East 12, Ft. Collins 5
East 12, Ft. Collins
5, Ft. Collins, Colorado,
April 21, 2005
<>On a cloudy, somewhat chilly night
in
Ft. Collins, the 2005 East Angels
came into
town with a chip on their shoulders.
Disappointed in their last performance against
Colorado
Academy,
the Angels felt they had something to prove. After all, the season is
in full
swing, teams are jockeying for playoff position and the Friday night
juices are
flowing under the lights.
The “fellas”
don’t have much room left in a tough end of the season schedule.
Ft.
Collins
is the team that
could test the Angels prior to the season ending trifecta against Kent,
Creek
and Regis.
The Vipers also want a
measure of revenge after last year’s bitter playoff defeat at the wings
of the
Angels.
So what is the result?
East emerges with a splendid 12-5 victory and
a very fine overall effort that brings a smile to Angel fans drooling
for a
chance at the “big boys”.
East
wins the opening face-off, as
Cody Tallbull (So. Midfield), who would have a break out night on
offense,
grabs the ground ball. The Angels show a
new look offensive set with Zach Tedeschi (Jr. Midfield) switching to
attack
and Mark Hild (Sr. Attack) falling back to midfield.
As the offense sets for the first probing
attack, Tedeschi fires the first shot at 10:31, but misses the mark. After the in bounds pass, Hild drives the
right corner of the crease, but Ft. Collins
saves and blows
the clear. The Angels hold the
possession in a patient, solid offensive assault. Tallbull
comes in on the fly for Josh Russell
(Fr. Midfield) and immediately creates the
seldom-executed-but-always-sought 2
on 1 with Mr. Sandpaper. The combination
of Hild on the outside and Tallbull’s speed in the middle is too much
for the
Vipers, as Hild feeds Tallbull breaking past his defender in the middle
for a
low shot that finds twine. East 1, Ft. Collins
0 at 7:16 of the first.
The
face-off goes to the Vipers who
generate a shot from a cutter that misses the mark.
East clear precisely with Ben Brown (Sr.
Goalie) finding Ryan Burt (Jr. Defense) who then found Adam Swarsen
(Sr.
Defense). Swarsen dished off to the
short sticks and the Angels set up.
Bailey Connor (Jr. Midfield) let loose with a
shot saved by the Vipers,
who cleared immediately and generated a fast break trapping the Angel
middies
back. Most observers of Colorado high
school
lacrosse know that the Vipers have lived and died on transition play. The same is true of the 2005 version. Four clean passes later, the Vipers score in
an open net leaving the Angels and Brown in the dust.
East 1, Ft. Collins 1 at 4:54 of the
first.
However,
Tallbull had something to
say about transition play. East wins the
face-off, as the ball goes out of bounds off a Viper.
On the in bounds play, the Vipers press, but
Tallbull breaks away from a trap at the sideline and swiftly moves to
the
middle. Two defenders combine to
knock
him down, but, as Cody is going down to his right, he flashes his stick
underhand in a move unexpected by the Viper goalie.
East 2, Ft. Collins 1 at 4:20 and most of the
spectators there didn’t know it went in.
Ft.
Collins
wins the face-off and sets
up. Burt strips an attackman, but the
Vipers grab the ground ball. As they
re-group, Swarsen steals the Viper pass going up the side of the
formation. Kjael Skaalerud (Jr. Attack)
unloads an
absolute rocket from the left that the Viper goalie takes in the chest,
but
cannot control. Gabe Mann (So. Midfield)
snakes the ground ball, but is about to be planted, as Coach Barocas
calls
time-out at 2:18. East loses the ball on
the in bounds, but gains possession as Swarsen strips his man and
clears to
Russell moving slowly across midfield.
The Vipers close with alarming speed and Josh
is de-twigged at midfield
plus one. Speed is the name of the game,
and the Vipers have the ball at 2:10.
Fortunately, the officials call the Vipers for
interference at 1:44, and
the ball turns over. Hild clears to
Tedeschi who looks to Ben Allison (Sr. Attack), but misses him high
with a
pass. Ft. Collins
is offside on the clear, and the Angels waste no time.
The ball moves to the new attackman Tedeschi
low right. ZT drives hard right, splits
two defenders, drops the ball, regains it and unleashes low right, as
he is
going down. East 3, Ft. Collins 1 at
1:01 of the first. Hild gets the ground
ball on the face-off and quickly passes to Skaalerud on the left on the
break. Kjael misses at 0:45, but East
backs up. At 0:21, the Vipers, moving
quickly, pick off a lazy East pass on the side of the formation and
start the
break. As fans should know by now, if
the Vipers are running, they are scoring.
Two passes later, the score is East 3, Ft.
Collins 2 at the end of the
first.
As
the second period opens, Ft.
Collins
takes the face-off, but, inexplicably, calls time-out on their
possession, as
Burt and Tim Kashiwa (Jr. Defense) close on a stricken Viper at 11:49. On the in bounds, a Viper cutter is trailed
closely by Mann, who gets a piece of the shooter’s stick.
Brown saves, but throws away the clear at
11:20. As the Vipers press their
possession, Kashiwa
strips his offensive mate, but throws away the clear.
Ft.
Collins
comes again and
finds Mr. Big Red. Burt strips cleanly
and clears to Russell on the move. This
time Josh decides he has to run hard (de-twigging is fairly
embarrassing) and
moves the ball swiftly on the break to Allison on the crease. Ben finishes cleanly at 9:56 to once again
prove the adage that SPEED kills, as the Angels run the break to
perfection. East 4, Ft. Collins
2 at 9:56. East wins the face-off, as
Satha
Boyd (So. Midfield) grabs the ground ball.
Allison misses at 9:16. Russell
Clark (Jr. Midfield) misses at 8:58 and misses again at 8:22. East is controlling the offense, as Barocas
has designed it. Alex Vinton (Jr.
Midfield) drives hard left, is shut off and comes back right. A quick pass to Skaalerud top right lets
Kjael drive hard left, but he switches back right and shoots to beat
the goalie
off hip low. East 5, Ft. Collins
2 at 8:02. In the next eight minutes,
Brown makes three saves, East generates five shots, but the net result
is East
leads at half 5-2. The highlight of this
glimpse in time is that Hild breaks his titanium shaft on a stick check
over a
Viper arm pad (hopefully), but is not called for slashing.
Strange how lacrosse players and fans think!
At
half time, Angel fans were
treated to a Ft.
Collins
Friday night. At least ten female Viper
swim team members
climbed into the stands properly clothed.
Seconds later, ten very comely lasses were
cheering wildly for “Kevin”
in Speedos, while holding up signs
reading “We – heart shaped sign – Kevin”!
Presumably Viper Kevin Sutherland has no
problems with female
companionship on Friday or even Saturday night!
East
wins the second half face-off,
as Connor grabs the ground ball and passes to Allison on the break. The Vipers save and attempt to clear. Tallbull nails a ground ball on the blown
clear and changes gears to overdrive.
Absolutely flying down the middle and forcing
the defense, Tallbull
dishes left to Skaalerud for the finish.
Speed kills, Tallbull has it, and East leads
6, Ft. Collins 2 at
11:02. In the next two minutes, Brown
makes two saves and intercepts a Viper pass from behind the net. Then East is called for interference on a Ft. Collins
clear at 8:45. The Vipers make good on
the call with a score from a cutter on a good pass and short shot at
8:39. East 6, Ft. Collins
3. Snakes are not to be taken lightly,
and Angels grab them in their talons! Or
is that eagles? Whatever!
At 5:03, Skaalerud takes a pass on the
offensive
set in his office, low left, and cleanly moves past his defender to the
inside
and takes straight on hit! Kjael refuses
to bend, bounces right and shoots high right.
East 7, Ft. Collins 3 at 5:03 of the third.
Big
Mo, that fickle spirit of athletic
endeavors, undefined, elusive, cerebral and loved by those who possess
her,
shined upon the Angels! East takes the
face-off, as Connor snares the loose ball.
Tedeschi fires hard, but is denied.
The Vipers are called for interference, as the
ball goes to East. Connor misses at 4:36,
but the Angels back
up. Then Bailey pulls that split step
that is not taught, but is a God given talent.
Bailey fakes right and goes left with the
unseen grace of Wayne Gretsky
and the in-your-face speed of Terrell Davis.
A Viper defender is left behind like toilet
paper, as East goes up 8,
Ft. Collins 3 at 4:22. A truly
magnificent move! The gladiators fight
to a stand still for the next four minutes.
East 8, Ft. Collins 3 at the end of the third.
The
Vipers win the face-off to
start the fourth period, but the Angels counter. Play
goes back and forth until 10:40, when
the comic moment of the tilt unfolds.
The Vipers press the attack after a clear and
overload the right side of
the goal. Behind the Angel’s
net, Big
Red (Burt), Swarsen (of the everlasting competitive spirit) and Kashiwa (of the
surprising speed) converge on a Viper attackman who has nowhere to go. I mean this guy is about to be roto-tiled,
planted and fertilized! Instead, the SOB
throws the blind pass behind his back to a teammate.
Brown was so sure this guy was planted and/or
never saw the behind the back pass that he never turned to the attack. Ft.
Collins
scored with the
East goalie looking in the other direction.
East 8, Ft. Collins 4 at 10:40 of the fourth.
Not
to be outdone, the Angels win
the face-off, as Clark grabs the
ground
ball. After the offense sets, Connor
puts one of his gifted moves on a Viper defender who went down to the
ground. As Bailey moved in for the shot,
the defense slid to him. Calmly, Bailey
dished top left to Vinton who had to spin left to avoid a defender. Alex then unloaded a left-hand shot that
found nothing but twine. East 9, Ft. Collins
4 at 9:39. Connor won the face-off, but
the Vipers
picked off another lazy pass on the right side.
Brown makes a save at 8:54, but the clear is
no good. At 8:33 of the period, the Vipers
finish a
nice pass from X over the goal. East 9, Ft. Collins
5.
No
strangers to the vagaries of Big
Mo,
the Angels made sure that the Vipers did not seduce the vaguely,
beguiling
elf. Hild took the face-off, and the
Angels generated a shot from Connor that missed left.
East threw away the in bounds at 8:15. Ft.
Collins
missed from the
top right at 7:59 and Russell cleared.
As the offense set, Clark
drove hard
right and drew the defensive slide.
Russell recognized the double team and passed
high right to Mr.
Sandpaper in the middle. If you ever
need to count upon a friend or a compatriot in battle, you could do no
worse
than to count Mark Hild as a friend.
East 10, Ft. Collins 5 at 7:47 of the fourth.
<>As the Angel defense held tight,
the Vipers took an illegal body check penalty for one minute at 6:40 of
the
fourth.
As the Angel man-up offense
braced, the Vipers felt this may be the back breaker.
Deliver the blow, the Angels did!
As the ball moved around the horn searching
for the slow slide, Vinton took the skip pass top middle.
As he took the two step shot routine, Vinton
instead dished to the middle to Allison who finished cleanly at 6:26.
East 11,
Ft. Collins
5 at 6:26.
The teams probed
and tried to gain
an advantage through the next five minutes.
Brown, gaining stature as the stopper a team
needs, held firm with two
saves.
The Angel defense played well and
shut down the Viper attack, whether on the move or from a set formation.
Then at 2:09, the Vipers took a tripping
penalty for one minute.
The Angels were
in no forgiving mood, as they closed in.
Vinton shot from the top, but missed.
East backed up and moved in for the kill.
At 1:23, Vinton took a skipped pass from
Allison and rifled a two step pass into the net.
East
12,
Ft. Collins
5.
<>
As the rest of the game
expired,
Angel fans marveled at the complete domination of the game displayed by
the
darlings of
Denver
East High School.
Everything a team needs to win was on display;
offense without
reluctance, defense without reticence and goaltending without remorse.
The ghosts of
Colorado Academy
have been banished.
These Angels are a
threat!
Bring on the “big boys”!
We’re ready!!
