Johns Hopkins vs. Virginia

Hopkins needed these critical goals to get the W in the fourth.  Lee Coppersmith's goal, it was his third goal of the day. All three plays were clutch, and the fact that two sophomore's had a part in all of those goals starts to tell how quickly this Hopkins team is growing up. Despite the loss, Virginia is still ranked no.2 in the country and they still keep their spirits high. With how quickly Hopkins built their lead, Virginia coach Dom Starsia should have been proud of how his team came back, scoring four goals in less than two minutes to tie the game. Hopkins obviously felt pretty good coming off their biggest win of the year.  In two weeks, Hopkins has proved they can play a slow, quality game and come within an inch of knocking off the top team in the country, or they can play a fast, run and gun game and walk away with the win over the no.2 team in the country.

Hopkins sophomore goalie, Pierce Bassett, did a great job in Saturday’s game. He had a total of 14 saves out of 25 shots taken by the Cavaliers. He let up only 11 goals. It was a surprise to me that no.12 ranked Hopkins beat the no.2 ranked Hopkins in their fight to be the best team in the country. Congrats to Pierce Bassett, and to Hopkins in their greatest win of the year.

Virginia vs. Cornell

When 14th-ranked Cornell played No. 2 Virginia on Saturday in the second game of Face-Off Classic’s tripleheader. Senior defenseman Max Feely, an All-American in 2010, isn't expected to play after suffering an injury during practice last week.
"I'm comfortable with it," said DeLuca. "That's why those guys are playing. They've earned it in practice."
In Feely's stead, sophomore Kyle Ewanouski has earned great reviews. Mike Bronzino and Jason Noble, two great playmakers joined him at defense.

Sophomore Thomas Keith is the starting longstick midfielder. Freshman Tom Freshour is the backup midfielder. Tom Trasolini and Cody Levine are getting few minutes at shortstick midfield. So is freshman Joe Paoletta. That leaves senior shortstick midfielder Shane O'Neill as the only veteran midfielder in the group.

Virginia's one and only loss this season came on March 4, by No. 1 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. The Cavaliers, like Cornell, were national semifinalists in 2010. Graduation affected them in the defensive end.
Offensively, Virginia still runs out a first midfield line lead by the Bratton twins. Shamel, a first-team All-American, and Rhamel. Coach Dom Starsia has additional firepower in reserve. 18 players have scored at least one goal, for an offense averaging over 15 goals per game. Junior attackman Steele Stanwick runs the show on offense, and sophomore Chris Bocklet has 18 goals in six games.

 Cornell's 2010 season ended last May, in a 12-7 semifinal loss to Notre Dame. This is Cornell's first appearance in an Inside Lacrosse sponsored event. The Big Red was the cover story for IL's March edition. Virginia is a regular participant. For Cornell's upperclassmen, the Cavaliers are a familiar opponent. This season is the third of a four-game regular season agreement between the two programs. Virginia won both games, but fell to Cornell, 14-5 in the 2009 semifinals. Cornell may be young, but they have experience.

Favorite Lacrosse Team

The Virginia Cavaliers is my favorite lacrosse team. They have been my favorite team since I started playing lacrosse in 8th grade. They are currently ranked #2 out of all college teams. They are ranked just behind Syracuse. Last year they came in with 16 wins and only losing twice. Once to Duke in the regular season and in the semi finals they lost to Duke again. This is a team that hasn't won a title since 2006. This year I expect them to win a title. They are pretty much stacked with good midfield and attack players. They have many talented players on the team this year and this is why I expect them to win a title. Last year they averaged 13.44 goals per game. This year I estimate they average 15 goals per game. Their players are some of the fastest in college lacrosse and their players have the most style and flare out of any team. However they do have a potential weakness for this year, they lost two of their best midfield players. They gained a short stick defensive midfielder however that may be another potential weakness.

One of my favorite players on their team is Steele Stanwick. Stanwick is one of their best attackmen. He leads the offence and is a facilitator and he is always one step ahead. He led attack with 29 goals and 32 assists last year. Although the team has many great players, his talent and pride in the game really shows. I can’t wait to see the quality of this team this year and I hope they win it all!
Steele Stanwick

Duke vs Notre Dame Lacrosse

This last Sunday Duke played Notre Dame in the rematch of last year’s national championship game in Jacksonville. Notre Dame played team USA two weeks ago in Florida. Their defense has played exceptionally well for the past five years and looks to play exceptionally well  this year as well. Their defense coordinator Gerry Byrne is one of the best in the country. He is good at teaching defensemen to funnel offensive players down the wings to take weak shots. This was displayed very well in Sunday’s game. Also Notre Dames midfield was looking good with Zach Brenneman doing outstanding next to David Earl and Max Pfeifer. Overall the players worked very well together in their season opener.

On the other hand Duke played a decent game. They did not play to their potential especially because they lost a lot of good players last year. They lost two of the players to graduation and one due to injury. Also they lost their face off specialist. This year they are expected to play 7-10 of their freshman which will bring them down a little bit in the beginning of the season. They will probably play their best in the later season.

Last year the Blue Devils took the win over the Irish but last Sunday this was not the case. Notre dame ended up winning the game on Sunday with a score of 12-7. Congrats to the fighting Irish.

About Me

            I'm Justin. My favorite things to do are skateboard, snowboard, play lacrosse, and chill with my friends. I am excited for spring because I get to start skateboarding again, also the school lacrosse season starts. This is the second year for the Avon Lake lacrosse team. We have a new coach and we are expected to do better than our 0-9 record last year. Our new coach is the former Oberlin College Lacrosse coach. He is expected to take us to the top in lacrosse. We will see about that! This year we are going to have 2 teams. A JV team and Varsity team. I hope to make the Varsity team.

            I am very excited to start skateboarding again. After my winter break I might be a little rusty but no worries. Nothing a little practice won't solve. I think snowboarding over te winter will help me transition back ino skateboarding. The one thing that I am not happy about is the end of the snowboarding season nearing. With spring right around the corner the season has only a few weeks left. This last snowboarding season had its positives though. I improved greatly along with all of my other friends. I'm sure that we will improve with the last few weeks to go. Hopefully i can make time to play Lacrosse, skateboard and chill with friends. We shall see!