The “2010 Hawaii Lacrosse Invitational”: A Recap Of The 20th Aniversary Of The Top Western Lacrosse Showcase

 The Hawaii Lacrosse 20th Anniversary Invitational Tournament presented by Nike ended Sunday after yet another year of amazing lacrosse in paradise.It never gets old playing at the base of Diamond Head crater, and with some of the best talent in the world on the field, it’s become a premier event in the world of lacrosse.

 

The Men’s Elite championship game is always a spectacle, as the Kapiolani Park field is taken over by the top players in the game. 

2010 Hawaii Lacrosse Invitational Open Champions Wimmer Solutions

Stacked with the likes of Paul Rabil, Ryan Powell, Gary Gait and Max Seibald, Wimmer Solutions took their third trophy in tournament history by defeating the Crease Monkeys, 14-5.

 

2010 Hawaii Lacrosse Invitational Masters MVP Cort Kim (Crease Monkeys and Easton Lacrosse), Elite Division MVP Brett Queener (Goalie, Wimmer Solutions, Easton Lacrosse Spokesman) and Doug Appleton (Masters Division and Easton Lacrosse) standing in front of Diamond Head with Cort and Brett's MVP Awards.

Goalie Brett Queener was named most valuable player in the game for limiting the offensive output of guys like John Grant Jr, Mike Leveille and Jordan Hall. 

 

Adding to the mix this year were the Iroquois Nationals, who came together in competition for the first time since being unable to compete in the FIL Lacrosse World Championship last June in Manchester, England. The team looked strong, but dropped a physical semi-final game to the Crease Monkeys, 12-5.

 

While in Hawaii, the team held a clinic for 80 Native Hawaiian students, most of whom have never before seen the sport. Each student received a Nike Lacrosse stick and an Iroquois Nationals t-shirt before learning basic skills from the Iroquois Nationals as well as Nike athletes Ryan Powell, Max Seibald and Kristen Kjellman. Nike has partnered with the Iroquois Nationals since 2006.

 

Doug Appleton of Easton Lacrosse With 2010 Hawaii Lacrosse Masters Division Championship Trophy.

The Crease Monkeys Masters defeated Wimmer Solutions Masters, 7-6, on a goal from Cort Kim with less than 10 seconds remaining to win their division.

 

Wahine Girls with Leis at the 2010 Hawaii Lacrosse Invitational

Team Breakaway took their second straight tournament win, narrowly beating the Hawaii Eleu women 11-10. This was the first year a Hawaii wahine team played in the championship game.

 

 As always, the social events are a highlight at the Hawaii Lacrosse tournament. For a few nights, Waikiki hotspots turned into a who’s who of lacrosse, culminating in the annual costume party Sunday night.

 

 A bunch of the Wimmer guys were a soccer team, including goalie Steve Berger and Queener as referee and Max Seibald made a great Hulk Hogan. It’s a classic wrap party before saying “Aloha” to Hawaii, until next year.

 

Megan Mulcahy
Hawaii Lacrosse 

California College Women’s Lacrosse: UC Davis Women’s Lacrosse Hires Former Top New Hampshire Player And Assistant Coach Katie Leland

Former New Hampshire standout and assistant coach Katie Leland has joined the UC Davis women’s lacrosse program as the top assistant, it was announced by head coach Elaine Jones during the fall of 2010. Leland arrives to the Aggies

One of the most prolifiic players in New Hampshire history, Katie Leland has joined the UC Davis women's lacrosse staff for the 2011 season.

after two-year stops at American University and her alma mater of UNH.

“I’m very pleased that Katie Leland has joined our staff,” said Jones. “Her knowledge of the game and previous Division I college coaching experiences, combined with her dedication to developing student-athletes both on the field and in the classroom, makes her a great addition to the UC Davis program.”

Originally from Timonium, Md., Leland enjoyed a record-setting Wildcat career from 2003 to 2006, setting four school records and earning postseason honors every year. After claiming America East All-Rookie honors as a freshman, she posted 60 goals with 30 assists to set a UNH season mark of 90 points. She also ranked eighth nationally in that category while finishing 15th in goals and 17th in assists. Along the way, Leland led the Wildcats to a school-record 15 wins, garnering IWLCA All-Region and All-America East first-team accolades.

In 2005, Leland struck again, compiling 51 goals and 21 assists to repeat her all-conference nod and earn a spot on the All-Region second team. She also added America East Student-Athlete of the Year acclaim. As a senior, she again led UNH in goals (53), assists (29) and points (82), ranking among the national leaders in each. Leland capped her career by capturing a third All-America East first-team award and making the IWLCA All-America squad.

For her career, Leland set school records with 179 goals and 270 points. She also held the UNH standards in single-game goals (9).

After graduating with a degree in kinesiology (emphasis in sports studies), Leland took a position as an assistant coach at American University. She helped guide the Eagles to a share of the Patriot League title in her second season, then returned to Durham to rejoin UNH for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

Also assisting Jones and Leland is Molly Peterson, who will serve as an undergraduate assistant. Peterson started every game from 2007 through 2010, finishing among all-time Aggie leaders in career caused turnovers (84). She ranked 38th nationally in that category as a senior, averaging 1.65 per contest.

For more:  http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/w-lacros/spec-rel/102910aaa.html

NCAA Men’s Lacrosse: Ohio State Men’s Lacrosse Announces “Challenging” 2011 Schedule Featuring North Carolina, Penn State, Lehigh, Virginia, Notre Dame And Denver

“We are excited about the 2011 schedule and the challenges it will bring to this year’s team,” Nick Myers, Ohio State head coach, said. “The non-conference schedule will test our men every week and provide the opportunity to play the very best competition in the country as we prepare for league play.”

After battling through a schedule that was rated the 16th-toughest entering 2010, the Ohio State men’s lacrosse team will go up against what could be an even harder slate in 2011. For the Buckeyes, who played the second-strongest schedule among ECAC teams in 2010, the 2011 campaign includes regular-season contests with five NCAA tournament teams from a season ago, including two national semifinalists.

Seven games in Columbus are on the docket for the Buckeyes. Top games include a matchup with North Carolina and the fourth annual ‘Showdown in the Shoe’ April 23 when the Buckeyes will take on Fairfield . Ohio State will again look to break the national regular-season attendance mark. Last season 31,078 fans were on hand to watch the Buckeyes defeat Air Force.

Ohio State Men's Lacrosse Head Coach Nick Myers

“We are looking forward to the fourth ‘Showdown in the Shoe,’” Myers said. “Coach Tressel and Gene Smith have again provided our men the opportunity to be a part of a record-setting day in one of the most historic venues in all of college athletics. It is an experience our players never forget.”

Ohio State, now in its second year as a member of the ECAC Lacrosse League, will play six conference games, and the Top 4 teams in the standings will earn a spot in the league’s postseason tournament.

Date Opponent Location Time (ET)       Sat, Feb 05  Duke (Scrimmage) at Durham, N.C.   TBA       Thu, Feb 10  Detroit Columbus, Ohio   7:00 p.m.       Sat, Feb 12  Mercer Columbus, Ohio   1:00 p.m.       Sat, Feb 19  North Carolina Columbus, Ohio   12:00 p.m.       Sat, Feb 26  Massachusetts at Amherst, Mass.   12:00 p.m.       Sat, Mar 05  Penn State at University Park, Pa.   1:30 p.m.       Tue, Mar 08  Lehigh Columbus, Ohio   7:00 p.m.       Sat, Mar 12  Albany at Albany, N.Y.   12:00 p.m.       Sat, Mar 19  Virginia at Charlottesville, Va.   TBA       Wed, Mar 23  Notre Dame at Notre Dame, Ind.   4:00 p.m.       Sat, Apr 02  Loyola * Columbus, Ohio   1:00 p.m.       Sat, Apr 09  Hobart * Columbus, Ohio   1:00 p.m.       Sat, Apr 16  Denver * at Invesco Field – Denver, Colo.   3:00 p.m.       Sun, Apr 17  Air Force * at USAFA, Colo.   7:00 p.m.     Showdown in the Shoe   Sat, Apr 23  Fairfield * Ohio Stadium – Columbus, Ohio   11:00 a.m.       Sat, Apr 30  Bellarmine * at Louisville, Ky.   TBA     ECAC Tournament   Fri, May 06  ECAC Semifinals at Denver, Colo.   TBA       Sun, May 08  ECAC Championship at Denver, Colo.   TBA

* Conference Games

“From top to bottom, the ECAC is one of the most competitive conferences in the country,” Myers said. “The addition of the conference tournament will showcase the Top 4 teams in the league as they compete for the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.” 

The Buckeyes open the year with a scrimmage at defending NCAA champion Duke Feb. 5, putting three of the four ACC teams on the Ohio State slate in 2011.

Home games with Detroit and Mercer Feb. 10 and 12 begin the campaign for the Buckeyes. The games are scheduled to be played inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, where seating is limited. Fans should secure tickets early, as the matchups are expected to sell out before game day.

North Carolina, under the direction of former Ohio State head coach Joe Breschi and a 2010 NCAA tournament participant, comes to town Feb. 19. The Buckeyes and Tar Heels are scheduled to meet outdoors in Ohio Stadium, marking the third lacrosse game in the historic football venue in recent memory, in addition to the ‘Showdown in the Shoe’ games each of the last three years.

A road game at UMass on legendary Garber Field follows Feb. 26. The Minutemen, the 2006 national runner-up and an NCAA tournament team in 2009, and Buckeyes will be meeting for the first time on the lacrosse field. The Buckeyes then will head to Penn State March 5, where the squads will face off for the unofficial “Big Ten Title.” Ohio State downed the Nittany Lions in overtime last season, 10-9, in front of a sold-out crowd inside Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus. 

The Buckeyes will return home for a mid-week contest with Lehigh March 8 in the first game between the squads, meeting under the lights in Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Buckeyes will make a trip to Albany March 12 after defeating the Great Danes in Columbus last season.

The schedule continues with back-to-back road games at Virginia and Notre Dame, who both advanced to the NCAA tournament semifinals last season. The Buckeyes will go up against the Cavaliers March 19 in Charlottesville before taking on the Fighting Irish, the 2010 NCAA runner-up, March 23 in South Bend, Ind.

The Buckeyes close out the regular season with six-consecutive ECAC Lacrosse League games, beginning with home games against Loyola, a 2010 NCAA squad, and Hobart April 2 and 9, respectively.

The team will then make a trip to Colorado, taking on the Denver Pioneers, the defending ECAC champs, at Invesco Field, home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos, April 16. A night game at Air Force follows the next day.

After hosting Fairfield in Ohio Stadium April 23 in the fourth edition of the record-setting ‘Showdown in the Shoe,’ the Buckeyes will close out the regular season with a game at Bellarmine April 30.

The ECAC will host a tournament this season, with the Top 4 teams in the regular-season standings qualifying and the winner earning the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. Denver will host the tourney May 6-8. 

All home games are expected to be streamed live online at OhioStateBuckeyes.com through the Buckeye Vision service. 

Ticket and Group Information

Single-game tickets for all home games outside of the “Showdown in the Shoe” will go on sale at 10 a.m. Jan. 5.  Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children, with Ohio Sate students and children under 6 admitted free. Tickets for groups of 10 or more are $2 each; to purchase contact group sales at 614-247-1984.

NCAA Women’s Lacrosse: Stanford Women’s Lacrosse Completes Fall Ball Season Undefeated With Wins Over Cal Berkeley, UC Davis And St. Mary’s

“We scored a ton of fast-break goals, so that was nice to see,” Bokker said. “We felt like we struggled with our draw controls in Pennsylvania, so that was something we really focused on this weekend, and our transition game was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.”

In its final weekend of the fall, the Stanford women’s lacrosse team took home four more wins over Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) foes to

The Stanford women's lacrosse team went 14-0 in its fall season. It now has until mid-February to prepare for its regular season

complete an undefeated fall season. The four wins stretched the Cardinal’s record this fall to an unblemished 14-0, including 10 straight wins in the last two weekends away from the Farm.

By knocking off California, UC-Davis and St. Mary’s twice, the Cardinal ended the fall on a high note.

“We played well, rotated everybody through the lineups, and we executed our game plan,” said head coach Amy Bokker. “We felt a good sense of control all weekend.”

Bokker said the weekend was a good one for her team to end the fall season, and highlighted the Card’s excellent offense.

“We scored a ton of fast-break goals, so that was nice to see,” Bokker said. “We felt like we struggled with our draw controls in Pennsylvania, so that was something we really focused on this weekend, and our transition game was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.”

The playday at UC-Davis on Saturday was the last time the Card would take to the field before the spring championship season begins in February, so the team will have plenty of time to prepare for its home opener against Notre Dame on Feb. 13. Bokker says that the team is going to continue to work hard to improve on last year’s 15-5 season during the winter break.

During the offseason, NCAA rules stipulate that a team can have organized activities for eight hours per week—and only two of those hours can be spent actually playing lacrosse.

Bokker sees the break as an opportunity to prepare physically and mentally in ways other than just practice.

“We’ll continue with small group work until Thanksgiving,” Bokker said. “Sometimes we’ll do film study, but we’ll work on some of the individual skills like eight-meter shooting, draw controls, some of that stuff.”

The fall season is the equivalent of Major League Baseball’s spring training or the NFL preseason—the games don’t count, but they do matter. Bokker simultaneously praised her team for its excellent play and made sure to emphasize that the team will not rest on its laurels.

“We want to put our best product out on the field, so I think it’s nice to say that we went undefeated,” Bokker said, “But we’re not results-driven during the fall; we’re about accomplishing our small goals.

“The only time that scores were kept was Saturday at Penn, which was the three best opponents that we played,” she continued. “That weekend showed we have the team speed to play an up-tempo game and dictate the pace. That puts us in a good place heading into the spring.”

The spring will bring a schedule that features games against five opponents that finished in the top 20 last season, including a road trip to Evanston, Ill., to end the regular season against Northwestern, last year’s NCAA runner-up.

Bokker said that the team’s travel schedule this fall put it in good condition to compete for an NCAA title.

For more:   http://www.stanforddaily.com/2010/11/02/w-lacrosse-an-undefeated-fall-season/

Lacrosse-Radio.com Interview: ESPN Radio 1420 In Honolulu Interviewed Major League Lacrosse All-Star Defenseman Michael Evans About The 20th Annual Hawaii Lacrosse Invitational, Easton Lacrosse And The Growth Of Lacrosse In The U.S. (Audio)

ESPN 1420 in Honolulu interviewed All-Star Defenseman Michael Evans of the Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse (MLL). Michael talked about the 20th Annual Hawaii Lacrosse Invitational, Easton Lacrosse, and the growth of lacrosse in the U.S.

NCAA Women’s Lacrosse: American University Women’s Lacrosse Introduces Laura Campbell As It’s New Head Coach (Video)

Introductory video of Laura Campbell ’03, head women’s lacrosse coach at American University.