The U-19 boy’s Division 1 Championship looked like it was shaping up to be a battle that would go down to the wire as the first quarter ended with the teams deadlocked 3-3. The Crabs then proceeded to rattle off 9 goals in a 4:14 span to begin the second quarter and went into halftime with a 15 – 6 lead. Fellowship of Christian Athletes stabilized their play in the second half and finished the tournament with their heads held high. The game was heated at the two teams combined for 20 penalties.

All-Tournament attackmen Logan Connolly (University of Notre Dame commit), had a tremendous day for the Crabs finishing with 7 points (3g, 4a). Connolly was dynamic throughout the tournament, creating all kinds of problems for each defense that tried to stop him. Joining Connolly on attack, Conor Doyle (University of Notre Dame commit), tournament MVP, was also a force offensively for Baltimore with 6 points today (4g, 2a).  FCA’s Ryan Yunker (Bryant University commit) was a bright spot for the boys in orange scoring 7 goals in the Championship game.

In the Division 2 Championship game HouLa went away with the title, after pulling away from Jr. Buddha’s Ballers in the second half, HouLa won the game 14-6.

Thursday Results:

Division 1 Finals
Baltimore Crabs 20, FCA Lacrosse 12 - scoresheet

Division 1 -- 3rd Place
Lawrenceville Big Red 10, Brady’s Bunch 3 - scoresheet

Division 1 – 5th Place
Team Colorado 12, Minnesota Frost 3 - scoresheet

Division 1 – 7th Place
Team Zona 8, True Lacrosse 7 in OT - scoresheet

Division 2 Finals
HuoLa Guns 14, Jr. Buddha’s Ballers 6 – scoresheet

Division 2 – Consolation
Winnipeg Wolverines 11, Western Colorado Mavericks 5 – scoresheet
Blue Lion Elite 7, Sacramento Heat 5 – scoresheet

The overwhelming theme in this year’s Shootout has been revisited rivalries, and the Dr. Tom Watts Memorial Boys U-19 Tournament has followed suit. This year’s finals will be a rematch of the 2010 tournament, with defending champions Baltimore Crabs taking on the last year’s runners-up FCA. FCA advanced with a 13-9 win over Lawrenceville Big Red and the Crabs put down Brady’s Bunch. In the other boys bracket HuoLA faces off against Jr. Buddha’s Ballers.

In the day’s first semi-final, FCA jumped out to an early lead and kept the pedal to the metal going into halftime with 7-1 lead. The Big Red were able to close the gap in the third quarter pulling to within 3 goals, then FCA turned the jets back on, scoring 3 more goals in less than two minutes to take a 11-5 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Big Red got 4 more goals in the fourth quarter but FCA was too far ahead for the Big Red to catch them. For FCA Derek DeJoe led the offense with 3 goals & 1 assist, and for the Big Red Adam Fishman added to his impressive tournament with 4 goals & 1 assist. So far the FCA offense has been even more impressive than last year’s 2nd place team, as they have amassed 60 goals in the first three days of the 39th Shootout.

Thursday Matchups:

Division 1 Finals
Baltimore Crabs vs. FCA Lacrosse – 10:30am – Ford Field

Division 1 -- 3rd Place
Brady’s Bunch vs. Lawrenceville Big Red – 9:00am – Avon 1

Division 1 – 5th Place
Team Colorado vs. Minnesota Frost – 7:30am – Avon 1

Division 1 – 7th Place
True Lacrosse vs. Team Zona – 9:00pm – Donovan

Division 2 Finals
HuoLa Guns vs. Jr. Buddha’s Ballers – 9:00am – Ford Field

Division 2 – Consolation
Winnipeg Wolverines vs. Western Colorado Mavericks  – 9:00am – Avon 2
Blue Lion Elite vs. Sacramento Heat – 7:30am – Avon 2

In the first game of the second day for the U-19, Team Colorado was surprised by a team called Brady’s Bunch 9-7.  Brady’s Bunch came in as an eager bunch of Beavers.  Colorado was hurt by committing 9 fouls during the game, and even though the Bunch only scored on one of the extra man situations, they raced out to a 3-0 lead that Team Colorado could never make up.  This game was highlighted by great goalie play by Roadie Heller for Colorado (headed for UVA) and the Weaver boy for the Brady Bunch. Brady featured three players with two goals each, Michael Marcott, Grant Clifford, and Thomas Flibotte.   Isaac Bach led Colorado with 3 goals in a losing effort.

Defending champion Baltimore Crabs handled Team Zona 10-4.  The upstarts from cactus country fought hard but could not match the raw talent of the Crab squad which reads like a Division I who’s who.
Lawrenceville Big Red defeated Minnesota Frost 19-5 in another Division I match-up.  The fast break was the undoing for the Minnesota team that echoed a long ago and distant time of a Minnesota Chill team that first came from the land of 10,000 lakes once upon a Shootout time.

FCA was also a Division I winner, beating the outmanned True Lacrosse team mostly from the Midwest.

The Division I semi-finals will pit Lawrenceville vs. FCA at 11:00 a.m. on Avon Field 1, while The Crabs will take on Brady’s Bunch at 1:00 on the same field.  It should be some great semi-final action Wednesday.

Tuesday Results:

Division 1 Quarterfinals
Brady’s Bunch 9, Team Colorado 7
FCA Lacrosse 10, True Lacrosse 3
Lawrenceville Big Red 19, Minnesota Frost 5
Baltimore Crabs 10, Team Zona 4

Division 2 Quarterfinals
HouLA Oilers 9, Western Colorado Mavericks 7
Jr. Buddha’s Ballers 12, Sacramento Heat 8
Winnipeg Wolverines 12, Blue Lion Elite 8

Wednesday Match-ups:

Division 1 Semifinals
Lawrenceville Big Red vs. FCA Lacrosse – 11:00am – Avon 1
Brady’s Bunch vs. Baltimore Crabs – 1:00pm – Avon 1

Division 1 Consolation 
True Lacrosse vs. Minnesota Frost – 9:00am – Avon 1
Team Colorado vs. Team Zona – 3:00pm – Avon 1

Division 2 Semifinals
Winnipeg Wolverines vs. Jr. Buddha’s Ballers – 11:00am – Avon 2
HouLa Guns vs. Blue Lion Elite – 1:00pm – Avon 2

Division 2 Consolation
Sacramento Heat vs. Western Colorado Mavericks – 9:00am – Avon 2

The First Day of the Watts Memorial Tournament saw 14 teams split into four conferences. Previous shootout competitors were the big victors, with Colorado, FCA, Lawrenceville Big Red, and always dangerous Baltimore Crabs winning their respective divisions. Tomorrow the teams will split into a Division 1 and Division 2 brackets. For the second year in a row Team Colorado will face a tough competitor in the second round, CO will play the Brady’s Bunch, the teams scored an impressive 34 and 32 goals respectively, during the tournament’s first day.

Division 2 Quarterfinals
HouLa Guns vs. Western Colorado Mavericks – 9:00am – Avon 2
Jr. Buddha’s Ballers vs. Sacramento Heat  – 11:00am – Avon 2
Blue Lion Elite vs. Winnipeg Wolverines – 1:00pm – Avon 2

The ninth Dr. Tom Watts Memorial tournament marks our seventeenth year for the U-19 High School Boy’s Showcase.  I know that Dr. Tom would join the rest of the followers of this Division of the Shootout and the other fifteen participating teams in asking the same question: “Can anybody stop the Baltimore Crab juggernaut?”    Stranger things have happened.  After all, we had an NCAA lacrosse playoff game west of the Mississippi this year.  The Crabs will be gunning for their sixth straight Division 1 championship, and they will again come loaded with participants in the Under Armor All-American game as well as other talented players from the Baltimore area.  However, it is a tribute to their organization and coaches that the Crabs consistently succeed at the difficult task of molding a number of top individual talents into a real lacrosse team.  Once again, we have a great field of sixteen teams representing every sector of North America from Baltimore through the upper Midwest to the desert Southwest and the Pacific in San Diego and from Florida to the northern plains of Canada.   Lacrosse is spreading and growing and the Vail Shootout is justifiably proud to be a part of that growth.

The Crabs have been pressed hard in the finals (and even semis) over the past several years and were forced to go to overtime and scramble for a 12-11win last year by runner-up, FCA, who returns seeking another shot at the champs.  Team Colorado and Team Ohio, last year’s Division one third and fourth place finishers respectively, would also like a chance to take the Watts trophy from the Crabs.   Also returning from last year’s Division 1 field and seeking to improve their finish are fifth place Lawrenceville Big Red and sixth place finisher s,  Brady’s Bunch, a southern California team whose players, coaches, fans, and team name are inspired by 3-year-old Brady, who is battling childhood leukemia.  Division 1 seventh place winner, True Lacrosse, returns from Michigan hoping to move to the right side of the bracket this year.

Blue Lion Elite from the Kansas City area was last year’s Division 2 bracket runner-up and seeks a return to Division 1.  Also returning from Division 2 are HouLa Guns (Houston Lacrosse, third in Div. 2 last year), the Winnipeg Wolverines (fourth in Div. 2 last year)who have competed in Division 1 and are primed to return, the Junior Buddha’s Ballers (fifth last year as Team Nebraska), and the Sick Stix (sixth place last year as Power Lacrosse).   Seventh place Sacramento Heat and the team they beat last year, the Western Slope Mavericks, look to be much improved this year.  We are glad to again see a team from Minnesota back in the Shootout this year in the form of the Minnesota Frost.  Also new to the Shootout this year is Team Zona from, you guessed it, Phoenix, Arizona.  Any of these teams could surprise and be in the thick of it in Division 1.   Lacrosse fans can once again view the consolation championship at 9:00 a.m. and the best of the best at 10:30 Thursday morning at Ford Field---the perfect setting with a snow-filled Gore Range as a backdrop for the excellent competition for the Dr. Tom Watts travelling trophy and the naming of the U-19 all stars, most of whom will star in the NCAA next year.   See you there.