2012 NILL Champions Crowned

The 2012 NorthCoast Indoor Lacrosse League wrapped up last Sunday with an upset, some exciting play and an undefeated champion. It was a great way to finish a fun season of lacrosse in northern Minnesota.

Both Team 1 - Honey Badgers and Team 3 - Wieczorek moved on in the first round of the playoffs as the result of forfeits. Unfortunately, the Grand Rapids teams could not make the trip down due to several players missing because of vacation, injury or other reasons. Though they were unable to field teams for the final week of play, their presence in the league this season made the NILL that much better and more fun to play.

The first game of round two pitted the young and feisty Honey Badgers (the Honey Badgers just didn't care, they wanted to play some lacrosse, Honey Badger don't give a sh**! :-) team against the undefeated powerhouse Free Agents who secured the #1 seed in the tournament. The Honey Badgers scored early and played with the Free Agents for awhile until the more experienced team finally warmed up. Once warm, the Free Agents put on a clinic, easily outpacing the Honey Badgers and moving on to the championship game with a convincing 17-7 victory.

Scott Wishart led the way for the Free Agents with 6 goals and an assist.  Bobby Moore scored 4 goals and added an assist, Brandon Nispel and Alex Rogers each had 3 goals and an assist, Xander Hasan added a goal and Brandon Gilseth had an assist for the Free Agents in game 1.

For the Honey Badgers, who saw their season end with the loss, Bryce Holak led the way with 2 goals and an assist, Zack Zierden added two goals, and Dan O'Connell, Jesse Larson and Andy Holak all added a goal.

2012 regular season scoring leader Matt Reeves (L)

Game 2 was the best game of the night, providing an unexpected upset.  Team 3 - Wieczorek played extremely well in a 10-9 upset of #2 seeded Team 2 - Halver.  Team 3 jumped out to an early lead behind goals from Brody Carlson and Silas Wieczorek.  Team 2 kept it close, but by late in the second half, the score was 10-6 in favor of Team 3.  In the last few minutes of the game, Team 2 battled back to cut the lead to one, at 10-9.  One last possession for Team 2 but it was too late and the clock ticked down to 0:00.  The comeback fell just short, and Team 3 moved on to the championship game to face the undefeated Free Agents.

Team 3 was led by Brody Carlson and his 4 goals and one assist.  In support, Silas Wieczorek, Jimmy Bendas and Josh Beery each scored 2 goals apiece.  Team 2 was led by Zach Galo with 3 goals, Steven Halver with 2 goals and an assist, Mitch Smerz and Britton Harris with 2 goals each, and Tyler Kolquist with 2 assists.

2012 NILL Champions - Free Agents

In the first NILL Championship game the Free Agents (8-0) matched up against Team 3 - Wieczorek (3-4-1), coming off a very well played game and looking good.  The final started somewhat sluggishly for each team, but Team 3 played a better first half and took a 5-4 lead into halftime.  In the second half, the Free Agents wore down Team 3 and started to stretch the lead.  With a lead of 7 at one point in the second half and several unanswered goals for the Free Agents, Team 3 got hot near the end, but it was too late and the Free Agents were crowned the first NILL champions with a 14-9 victory over Team 3.

Brandon Nispel led the way in the championship game with 4 goals.  Scott Wishart added 3 goals and 5 assists, Brandon Gilseth had 2 goals and 2 assists, Bobby Moore had a goal and an assist, and Xander Hasan, Mike Feldstein, Alex Rogers, and Matt Kampmeyer each scored a goal for the champs.

NILL Runners Up - Team 3 - Wieczorek

Brody Carlson again led Team 3 with 3 goals and 2 assists while Jimmy Bendas added 2 goals and 3 assists, Silas Wieczorek scored a goal and added an assist, and Kyle Limoseth, Josh Beery and Ian Wieczorek all added a goal.

It was a great first season for the NILL with excellent lacrosse, clean play for the most part and clear improvement from the first game to the last for the high school players.  If the turf is again available for next season, we would like to start the league in December and add a couple games to the season.  Also, we are considering a summer 7 v.7 league with a very similar format to the indoor league, but played outdoors.  8-10 game season plus playoffs, one game per week.  Let me know if you'd be interested in a summer league like this.  Thanks to all who participated!