from any teams east of California and B) despite their "mid-major" label they were VERY talented.

I think this is very much the case for SFU in the future, except that in lacrosse I think it easier to pick up games. If SFU can get teams to come to Canada that is a huge advantage for them. Even if they can get games on the schedule against some WCLL elite (like they did recently) it will be big because I think they can hang with all of them. I look for SFU to return to glory on the national scene and give Oregon all they can handle in the coming years. I think with all the teams growing (and maybe with the addition of Montana?) the PNCLL A will be a very strong and entertaining league for years to come.

Good luck to all at Nationals, represent us well!