Angels display little mercy
Denver East keeps Ft Collins attack in check for victory

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<>David M. Barreda © News
Denver East's Josh Russell, left, encounters resistance from Fort Collins' Alex Kaufman (33) and Chris Meda during their lacrosse match Friday at All-City Stadium. With their victory, the Angels, ranked No. 3 in Class 5A, improved to 3-0, and did so with strong defense. 

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By Adam Dunivan, Special to the News
March 25, 2006

The Denver East boys lacrosse team has had a history rich with talented individuals on championship-caliber teams.

But perhaps the Angels never have had a defense quite like this one. Friday, against fourth- ranked Fort Collins, one of the state's toughest midfield teams, the No. 3 Angels proved once again that if the state title this year comes down to defense, they will be tough to bring down.

While the Angels dusted the Vipers 11-6 at All-City Stadium to improve to 3-0, Fort Collins managed only two goals against Denver East's starting corps in the loss.  The Vipers (3-1) were added to the list of playoff-type teams - which, so far, also includes Columbine and Arapahoe - that the Angels simply have halted in the offensive zone.

"They have some good middies, and we did a good job shutting them down," University of Denver-bound senior Dillon Roy said. "We're stingy about our goals, but we've pulled together and shaken off the rust so far."

The Vipers, fresh off a trip from Florida, where they won two games against out-of-state competition, had trouble throughout with finishing passes in the offensive zone. Their failure to set up good plays kept them from coming back from a 6-0 deficit in the second quarter.

"We didn't value the ball (Friday)," Fort Collins coach Carey Smith said. "The turnovers and unforced errors never allowed us to get into an offense. The defense played hard, but we spent too much time on defense for anything good to happen."

Those turnovers also kept the senior scoring trio of Nate Jestes and twins Jared and Jacob Houghton relatively silent. Jestes scored one of four goals late, and Jared Houghton got the Vipers on the board with 1 minute, 39 seconds left in the second quarter.

The three had combined for 18 goals in the Vipers' previous three contests.

"I'm a little disappointed," Smith said. "I think we are still on a Florida hangover, and we had some young guys who struggled in the attack. We're a better team than that, and we'll be different by the end of the year."

The Angels were not just supreme on the defensive side of the ball. Seven players scored goals for Denver East in a balanced attack.  Zach Tedeschi, who scored the team's first goal, at the 6:30 mark of the first, tallied three scores, and teammates Alex Vinton and Kjael Skaalerud each scored twice.  The streaky Angels did not let down after gaining the six-goal lead, even when the Vipers cut it to 6-2 with Henry Miketa's quick goal at the 9:11 mark of the third quarter.

Vinton's second goal, a one-time shot assisted by Josh Russell in front of the goal, got the Angels up by five goals and started a string of five more scores to put the game away.

"We were moving it well, but we want to be faster," Roy said. "If we tighten up a little bit, we should be set."

Fort Collins......0	1	1	4	-	6
Denver East......3	3	1	4	-	11

Goals-assists - FC, Conner Saller 2-0, Henry Miketa 1-1, Jared Houghton 1-0, Nate Jestes 1-0, Tyler Whitcomb 1-0; DE, Zach Tedeschi 3-1, Kjael Skaalerud 2-1, Alex Vinton 2-0, Josh Russell 1-3, Ben Allison 1-1, Russell Clark 1-0, Bailey Connor 1-0.

Shots on goal - FC 11, DE 20. Goalie saves - FC, Andy Titterington 1-1-4-3 - 11; DE, Piet Dudley 2-1-3-0 - 6, Richie Londer 0-0-0-0 - 0.

March 18, 2006
Allison sets up Angels' win
By Brady Delander
Special to
The Denver Post

Ben Allison is a giving guy. His teammates on the defensive side of East's boys lacrosse team are not.

Allison assisted on five goals - three to Zach Tedeschi and two to Kjael Skaalerud - and the Angels defense set up a stick-wielding wall in front of the net against Columbine on Saturday at All-City Stadium.

That, along with a new-look offense, gave East an 11-2 victory in its season opener.

Tedeschi, who will play for powerhouse Johns Hopkins University, and Skaalerud scored three goals apiece, John Russell had two goals and two assists, and goalkeeper Piet Dudley stopped 4-of-5 Columbine shots before being replaced in the second half.

But it was Allison who got things started.

Three minutes into the game, Allison rifled a pass inside to Skaalerud, who faked high and shot right for the opening score. Allison then set up behind the net before finding Tedeschi, who unleashed an underhanded stroke to open a two-goal lead.

"I was a goal scorer last year on the crease, but I've moved outside with the new offense. I'd rather assist than score anytime," said Allison, who described the offense as a simple rotation.

The Angels, state champions in 2000, took a 6-0 lead with a goal initiated by - who else? - Allison and finished by Skaale- rud.

The Rebels (2-1) got on the scoreboard with 2 minutes left in the first half, when Andy Carstensen found Tyler Konrath alone in front of the net for a 1-on-1 shot.

Carstensen added a goal of his own late in the game on Columbine's only shot of the second half.

The Rebels' best quarter was the second, when they recorded four of their six shots-on-goal. Other than that, it was slim pickings in the face of East's defense.

Columbine 0 1 0 1 - 2

East 4 2 5 0 - 11

Goals - Konrath, Carstensen; Tedeschi 3, Skaalerud 3, Russell 2, Connor, Tallbull, Vinton. Assists - Carstensen, Steinman; Allison 5, Russell 2, Skaalerud 2.

Shots on goal - Columbine 1-4-0-1 - 6; East 6-5-5-4 - 20. Saves - Columbine (Steinman) 2-3-0-4 - 9; East (Dudley and Londer) 1-3-0-0 - 4.