The End of Lacrosse

The second-to-last raising-of-the-sticks before the game

 

So that’s it, another lacrosse season in the books.  Both boys seem like they are in for next year without needing much encouragement.  I found some pictures of the boys from another source from last weekend so will throw them in here as I talk about the season.

 

 

There are never enough pictures of Cpher from other sources; especially compared to Matthew….he just doesn’t handle the ball as much even though he is way more important to the team’s success in general.

 

And there aren’t many at all with both boys in the same picture!

 

Cpher had a good year; definitely the rock back on defense (one of our goalie’s Dad’s said “he really likes when Cpher is out in front of him!”.  I think he could stand to use more of his body instead of relying on his stick at times, but, the way the season went, I also realize he didn’t get a lot of practice time this year….

 

 

There is a summer lax program; it is, reportedly, very good, and incredibly, very cheap.  $35 for two practices a week for two hours each.  Almost a no-brainer to sign the boys up for it.  It costs extra to participate in tournaments with that group but I don’t think we have the time or inclination to do that. I wonder if they have enough d-men and if they will ask Cpher to go….

 

       

Next year will be different, he’s again the younger grade on a combined team.  Still think he will be ok size-wise, especially against the smaller attackers but kids will be bigger and faster. 

 

       

I could have predicted how much this kid was going to like lacrosse; combine the hitting of football with the ball movement and passing of soccer?!?  And he did much better as the season went on and his skills improved….

 

 

I think the lack of practice (missed for soccer) also didn’t do this guy any favors.  But, he is always someone who will go out and practice on his own (our garage door has the dents from the tennis ball he has whipped into it while practicing his shots).  Also signed him up for the summer training; it’s good for Cpher for Matthew to be there and it’s good for Matthew.

 

 

But next year; the sixth grader on a 5/6 team?  Look out…..can not wait to see that!

 

      

 

Really like that picture on the right; the kid is not afraid to drive into a group of opponents and take some hits to get a shot away.

 

       

Going to have to figure out a good way to generate more video of lacrosse next year.  I didn’t try very hard this year and well, there is no video because of that.

Wildlife

 

My home office view is pretty awesome, I look out at the two backyards to the immediate north of the house and get some trains rolling by off in the distance very now and again (the trains are bad for phone calls though).

It has been a busy week or two on the wildlife front so I grabbed the camera and took a few shots as things wandered by….

I have, only once, seen a buck tromp through the back yard.  Not sure if this young one is male or female, but, it has been a frequent visitor the last few mornings….

Mamma Groundhog, I think, has had at least one pup this spring.  I think this one is of a size that the cats have no chance now.

Although this dog ran into one of them in the backyard and went absolutely crazy today!  Never heard her bark like that!

This bad-ass owns the terrain in easily a 3 yard radius from our house.  Can’t really count all the victims since I think the dogs help with clean-up duty. 

This is not the back-yard; this is the picture Suzanne posted on facebook last night.  We have hanging baskets out front; when I water them I usually put the hose on ‘soak’ and leave the nozzle up there for 25 seconds.  I haven’t watered recently.  Cpher takes the hanging baskets down, waters them with his watering can, and puts the basket back up.  And saw this nest and eggs!

I hope the bird comes back and finishes her job, but, I have some serious reservations about how things are going to go with that orange predator lurking above…

From The Sports Desk – Lax Bash Day Two Edition

 

Soccer:  Lost 6-1.  The ending to a miserable spring of soccer continues.  Three games next weekend.

Lax Game 3 and 4:  Wasn’t there, camera was with me, so, can only report the scores.  We won 2-1 in the first game against Grand Blanc and 5-1 in the second.  Seems very obvious to Suzanne that our team is missing a lot of our best players today; we are down 5 midfielders in the morning and I’m only bringing Matthew and one other kid (an attack) with me for the semi-finals and finals.  Could be ugly.

Lax Game 5 (Semi-finals):  We are the #1 seed, 4-0 and best goal differential (that’s what happens when you give up 5 goals in 3 games).  So we play Canton in the semi-finals.  Another Mom took a bunch of pictures, I’ll use hers for this post and use mine (I don’t have nearly as many) for a later wrap-up post…

You might notice that the field here is not as clean and immaculate as the field on Saturday….they really could have taken a lawnmower to these fields before the tournament!

And I will be honest; Canton was a better team.  They passed the ball better, they played the game well.  But, I’d say #16 there represents the tallest kid they have, and the kid in the distance there is a fair representation of the average team size…they were small.

and in a game where the refs were reluctant to call many penalties that favored us.  Missing 4 midfielders (and I would guess our 3 top scorers) came back to haunt us this game; had a hard time generating any offense.

We don’t keep track of penalties like we do goals (and the goal number will drift into the past as the boys score more).  But Cpher had his share of penalties last year and has done a good job, for the most part, of staying out of the box this year.  That #30 above is doing a good job of trying to catch his brother.  I don’t think he was sent off in this game, but, had a few calls against him, including one for the dreaded ‘warding’…

But, as always, I’ll say he played well.  Definitely stepped up when he was on the field and we had more offensive pressure when his line was out there than at other times. 

Defense played solid; only gave up a goal when we were a man down early…used their size and physicality to keep the other team at bay. 

It’s tied 1-1, we head to sudden death overtime.  And we have one rush upfield and score, and that’s that.  Boys rush onto the field!

Game 6 (final):  Lost, 7-1, to St. Hugo in the final.

Again, they were much better than us.  And the refs called a much tighter game; seemed like an endless procession of players off the field.  Matthew goes twice(!), once for slashing (deserved), once for tripping (not deserved…a very strange call).  And our defense and goalie held the fort for the first half (think we were down 2-1) but the roof caved in early in the second.

End o’ tournament photo…..

From The Sports Desk – Lax Bash Day One Edition

 

The end of the season is here; a two-day tournament to close things out.  Two games on Saturday, two on Sunday, and if we do well enough semi-finals and finals Sunday afternoon.

Game 1:  A 11-0 blasting of Walled Lake. 

Picture 1 of 8:  This starts how many of Cpher’s plays do….he is in there, digging for the ball.  I talked about how Matthew’s play has improved; this guy is so much more confident with the ball when he has the ball now and does such a good job of fending off balls that are coming in (he kicked one today out of the way; it went about 30 feet!)

Picture 2 of 8:  And after achieving his goal of grabbing the ball and heading over midfield early this year, Cpher is more than willing to grab the ball and head upfield….

Picture 3 of 8:  And he is a load to stop; he has that big stick, and that helps, but, he does a great job of cradling the ball like you should.

Picture 4 of 8:  Against a weak team like this, the big chance is here, let’s get our first shot on goal!

Pictures 5 and 6 of 8: It takes some serious effort to get him from behind….these guys aren’t going to get it done….

Picture 7 of 8:  Might be the first picture that I’ve ever taken of Cpher where you can see the goal in front of him.  This defender is coming out to challenge him, but, he is too late.  Cpher takes the shot!

Picture 8 of 8:  And scores!  First shot, first goal! (you can see the goalie turning around to retrieve the ball).  The boy is incredibly happy about all of this.  Suzanne and I really enjoyed watching Matthew congratulate him when he finally came off the field

As you might guess, in an 11-0 slaughter, this kid had his chances too…..

but needs to remember a very important lax lesson.  SHOOT LOW!!!!

Like when I see him taking faceoffs….am sure the results here will be better next year…

It goes well enough though…most kids don’t get clean wins against Matthew and this one ended with us in possession after all the other kids rushed in.

…another rush upfield….

…and another shot.  High!  Shoot Low!!!!

…another rush upfield!…..

…..getting ready to shoot….

and another shot high!…..SHOOT LOW!

Game 2:  Beat Caledonia 5-3.  Raced out to a 5-1 lead and hold on for the 5-3 win.  Not many pictures here, it started to rain, but, these four of Matthew show something I haven’t talked about before

The kids is good on defense.  Because this kid has the ball….

and now he doesn’t.  Both stick and body….good things happen when you use both.

This same kid has the ball again…..

and now he doesn’t (you can see it coming out).  Matthew spent some time in the penalty box for a cross-check (he swears he didn’t do anything!) and another kid spent a minute in the box for what was most likely Matthew’s 2nd cross-check of the game (the other Dad swears he saw Matthew even jump into it).  But I will maintain if you’re going to go to the penalty box, at least put enough of a hit on the kid so that he remembers you….and you get your money’s worth from the penalty!

Probably only one win (out of two games tomorrow) will move us into the playoffs.  Matthew and I will miss the two morning games for soccer but hope to drive back out for the semi-finals and finals in the afternoon.

Cpher and Mom stayed down there (Oxford, 90 minutes away) since the first game is at 8 am.  Cpher is always a sucker for a dinner at Rainforest Café!

From The Sports Desk – Lethargic Edition

 

The end of the regular season brings the team to Waverly…we beat them when they came to our place so we figure this will probably be a good result. 

Not so much.  Lose 6-1; the team sleepwalks through the game and gets what they deserve.

The improvement in Matthew’s game from the start of the year to the end is pretty awesome to behold.  No more problems running with the ball and keeping it in the head of the stick.  Does a good job passing; but, looking at these photos, think that might have been the better option here.  There is a lot of yellow in these pictures.

He does take the shot though.

This game also brought the scariest injury I’ve seen Matthew take in a long long time.  He was at midfield and their goalie threw it; Matthew jumped up to try and get it and was absolutely walloped by two kids, one high, one low….Matthew’s body contorted into a position it is not supposed to be in.

I didn’t hesitate and ran onto the field (I never do that)…..he was crying as hard as I’ve ever seen him cry when I got there but rolled over, took a few deep breaths, and was able to walk off the field.  He did come back out later on, but, man, that was uly

Did not look good in a 6-1 loss….too much defense with his stick trying to hold guys back instead of getting his body up into them as well.  Oh well, it can’t all be good…..