Trip Story, Denver v. Fairfield, CSU v. BYU, High School Ball, Denver Youth, Denver v. Notre Dame April 20, 2004  |
Trip Story, Denver v. Fairfield, CSU v. BYU, High School Ball, Denver Youth, Denver v. Notre Dame April 20, 2004 |
GREAT LACROSSE AND GREAT TIMES IN
DENVER
E-Lacrosse planned the trip to Denver before the season even started. There were some great games in the GWLL as well as some blockbuster high school contests planned and we knew Denver was going to be a hot spot this year, for some reason. THEN, Virginia fails to mitigate the slopes of the Rockies and falls to both Air Force and Denver in one weekend. And we're already going to Denver! We're good. We're lucky as hell. So Denver is THE hot spot and we saw why while we were there. Lets start with the professional efforts being put forth there. First the Mammoth will likely win the NLL title for Denver and has rocked the Pepsi Arena every game since they've been there. Shame on you, Washington, D.C. fans. Your D.C. Power had no problem. It WAS you.
The second pro outfit changing the Denver lax scene quickly is Harrow, one of our sponsors and a new impact company on the game. The company is owned by Mark Hayden, who has a golden touch, with his hands in the creation of Blockbuster Video, Boston Market, Caleel & Hayden, a cosmetics company that produces the popular and patented Cellex-C and Glo Minerals and Glow Spa, of course, Harrow, which produces equipment for Hockey, Lacrosse, Squash and Tennis. Hayden recently purchased Bancroft, the racquet manufacturer and Christian Brothers' hockey.
U of D v. Fairfield
The weather was wild in Denver. The Denver - Fairfield contest transitioned from rain game into snow game as the storm rolled in. On Friday night the Poudre District v. Columbine game was played in the snow followed by the Colorado State v. BYU game, which is always great. The Poudre District team is a group from three high schools that compete in the state HS league officially. They are really good and YES, that John Zilberti from Syracuse fame on the sideline. That alone, was worth the trip. It's like sighting bigfoot or something and I have pictures!
Chad Whittman runs the show at Harrow Lacrosse
Columbine, though outmatched in that game were a tight team that played smart and knew the game. The school remembers the 5th anniversary of the tragic shootings on campus this week. Imagine if those two idiots had gotten into and loved lacrosse when they were little. We'd be watching them graduate from Denver or CSU this year instead of remembering their victims. In honor of the 5 year anniversary of this terrible happening, E-Lax makes the same request to its readers that we made 5 years ago. Don't be a bully and don't tolerate bullies. No one around you should be a victim if you can help it. We get our respect and pride in lacrosse from hard work and true achievement, never at another's expense in a cheap way. And always report manic and destructive behavior or threats of violent. A troubled classmate or friend may need help and you may be the only one who knows that.
University of Denver's Athletic Center is Amazing
Back to Lax! CSU beat BYU pretty bad in the driving snow. I got to see my old friends Jason Lamb and Flip Naumberg do what they love and they are both among the most fun to watch. Flip's got a stick with gloves hanging over his shoulder most of the game, like at any moment he could be called in, but alas, he's the coach and WAY to old to run with those kids. He's the founder of Rock-it Pocket and the Vail Tournament and played plenty in his day in California and Colorado. Lamb is the consummate Mormon university coach - spiritual but as competitive as they come, a family guy and that includes the team. He is field general like come game-time with a good staff on hand each year. I did note that regardless of the increasingly heavy snow his cap came off for good when he realized his team was in trouble in that game. He was very wet at the end, like he was sharing the pain his players felt. The thing both these guys, who are BIG rivals, have most in common is the humility that demands respect when a National Championship trophy also sits on one's mantle. They will likely meet again in St. Louis later this spring!
Colorado Academy
The snow continued and was kinda blizzard-like actually. We drove to Colorado Academy which was beautiful in the snow but the game was not to be played. The storm cancelled a few great high school games we planned to see including one of the biggest match-ups in the area, Cherry Creek and Kent Denver boys. We met up with Harrow's Chad Whittman and he saved the day. He had the "only game in town" and it was close by and not cancelled! It was a regularly scheduled youth contest on the U of D turf. The Denver Lacrosse Club was hosting Highlands Ranch Youth Lacrosse. We filmed the end of that game and I met some Denver folks including the whole Hayden family (on and off the field) before heading off for the evening's alternative entertainment.
As luck would have it, the University of Denver played in the NCAA Frozen Four Championship at 5 and the cancelled games allowed us to watch the game at a local tavern with many Denverites. I bought a Denver Hockey hat (before the game!) and jumped right in like a local. It was awesome! What a game and what a party! They Pioneers beat Maine, 1-0 with two men down at the end and the Denver alums went crazy. There were no cars burned, lampposts bent or riots in the streets. When we observed the civilized celebration, Chad says, "Hey, This is Denver". That same night the Nuggets and Carmello Anthony made it into the NBA playoffs on a last second shot by the exciting 19 year-old phenom. The party just escalated. We met up with a bunch of Mammoth players including my old friend Eric Miller and Anaheim players that live in Denver like Chad. Tom Ethington, Mike Law, Nick Carlson and Trevor Tierney were there as well as Denver Women's assistant and George Mason star alum Kinsley O'Garrow. At midnight, it was Trevor's birthday - just another reason to celebrate.
Harrow and Christian Brothers Hockey Sticks
The game of the weekend, although a huge disappointment to Chad and the other Denver alums that had been rolling all weekend on the wave of local sports victories, featured Notre Dame at Denver. Coach Corrigan sat in the rain earlier in the week scouting Jamie Munro's Pioneers against Fairfield and his team was ready. It was a fast paced game with fantastic teamwork and spectacular scoring. Canadian styles pervaded the game and made it very exciting. Denver lost a two goal game but both teams looked great. The sun was bright and the snow was mysteriously gone. Good thing I took those pictures, as no one would believe my April blizzard story back home otherwise. We saw Notre Dame's Kevin Corrigan again at the airport and in a short exchange in the TSA security line he agreed that the game was exciting and well played all around, although he was obviously glad to be on the winning side. We had a great time in Denver and will most likely be back next weekend for the NLL Championship!
Denver's Coors' Field
Harrow's Mark Hayden
Pioneers Dominate Fairfield in First Conference Game
DENVER - Sophomore Greg Weigel (Port Republic, Md.) scored a career-high six goals to lead the University of Denver men's lacrosse team to a 16-9 win in its conference-opener against Fairfield on Thursday night, April 8, at Pioneer Field. In cold and rainy conditions, Denver extended its winning streak to three games and the victory boosts its record to 6-2 (1-0) on the season, while the Stags fall to 5-5 (1-1).
The weather conditions forced both teams to commit 10 turnovers apiece in the first quarter. The Pioneers were the first to score as sophomore Adam Miller (Columbus, Ohio) fed a pass to senior Andrew Huelskoetter (St. Louis, Mo.), who gave Denver its first tally of the evening with 3:31 remaining in the quarter. Junior Erik Swanson (Glenview, Ill.) scored his eighth goal of the season with 1:36 remaining to give the Pioneers a 2-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The Pioneers opened up the second quarter with two quick goals. Junior Matt Brown (Burnaby, B.C.) added an unassisted goal a little over three minutes into the quarter to extend Denver's lead to three. Just 13 seconds later, Miller recorded his second assist of the game off a feed to sophomore Adam Goodwin (Columbus, Ohio) who slipped it past Fairfield's Corey Gibbons to give the Pioneers a 4-0 lead. Senior Jeff Biggs (St. Louis, Mo.) and Weigel combined to score Denver's fifth goal of the game with 6:58 remaining. Fairfield's Troy Bamann put the Stags on the board with 2:40 left and Mike Bocklet added a tally of his own to cut Denver's lead to three just a minute later. Weigel responded for the Pioneers and scored his second goal of the game to give Denver a 6-2 lead at the end of the half.
Denver's leading scorer Scott Davidson (Guilford, Conn.) scored his 13th goal of the season to open the third quarter. Fairfield's Bamann responded with his second goal of the game just 25 seconds later to put the score at 7-3. Davidson took it upon himself to score his second goal of the game and extend the Pioneers lead to five with 12:47 remaining. The Stags' Tom Werney added a goal off a feed from Bocklet to put the score at 8-4. Weigel scored the next two goals for the Pioneers, giving Denver its biggest lead of the game, six goals. Fairfield's Rory McCarthy recorded his 16th goal of the season with 4:41 remaining, but Weigel struck again to leave the score at 11-5. Sophomore Geoff Snider (Calgary, Alberta) answered Bocklet's second goal of the game to keep Denver's lead at six and put the score at 12-6 to end the third quarter.
Just six seconds into the fourth quarter, Davidson won the first faceoff and scored his third goal of the game. In under a minute Weigel and Snider combined for two more goals to put the score at 15-6 with 14:02 remaining in the game. Goodwin tallied his second goal of the game to give Denver its biggest lead of the game, 10 points. Josh Thorton added a goal and Greg Downing added two in the last nine minutes, but it was not enough as Denver held on to clinch the 16-9 win.
Weigel led all scorers with six goals. Davidson added three and Brown tallied two for the Pioneers. Junior goalie Brian Sanders (Columbus, Ohio) was spectacular in goal, tallying 13 saves and facing 37 shots.
From Denver Press Release
Fairfield's Corey Gibbons High Bandwidth Only
ACTION VIDEOS
Denver's Ben Dougherty High Bandwidth
Fairfield's Corey Gibbons again! High Bandwidth Only
Fairfield's Rory McCarthy to Troy Bamann High Bandwidth
Fairfield's Matt Baglio to Michael Bocklet High Bandwidth
Denver Face-off! High Bandwidth Only
Denver's Brandon Barcus to Greg Weigel High Bandwidth
Denver Youth Game
Video 1 High Bandwidth
Video 2 High Bandwidth Only
Video 3 High Bandwidth Only
Video 4 High Bandwidth
Video 5 High Bandwidth Only
Video 6 High Bandwidth
PHOTOGRAPHS
