There were some new teams and many new players competing at the Vail Lacrosse Shootout but one thing remains the same — Lacrosswear will square off against The Cage Goes All Out on Sunday in the men’s elite championship game in a rematch of last year’s final. Both teams won their semifinals contest on Saturday to clinch a spot to play for first place. Lacrosswear earned their spot first by rolling past Brine Elite, 23-13, before The Cage Goes All Out sealed a comeback win against The Big Green Herd, 14-12.
The Shootout hosted its first night game in thirty years at Homestake Peak between the Rock-it Pocket Pirates and the Israel National Team. The winners of the night game will face the Rocky Mountain Oysters in the Consolation Championship at Athletic Field Sunday morning. The Women’s Elite division had more luck with weather and was able to complete all of the games uninterrupted. The Women’s Elite championship will be between Team STX and Team CRSLax.com.
Results for Saturday 7/5
Men’s Elite
Athletic Field
On The Hop Nation/Lacrossewear 23, Brine Elite 13
In the first semifinals contest, Lacrosswear used a dominant first half to cruise to a victory. The squad came out shooting early, grabbing a 2-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. Lacrosswear used three first-quarter goals from attack man Anthony Biscardi to carry a 7-3 lead into the second frame. Biscardi finished with six goals in the game. “Anthony is a veteran player,” said Lacrosswear head coach Paul Landaiche. “For him it’s just a matter of engagement. He decided that today was a good matchup day for him and he took it to the cage.” Lacrosswear kept the pressure on, beginning the second quarter on a 3-0 run and ending the quarter on a 6-0 run to head into half time with a 15-5 advantage. Brine Elite fought back in the second half, but could not string together a series of goals against a dominant Lacrosswear defense. “Those guys are on point,” Biscardi said of the team’s defense. “I don’t think we got beat 1-on-1 all day. (Goalie Chris) Selva was standing on his head in the cage when he had to, so we made the plays when we needed to make them.” Brine Elite scored the last two goals of the game as time wound down in the fourth quarter but it was too little, too late, as they fell, 23-13.
The Cage Goes All Out 14, Big Green Herd 12
The Big Green Herd got on the board first with two goals early in the first quarter, and another goal late in the frame. The Cage Goes All Out threatened at the very end of the frame but to no avail and trailed 3-0 at the quarter’s final whistle. Finally, after attacking The Big Green Herd’s goalie with shots, The Cage Goes All Out got their first score early in the second frame. They’d score another just minutes later before being the victim of a two-point score from the Big Green Herd. The Cage Goes All Out kept attacking though, and found twine twice more in the frame to bring them within two goals, trailing 6-4, at half time. “Guys really started moving for each other,” The Cage Goes All Out head coach Jon Bock said of the adjustments his team made. “The cutting was working better. We made a couple of adjustments on our clear because they were doing a good job of riding us, then everything started opening up.” Despite giving up two fast goals to begin the second half, The Cage Goes All Out went on a 5-0 run midway through the third quarter to grab a 10-9 lead. The Big Green Herd evened the score twice in the final four minutes of the quarter, the second time at 11-11, to set up an intense final frame. The Cage Goes All Out attack man Billy Ward scored on a man-up situation early in the quarter, and then with time winding down and The Big Green Herd trailing by only one goal, Ward iced the game with another goal to give The Cage Goes All Out a 14-12 win. Lacrosswear and The Cage Goes All Out will meet on Sunday to determine the champion. The Cage Goes All Out won last year in a thrilling overtime win.“We just got to play well and limit the turnovers,” Ward said about the keys to matching up against Lacrosswear. “In here, with how quick it is, it’s all about turnovers. If you turn the ball over left and right you’re not going to win.” As for Lacrosswear’s strategy, coach Landaiche doesn’t see a need to change much. “We’re pretty familiar with these guys,” he said of The Cage Goes All Out. “(We need to) keep it the same, play the best that we can.”
Adrenaline Tropics 13, Millennium Chiefs 11
The Sharks 15, Jammin’ Salmon 7
Vail Mountain School
Warrior X 8, Motive Pure 19
Warrior X fell behind early and never managed to regain momentum. Nick Ahrens for Motive was the high scorer with six goals. Motive played sharp the whole game, and Warrior X was enjoying the tournament and kept their spirits high.
Rocky Mountain Oysters 21, Steve French 9
A close first quarter was followed by a barrage of scores by the Rocky Mountain Oysters, laying the foundation for their 21-9 win over Steve French.
Edwards Turf
Team Gutman 14, Prestige Lacrosse Club 5
In this relaxed-pace game, both teams made fun a priority. Gutman was using excellent stick work. Prestige, on the other hand, had trouble getting shots on goal.
New Zealand 12, LOFers 5
New Zealand ran away with the lead thanks to their ability to consistently put fresh legs on the field. They were very fast and managed a number of shots on goal. The LOFers fought hard, but couldn’t keep up against New Zealand’s pace.
Homestake Peak
Israel National Team vs Rock-it Pocket Pirates
Women’s Elite
Edwards 2
Team Wild 7, CU Club 6
Team STX 16, ‘Merica 1
CRSLax.com 10, Lax Rats 7
With fair weather it was CRSLax v. Lax Rats. The first goal was implemented by #24 with an assist from #26 of Lax Rats. CRSLax quickly struck back with a goal from #13. Play went on with both teams coring a goal to tie it at 2, Lax rats with a solo goal from #9 and CRSLax an assisted goal by #3 from #13. CRSLax went up 1 with a beautiful behind the back pass from #10 to #17 for the finish but Lax Rats #20 quickly tied it up at 3 again. As the game went back and back forth it was clear the game would come down to defense. CRSLax exploited the 2 yellow cards of Lax Rats to take a 1 point lead. With both teams scoring once more, the half ended due to injury with CRSLax up 6-5. Lax Rats tied the game at 6 at the start for the second half. CRSLax set the pace scoring 3 goals to Lax Rats 1. With time winding down CRSLax #3 received a pass for a score to end the game 10-7.
Lakeshore 9, ‘Merica 8
‘Merica and Lakeshore took to the field as #8 Emily Peters of Lakeshore put her team on the board with #15 TaShina Salas of Merica scoring immediately after. ‘Merica took the lead with #21 Kady Tomlinson putting in 2 goals and #15 following suite. Lakeshore made a 3-0 run at the end of the first half putting them up 5-4. Lakeshore scored 2 goals to put the heat on ‘Merica making it 7-4. ‘Merica’s #7 and #21 carried the ball full field to find the goal but Lakeshore retaliated with 2 more goals bringing the score to 9-6. Still fighting, ‘Merica’s #13 Amy Franks slung one in with #7 Kaitlynne Wetmore scoring with an assist from #20 Meara Stack bringing their team within 1. Lakeshore controlled possession the last minute allowing them to win 9-8.
CRSLax.com 14, CU Club 2
Team STX 18, Lax Rats 8
Lax Rats and Team STX went at it for the last game of the day. Lax Rats controlled the opening draw and capitalized on it scoring the first point of the game. #9 of Lax Rats speedily scored again to put her team up 2-0. As Team STX gained momentum they went on a 3-0 run but #20 of Lax Rats Michaela Michael tied it up at 3. Team STX found their rhythm scoring 6 goals to Lax Rats 2 as #20 scored her 3rd goal of the game before an injury to Team STX ended the half. Lax Rats matched the intensity of Team STX as they had to work for everything they got. Team STX honed in on the game and started a scoring wave. Lax Rats, determined as ever, pushed back hard scoring 3 goals of their own by numbers #2, #24 and #20, her 4th goal of the game. Team STX ended the game with a score by #1 finishing on top 18-8.
Edwards 3
Team STX 15, Lakeshore 4
Team Wild 7, Lakeshore 6
Schedule for Sunday 7/6
Men’s Elite
Athletic Field
9:00am- Rocky Mountain Oysters vs Winner of Israel National Team/Rock-it Pocket Pirates
1:00pm- On The Hop Nation/Lacrossewear vs The Cage Goes All Out
Vail Mountain School
8:30am- Jammin’ Salmon vs Millenium Chiefs
10:00am- The Sharks vs Adrenaline Tropics
11:30am- Brine Elite vs The Big Green Herd
Edwards Turf
9:00am- Motive Pure vs New Zealand
11:00am- Steve French vs Loser of Israel National Team/Rock-it Pocket Pirates
Edwards 3
9:00am- Team Gutman vs Warrior X
Edwards 4
9:00am- LOFers vs Prestige Lacrosse Club
Women’s Elite
Edwards 2
8:30am- CU Club vs Lakeshore
Athletic Field
11:00am- Team STX vs Team CRSLax.com
2014 Vail Lacrosse Shootout Schedule
Women’s Elite: July 3rd to July 6th
Men’s Elite: July 3rd to July 6th
