The final day at the Langkammerer saw three teams trying to protect their undefeated records at the tournament. Brophy Prep, Corona Del Mar, and St. Ignatius entered the third day with 2-0 records. The #1 team in the Southern Section of California, Corona Del Mar, faced a rapidly improving Bellarmine team - perennial power of the Central Coast Section of CA - and St. Ignatius faced the #1 team in Arizona - Brophy Prep in what everyone knew would be quite the battle. The SI vs BP battle was particularly heady, since both teams entered this game undefeated.
Let's get the scores behind us. Corona Del Mar (CDM) defeated Bellarmine 7-4, while St. Ignatius (SI) defeated Brophy Prep, 8-6. Both were sensational games to watch, with speed, skill, and will to win evident on both sides of the field! Bellarmine held the lead 1-0 and 2-1 before CDM went on a big run led by Michael Keasey, but Bellarmine fought every minute of the game and CDM knew they'd been in a big-time battle. SI smoothly pulled out to a 4-1 halftime lead, only to see Brophy close the gap to end the game at 8-6. Brock Ghelfi was one of two "Players of the Game," in my opinion, with 4 goals and an assist in the game with SI. Will McKee, SI's exceptional Face-off guys was the other. Will has been dominant in every game but one this season and yesterday was no exception. All those extra possessions made a big difference in this game.
Two teams ended up undefeated – Corona Del Mar and St. Ignatius – with Brophy Prep hard on the heels of CDM and SI.
In a non-scientific – and alphabetic – way, the teams I most enjoyed watching were:
Bellarmine – most improved team over early season form
Brophy Prep – willful, never-say-die team with a stud carrying them. Very impressive group of young men.
Corona Del Mar – in my opinion the most athletic team at the Langkammerer
Marin Catholic – not the best record in the tourney, but one of two teams with great grit and tenacity. One of two teams I found myself unexpectedly rooting for!
San Clemente – the other team with amazing grit and tenacity that I rooted for through most of the tournament!
St. Ignatius - I liked the Wildcats because their combination of skill, speed, and balance allowed them to make it look easy on numerous occasions. Making it look easy, I've found, is almost always because of near-infinite practice. They were the smoothest team at the Langkammerer.
Showing posts with label San Clemente. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Clemente. Show all posts
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Day 2 of the Langkammerer
I have only two of the 4 games results and will fill in the others as I get them. First, Corona Del Mar prevailed in a nice match with Marin Catholic, 10-4. The Sea Kings are a strong team, with strength where you like it. That is, strength along the imaginary line drawn between the two cages. That includes: Goalie, Crease sliding Pole, LSM, FO guy, dodging middie up top and an X Attackman. If you have strength along this axis, you'll be tough to beat. The Sea Kings have it! In addition, their skilled O passes as well and as fast as any team I've seen this year. Well, any High School team I've seen this year! For its part, Marin Catholic gave them a heckuva game. I love Marin Catholic! They're gritty, they're well coached and they get the principles of the game. They clear out the crease, they cut to the crease, they feed the crease. As a result, they get open shots on the doorstep. They just didn't get enough of them against Corona Del Mar. My congratulations to Coach McGettigan for getting his boys to this skill level so quickly. Hope he stays at MC for many years!
The second game I watched was a conundrum to me. This game was SI 9 San Clemente 6. SI is a better team than San Clemente – a substantially better team. Yet, San Clemente had a plan and the will to execute it. They would zone SI to death. Well, NEARLY to death. SI's vaunted Attack line was next to impotent against the zone. That impotence was contagious and spread to the defense, which allowed a couple of open shots (and goals) from within INCHES of the crease. Very unlike the parsimonious SI D! This year, SI has been an Attack-led team. The Attack line was mostly fallow today. Middie Spencer Evans had the hat trick, Middie Matt Emery had at least one, Middie Phil Alimam ripped one, Middie David Fleming had another... followers of SI will know that these fine fellows roam the middle of the field! You know, regular guys – salt of the Earth. Unlike those Flo Bros on the Attack line who dazzle with their BTBs and between the legs goals.
Hey! A victory is a victory. One should be happy with victories over good teams – and that's just what San Clemente is, a very good team! Glad to have them at the Langkammerer! They represent the Southern Section well and they have a gritty, blue-collar mentality that always gets me rooting for teams! Way to represent, San Clemente!
Brophy Prep defeated Monte Vista 6-5 in a BIG win for the Arizonans. I don't have details. but I'll try and get them.
As I get more info, I'll report on the remaining game, which was:
Menlo School v Bellarmine
The second game I watched was a conundrum to me. This game was SI 9 San Clemente 6. SI is a better team than San Clemente – a substantially better team. Yet, San Clemente had a plan and the will to execute it. They would zone SI to death. Well, NEARLY to death. SI's vaunted Attack line was next to impotent against the zone. That impotence was contagious and spread to the defense, which allowed a couple of open shots (and goals) from within INCHES of the crease. Very unlike the parsimonious SI D! This year, SI has been an Attack-led team. The Attack line was mostly fallow today. Middie Spencer Evans had the hat trick, Middie Matt Emery had at least one, Middie Phil Alimam ripped one, Middie David Fleming had another... followers of SI will know that these fine fellows roam the middle of the field! You know, regular guys – salt of the Earth. Unlike those Flo Bros on the Attack line who dazzle with their BTBs and between the legs goals.
Hey! A victory is a victory. One should be happy with victories over good teams – and that's just what San Clemente is, a very good team! Glad to have them at the Langkammerer! They represent the Southern Section well and they have a gritty, blue-collar mentality that always gets me rooting for teams! Way to represent, San Clemente!
Brophy Prep defeated Monte Vista 6-5 in a BIG win for the Arizonans. I don't have details. but I'll try and get them.
As I get more info, I'll report on the remaining game, which was:
Menlo School v Bellarmine
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Top flight teams at Langkammerer
The Jerry Langkammerer Invitational has always been a fine tournament, but this year Coach Packard has outdone himself in putting together an exceptional group of teams. In fact, 8 of the 9 teams participating have Power ratings of 90 or above, and 6 of the nine teams competing in the Langkammerer are in the top 100 teams in the country, according to LaxPower's computer ranking system.
Yes, I know that the season is young and that more East Coast schools will creep into the top 100 and that may come at the expense of some attendees at the Langkammerer, but this is today and here are LaxPower National Rankings for the top 6 teams attending the big NorCal tournament:
• #6 St. Ignatius
• #19 Monte Vista
• #24 Corona Del Mar
• #32 Brophy Prep
• #62 Marin Catholic
•#76 San Clemente
and the 3 other attending teams – Bellarmine, Menlo, and Serra aren't chopped liver. On any given day, they could give any of the top six a run for their money. This is a fabulous field of teams!
Lacrosse fans with a little flexibility in their work schedules would be well advised to head over to J.B. Murphy and Jim Lucey fields on Thursday 4/12 or Friday 4/13, and J.B. Murphy and Boxer Stadium on Saturday 4/15 to see the best aggregation of High School teams ever to play at one venue in NorCal Lacrosse history!
Yes, I know that the season is young and that more East Coast schools will creep into the top 100 and that may come at the expense of some attendees at the Langkammerer, but this is today and here are LaxPower National Rankings for the top 6 teams attending the big NorCal tournament:
• #6 St. Ignatius
• #19 Monte Vista
• #24 Corona Del Mar
• #32 Brophy Prep
• #62 Marin Catholic
•#76 San Clemente
and the 3 other attending teams – Bellarmine, Menlo, and Serra aren't chopped liver. On any given day, they could give any of the top six a run for their money. This is a fabulous field of teams!
Lacrosse fans with a little flexibility in their work schedules would be well advised to head over to J.B. Murphy and Jim Lucey fields on Thursday 4/12 or Friday 4/13, and J.B. Murphy and Boxer Stadium on Saturday 4/15 to see the best aggregation of High School teams ever to play at one venue in NorCal Lacrosse history!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Langkammerer Schedule released
Pairings for the Langkammerer have been released. They are:
April 12th
10:30 Corona Del Mar v Menlo School
11:00 Monte Vista v Serra
12:30 Brophy v Bellarmine
1:00 Marin Catholic v Saint Ignatius
Tournament Dinner at 3:30PM for all teams and coaches
April 13th
10:00 Menlo v Bellarmine
10:30 Marin Catholic v Corona Del Mar
12:00 Monte Vista v Brophy
12:30 St. Ignatius v San Clemente
April 14th
9:30 Marin Catholic v San Clemente
9:30 Bellarmine v Corona Del Mar
11:30 Brophy v St. Ignatius
Monte Vista v Menlo School
Here are today's LaxPower's power ratings for participating teams - high to low:
St. Ignatius 98.88
Corona Del Mar 97.36
Brophy Prep 97.32
Marin Catholic 96.31
Monte Vista 95.10
San Clemente 94.75
Bellarmine 91.17
Menlo School 88.70
Serra 84.16
When the sixth highest rated team in a tournament has a 94.75 power rating, you've got one heck of a tournament! Can't wait to see this event.
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