Random Thoughts From Frisco

[bste_lax]

As this was my first whole tournament (I have seen bits and pieces in the past), here are some random thoughts:

- BYU is good. They are an army of players who are all built the same and play the same. I don't think I have seen a team ride as hard as they do.

- If there was an Tournament MVP, my vote would go to Tyler Monteath. Any ground ball/loose ball in the middle of the field was his.

- Oregon played their hearts out but just had no match for the energy level and depth of BYU. While he didn't have as great as game in the Championship, Scott Miller impressed me in the semis.

- UCSB might have been the most disciplined team I saw at the tournament. Much like Oregon, they just didn't have the depth to battle with BYU and ran out of gas. UCSB's long poles were also some of the best of the tournament.

- Congrats to the PNCLL and PCLL, your teams came to play this year. I could not believe that Northeastern-Michigan score with the real shocker being that the 15 goals came from 13 different players.

- Duluth's goalie was the real deal.

Top 4 Games That I Saw:

1) Oregon 9, CSU 8 - OT
Great comeback by the Ducks, they showed a lot of heart to come back. After CSU's long pole scored that goal to make it a 4-5 goal game in the third, I thought it was over. I was wrong.

2) UCSB 8, Northeastern 7 - OT
Another great comeback by the Huskies. Also with the CSU-ASU game getting a little out of hand, most of the crowd was over at Field 3 leading up to the meeting by the refs to debate whether a NU was in the crease or pushed in during a goal causing the Oregon/Florida players along the goal line chanting "goal". Then NU almost scoring on at the end with 2 seconds with the shot going wide leading to UCSB winning in overtime/

3) Montana 19, Westminster 18
A great game that was just run-and-gun and back and forth, non-stop action. Reminded me of the Cuse-Virginia games of the early 90s.

4) Boston College 6, Arizona 5
Another great, close game which had a 2-minute span during the fourth quarter that was all helter skelter with both goalies making point blank saves and starting a fast break the other way.

All-in-all, a great week of lacrosse.

[MountaineerLax]

Well said - there were even some great consolation games. Ft.Lewis and Harding was awesome to watch when Harding came back from a 5-goal deficit late in the 4th led by Joe Szostak's 7 goal, 4 assist day. That was impressive because Ft.Lewis's best defense was on him the whole time.

And their defense ain't too shabby.

[MountaineerLax]

Oh... here's a random thought for you....

Why aren't we seeing teams arriving at the tournament with a surprise for us anymore... new helmets or new jerseys or something?

I always liked the idea that it's the national tournament, show up with your third jersey, the alternate color, like CSU golds, Emory greys, and Lindenwood Blacks off the top of my head.

Get them on the rush and debut them either in the finals or day 1 if it's your first time and the finals are a long shot.

It might cost another $200 per player - but honestly, how many times in your life are you assured the chance to play in a national championship tournament?

Seems like it would be good for the spirit of the team.

[PigPen]

Money can get tight at the end of the year-some are nice, like the FSU blacks (which seemed to help them pyschologically). but more than money I think a lot of coaches don't want to mess with the Karma-like hopkins in '92-they break out the blacks and fall apart. When Petro was reminded of this when he took over-he wouldn't let them use the blacks-Rebelwear got stuck with a bunch a few years back-my point-i think a lot of teams don't want to mess with something that isn't broken.

[Troy Hood]

I can address our situation directly. We had an idea of getting a third uniform for nationals. But, the idea of wearing black in the Texas heat got shot down quick when we remembered the weather from last season. The powder blue jerseys were hot enough.

If we're fortunate enough to come back, we may have a surprise for May 08.