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Wands magical in super masters

Daily Staff Report
Vail, CO Colorado
SPT lacrosse super masters 2 KA 07-01-08
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EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado ” Moving into the first day of July, the Vail Lacrosse Shootout crowned a champion in the super masters division as the Adidas Magic Wands defeated the FROGS (Florida Really Old Guys), 14-9.

Also, the boys high school semifinals saw victories from the Colorado Favorites and the Baltimore Crabs. The Favorites were an impromptu team formed by players who for one reason or another weren’t on the roster of the “real” Team Colorado, but this group played with passion and teamwork to defeat Team Ohio, one of the perennial great teams at the Shootout. In the other semifinal, the Crabs defeated Team Colorado to move to their fifth straight championship game where they will attempt to win their third crown in a row.

Results from the girls high school division were unavailable as of press time.



Boys high school

Colorado Favorites 10, Team Ohio 5

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In the first boys semifinal, the Colorado Favorites ” aka Victorious Secret ” surprised many with a comfortable 10-5 win over Team Ohio. The Favorites played an inspired brand of team ball and smothering defense, never trailing en route to a championship game appearance. Trailing early in the game, Team Ohio never really got it going and had many opportunities to finish go wasted.

Several players for the Favorites stuck out, including faceoff midfielder Chase Calkin and middie Jonas Kurronen, both from Mullen High School in Denver. Calkin went 15-for-19 on draws, a lot of which ended up in the stick of Kurronen. In the end, the faceoff play of Calkin and Kurronen helped keep Ohio at bay as the favorites had many more possessions. Backstopping the effort was Cherry Creek’s Jeff Barton in net.

Alex Demopoulos, an attackman from Connecticut who will be attending the University of Denver, put on quite a show against Ohio’s impressive defensemen, scoring three goals. R.C. Willenbrock from Cherry Creek had three goals as well, while midfielder Ricky Giancola pitched in with two tallies. Team Ohio was led by “Rooster” Wilfong’s three goals and the strong play of midfielder Nick Beatie and defenseman Conor Greissing.

Ohio simply took too many penalties to draw close in this affair and had trouble with a very stout defensive effort from a Favorites team that was put together through text messages and e-mails over the past couple of weeks. The players hurriedly got the team assembled after another entry backed out of the tournament and now find themselves one win away from a high school title.

This win was no fluke, however, and the Favorites won in all aspects of game-play. Standing in their way will be the Baltimore Crabs, who handled Team Colorado, 10-7, in the second semi.

Baltimore Crabs 10, Team Colorado 7

Jumping out to an early 5-0 lead, the Baltimore Crabs never looked back and held on for a 10-7 semifinal victory over Team Colorado in the afternoon semifinal at Nottingham Park.

An airtight defensive effort that left little room for error gave the Crabs a relatively comfortable victory, despite Colorado’s valiant effort at the end to tighten the score.

The game was not without emotion as both teams exhibited a strong desire to win the game and mixed it up with each other like a pair of old rivals. More than 15 penalties were called as the teams exchanged some big hits and a little trash talk as well.

Faceoff man Justin Radebaugh was stellar for Baltimore, winning 17-of-21 draws and mixing it up in the midfield for his team. The Crabs simply were better throughout in this contest and never gave Team Colorado a good look at the game.

In many ways, it was similar to the first semifinal. First-half goaltender M.J. Leonard made seven stops while Peter Stewart finished with 6 in the second half for the Crabs.

Eric Smith led the Crabs with two goals and one assist while Henry Miketa scored four goals for Team Colorado. The Crabs will have to go through another Colorado team on Wednesday in order to win their third straight high school title in Vail.

Extra shots

The Winnipeg Wolverines made waves, coming back from a 9-3 third quarter deficit to defeat Midwest Elite in Division II play. The Wolverines have been getting a little bit better every year and will play on Ford Field for the consolation championship against the Kansas City Blue Lions today.

Team Utah and the Delaware Eagles will compete for fifth place after defeating Triad Lacrosse Club and Team Indiana, respectively, in the Division I bracket. Today’s third place in Division II will be decided by a round-robin day of games between Midwest Elite, Sacramento Elite and Team Nebraska at Donovan Park.


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