MBSLA Top 10 Week 2

After the second week of games, there's some shake up in the middle of the Top 10.  The top and bottom remain the same.  The top 3 spots remain the same.  Hudson picked up a couple more victories, as did Duluth.  Becker picked up their first win of the season with a 6-1 victory over St. Cloud North.  Proctor moved up to #4 with their 10-7 win over St. Cloud North.  Red River Valley also moved up from #7 to #5 with a pair of wins - 8-5 over Grand Rapids and 15-3 over Waconia.  After watching a little of the Red River-Grand Rapids game, it's clear that Red River Valley has some players and are improved over 2014.  Being the first game of the season for each team, it's tough to get a good gauge on where they're at.  Grand Rapids drops to #6 behind Red River Valley after their loss to them, but pick up a 15-2 win over St. Paul to bounce back on Sunday.  St. Cloud falls to 0-3 on the season, but after also watching them play over the weekend, it's clear they will be a good team this season, so they don't drop too far.  They had the unenviable task of playing the #3, #4 and #2 team in the rankings to open their season.  St. Cloud North will bounce back.  Wayzata moves into the Top 10 with a 2-1 record and St. Paul and Winona remain at #9 and #10.  Top match ups in the MBSLA this week include Proctor @ Becker, Red River Valley @ Wayzata and Grand Rapids @ Hudson.

MBSLA Top 10 after Week 2:

MBSLA Top 10 After the First Weekend

With the first weekend under our belts and only a few games played, there's already significant shake-up to the MBSLA Top 10. And it starts at the top! In what could be considered an upset, #3 Hudson defeated pre-season #1 Duluth in the first game of the season, 7-6.  With the win over the previously ranked #1 Duluth, Hudson moves into the top spot with Duluth moving down to #3.  If you beat the #1, you deserve the top spot!  This is Duluth's first regular season loss in two years, having posted perfect 13-0 records during the regular season the previous two seasons.  The 2015 season starts eerily similar to the 2014 season...

Duluth came back to defeat Winona in their second game 20-5.  Winona drops a couple of spots but we'll still keep them in the top 10.  With the lack of depth in the MBSLA this season, we still think Winona will be a top 10 team at the end of the season, and they ran into a pissed off Duluth team after their loss to Hudson.  St. Paul also picked up a win, so we'll move them up a spot just above Winona who will remain at 10.

It's a long season and only one weekend has been played.  There's a lot of time for improvement as the season progresses.

Get Fired Up for the New Season!

MBSLA Pre-Season Top 10

The MBSLA in 2015 will have the fewest number of teams in recent memory.  With only 14 teams competing in the MBSLA, the road to the championship game will be much less cluttered.

Northern Minnesota teams might compose half of the top 10 in 2015.  With a Duluth team, perhaps the strongest Duluth team in history, coming off a state championship appearance in 2014, it's likely we could see another northern team in the state championship game in 2015.  Grand Rapids and Proctor with some strong seniors should also be top contenders in 2015.  A Red River Valley team that showed improvement throughout the season last year should also be more competitive this year.  Grand Cities and Brainerd, after somewhat down years last season, also look to bounce back and see improved teams in 2015.

With St. Louis Park, last years champion, and St. Paul, two of the more historically strong teams in the MSBLA, moving up to the MSHSL, Duluth has to be the odds on favorite in 2015.  2015 also saw STMA move up to the MSHSL.  As the season begins this weekend, who will be the favorites to take home the title in 2015?

MBSLA Pre-Season Top 10:

1.  Duluth - Last years state runner-up is the top returning team after St. Louis Park moved on to the MSHSL.  Two years ago Duluth finished third, last year second and this year they hope to come out on top.  With offensive threats returning all over, their goalie and most of their defense, this years team should be better than last.  It's likely that this could be the best team Duluth has ever put on the field.  Will they live up to that billing?  With less competition this season, they should.  Duluth returns 2/3's of its starting Attack unit including All-State Honorable Mention attack senior Dan O' Connell and second team All-Conference senior Jesse Larson.  Junior Sean Manahan and sophomore Keijo Day, both vastly improved, will share the other attack position.  At midfield the Chargers will miss All-American performer Cooper Carlson, but will return All-State midfielder junior Bryce Holak along with first team All-Conference midfielder senior Zack Zierden and a host of other strong middies.  Zierden will have Carlson's big shoes to fill at the faceoff X as the Chargers primary faceoff man.  On Defense sophomore 1st team All-Conference goalie Mitchell Pelkey returns along with 1st team All-Conference performers senior LSM Mike Nowicki and senior defenseman August Cadotte along with second team defender junior Gage Kuhlmey and vastly improved senior defender Jacob Parker.  This years Duluth squad should have a clear shot at the Championship in 2015.  A tournament in Wisconsin in May might prove to be their toughest competition this season and should prepare them for their title push come June.  Who will stop them in 2015?

2.  Becker - Last years 3rd place team may be Duluth's toughest competition in 2015.  Two overtime losses to Duluth last season, including one in the MBSLA semifinal for the right to ascend to the title game, should give them all the incentive they need in 2015.  Unfortunately, Becker has some major pieces to fill after losing their top scorer, goalie and several other top performers due to graduation.  Fortunately for Becker, they do return one of the best players in the MBSLA in junior midfielder and All-State Honorable Mention, Milan Kent.  Becker also has third leading scorer senior attackman Cole Neu returning along with improved midfielder sophomore Cale MacMillan.  Becker lost some important pieces from a very good 2014 squad, but they should have the firepower to compete with Duluth and a shot at the state championship in 2015.  Two tilts with Duluth at the end of May should give us a good idea how strong this 2015 Becker squad will be.

3.  Hudson - Hudson can always be counted on to field a strong squad, and they should do so again in 2015.  The 2013 MBSLA State Champions will be shooting for a shot at another state championship in 2015.  With the loss of all-everything midfielder McKay Potter, Hudson will have to fill his capable faceoff and scoring role.  On the huge plus side, Hudson will amazingly return 9 of their top 10 scorers from last season including top scorer senior attack Adam Lipps and 3rd leading scorer junior midfielder William Reece III.  With much of their offense returning from last season and experienced defenseman junior Gabe Franck also returning, Hudson should make a push for another championship in 2015.  An early season tilt this Sunday April 12 against Duluth in Hudson, in the first game for both teams, should give us a good idea of the relative strength of each team in the early 2015 season.

4.  Grand Rapids - With several experienced seniors returning from a very good squad in 2014, Grand Rapids will push Duluth in the North and could also make a push for their first state championship appearance in 2015.  Grand Rapids will be led on offense by experienced seniors attack J.J. Rubesh and midfielders Riley Jensen and 1st team all-conference faceoff specialist Nic Zerfas.  Strong underclassmen, sophomore midfielder/attack Lane Anderson and sophomore attack Noah How will also add to Grand Rapids scoring punch.  There are also a number of young players ready to contribute to this years Grand Rapids offense.  On defense, Grand Rapids returns athletic and experienced senior 2nd team all-conference goalie, Tyler Altringer along with 2nd team all-conference defenseman senior Logan Anderson.  With experience returning and several younger players stepping up, Grand Rapids will be a challenger for the title in 2015.  A pair of games with Duluth in May should determine who controls the North in 2015.

5.  Proctor - Proctor continued to improve in 2014 and should do so again in 2015.  Led by strong and talented attackman, 1st team all-conference and all-state honorable mention senior Luke Hannan, Proctor will be a tough team to beat in 2015.  Proctor did lose some pieces due to graduation, but return enough talent that they should compete well this season.  Second team all-conference attack/middie senior Ryan McDougall will pair with Hannan on offense while the defense will be anchored by first team all-conference senior Jake Wick and second team all-conference pole senior Colton Adams.  With good talent returning, Proctor should remain in the top tier for the duration of the 2015 season.

6.  St. Could North - After the top 5 in the MBSLA this season, things start to get a little murky.  St. Could North can usually be counted on to produce a solid team each year.  In 2015, they should once again find a spot in the Top 10.  Leading scorer, senior first team all-conference attack Carter Kasianov returns to anchor the offense.  If St. Cloud North can replace some of the scorers they lost to graduation, they should be able to remain in the top 10.

7.  Red River Valley - Last season Red River Valley saw some improvement as the season progressed.  Can Red River carry that over into the 2015 season?  If they continue to improve, we can see them remaining in the top 10 for the season.

8.  Winona - Winona is a team that I see as being that team every year that surprises people.  Winona didn't have a varsity squad in 2014, but their JV team won the MBSLA JV state championship over Hudson.  With many of their top scorers from the JV championship team returning, including their top 3 scorers senior Marcus Kuhlman, junior Matt Schoh and senior John Rickoff, we could see them winning enough games this season to remain in the top 10.  An early season test this weekend against Duluth should give them an idea where they stack up.

9.  Waconia - Waconia finished last season 4-4.  Whether they'll be a threat to the top teams in the MBSLA remains to be seen, but we anticipate improvement for Waconia over last season.  Waconia is starting to develop a youth program and we should start to see improvement at the highest level as those more experienced young players trickle into the high school ranks.  An April 19 tilt against Duluth will give them an idea how they'll compete this season against the top teams.

10.  St. Paul - Not much is known about this years St. Paul team.  They should be severely weakened with most of their best and most experienced players playing for their MSHSL squad.  However, St. Paul is a historic program with years of success, so we put them here at 10 to recognize that history of success.  As the season progresses, we should get a little better idea who should be in the top 10.

This pre-season ranking is a best effort and certainly not definitive.  To come up with our rankings, we looked at last years performance, the number of seniors lost, top scorers and players returning from last year and returning all-conference and all-state performers.  Please feel free to comment on the rankings and let us know why we're right or why we're wrong.

Inter-city lacrosse rivalry restarting after 103 years

Article by: JACK SATZINGER , Star Tribune

On June 30, 1883, players from the St. Paul Lacrosse Club strode onto a field on the corner of 4th Avenue and 10th Street in downtown Minneapolis clad in solid-colored jerseys. Their opponent, the Minneapolis Lacrosse Club, wasn’t far behind wearing caps and carrying hickory-carved lacrosse sticks that resembled fishing nets more than modern sticks.

St. Paul won 3-0 in the first-ever contest between the two teams. Minneapolis and St. Paul will meet again at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Washburn High School — marking the return of a 132-year-old lacrosse rivalry.

The 1883 St. Paul Lacrosse Club team

“It’s going to continue to be a great rivalry,” St. Paul Bobcats coach Ben Mooney said. “It’s going to be tremendous.”

This year Mooney and Minneapolis coach Aron Lipkin both have sanctioned teams for the first time, giving Minneapolis and St. Paul public high school students a chance to play lacrosse. Becoming sanctioned has helped both teams out in several ways, including gaining funding.

“Our clubs ran at a deficit for as long as I can remember,” said Lipkin, whose team is called the Inner-City Warriors. “We fundraised a lot; coaches usually went unpaid.”

Alan Childs, the author of “Minnesota Lacrosse A History,” which will be published in June, said Minneapolis and St. Paul were traditionally the state’s two best teams. They regularly played each other for the Minnesota Cup — the trophy that went to the state champions.

But in 1912, the games stopped. People wanted to put on ice skates.

“Hockey kind of took over in the 20th century,” Childs said.

Now, hockey and lacrosse coexist. With the help of such programs as Lipkin’s Homegrown Lacrosse and the Minnesota Swarm pro team, more Minnesota athletes are opting for lacrosse.

“The sport’s growing because of the great alternative to hockey. It’s a great countersport. I think the hockey kids are seeing they can play another physical game in spring instead of playing a more laid-back game of baseball,” said Cory Childs, Alan’s son and the Burnsville High School boys’ lacrosse coach.

When the Bobcats and Inner-City Warriors play Saturday the uniforms, sticks and rules will be very different from those of 1883. But Minnesota lacrosse aficionados hope both teams return to the level of play they once reached together.

Regardless, a tradition will be renewed.

“We’re back to where we were,” Alan Childs said. “The cities are back to having rival teams and, hopefully, can build up a rivalry again.”

Jack Satzinger is a University of Minnesota student reporter on assignment for the Star Tribune.

Lacrosse on CBS Sunday Morning Show

Recap of the 2014 Northern Lacrosse Season

The 2014 Northern Minnesota lacrosse season was one of firsts.  The first time a northern Minnesota

Duluth players celebrating Dan O' Connell's game winning goal

team advanced to the MBSLA State Championship, the first time a northern Minnesota varsity team defeated a MSHSL team, the first time a northern Minnesota player became an All-American and the first time a northern Minnesota player committed to play lacrosse at the NCAA Division 1 level.

The Duluth Chargers dominated the northern Minnesota lacrosse scene, moving through the regular season with the second undefeated regular season in a row.  Their season started with a bang, defeating defending MBSLA state champion Hudson in convincing fashion the first weekend of the season, 13-4.  After bulldozing their way through their regular season with one dominating win after the other, the Chargers from Duluth met traditional MSHSL power Totino-Grace on the Benild-St. Margarets field.  Duluth came away with an exciting 6-5 overtime win.  Duluth then followed that up with a pair of exciting wins over eventual MBSLA 3rd place team, Becker.  In the first contest, Duluth came away with a 12-11 overtime win.  In the second, Duluth again defeated Becker, 10-9 in

Duluth's Cooper Carlson

OT for the right to advance to the MBSLA State Championship game.  In the state championship game, Duluth would fall to St. Louis Park 12-6.  Duluth made the game interesting, tying it up early in the 3rd quarter 3-3 before faceoff man extraordinaire Carlos Suguenza decided to take over the game.  Northern Minnesota had 4 teams ranked in the MBSLA top 10 to end the season. 

Northern Minnesota also saw their first all-american when Duluth midfielder Cooper Carlson was named to the team.  Northern Minnesota also placed 3 players on the all-state team when Duluth's Cooper Carlson, midfielder Bryce Holak and defenseman Seamus Mackinaw were named to the team.  Duluth's attack Dan O' Connell and Proctor's attack Luke Hannan were named to the

Duluth Midfielder Bryce Holak

all-state Honorable Mention team.

And, in the Fall of 2014, northern Minnesota saw it's first NCAA Division I recruit verbally commit to a college when Duluth's junior midfielder Bryce Holak announced his commitment to play for the University of Massachusetts - Lowell.  With this announcement, more players are seeking to improve their game and recruiting prospects by participating on select lacrosse teams and working to be the next northern Minnesota player to commit to a high level NCAA university. 

Lacrosse is continuing to grow in northern Minnesota and the prospects for more exciting lacrosse in the north are very high for the coming season.  Skill levels are improving, more players are playing and lacrosse will soon be an officially sanctioned sport at the high school level in northern Minnesota.  Here's to another exciting lacrosse season in 2015!

Lacrosse - America's Fastest Growing Sport!

Lacrosse Is Actually America’s Fastest-Growing Sport

In the past decade, participation in high-school lacrosse has exploded. Maybe it’s really America’s sport of the future.

posted on June 30, 2014, at 5:20 p.m.

John Templon

BuzzFeed News Reporter

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More Americans than ever are watching the World Cup, making soccer seem like sport’s flavor of the month. But at the high school level, it’s a different sport that’s truly taking off.

Justine Zwiebel / BuzzFeed

Between the 2008-09 and 2012-13 school years, participation in high-school lacrosse grew 19 percent among girls (to more than 77,000 players) and 15 percent among boys (to nearly 102,000 players), according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations analyzed by BuzzFeed. Over the past decade, the trend is even stronger, with participation more than doubling over that time.

Among sports with at least 10,000 high schoolers, lacrosse has had the highest growth rate since 2009. Other growth sports include 8-player football (up 12 percent), cross country (up 8 percent for both boys and girls), soccer (up 8 percent for girls, up 7 percent for boys), and girls bowling (up 7 percent).
“There are two main reasons for the trend,” said Rick Burton, the Falk Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University, about the rise in popularity of lacrosse. “One is that lacrosse is being developed as a gender neutral sport. It’s a virtually identical game between men and women. Two, it’s an active, contemporary game. It’s not based on set plays with limitations of where people can play.”
Despite lacrosse’s reputation as a preppy, Northeast-centric sport, the sport grew the most in the Midwest and South. Between 2009 and 2013, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio saw the largest percentage increases in participation. And there’s an opportunity for much more growth: In 32 states, fewer than 1,000 students played high-school lacrosse during the 2012-13 school year, according to the NFHS data.

Justine Zwiebel / BuzzFeed

“It’s been a major sport in upstate New York and the Baltimore area for the past 40 years,” Burton said. “There are now a critical mass of people who were on the East Coast moving to the Midwest.”

In raw numbers, of course, lacrosse still has a long way to go before catching up with soccer — which sported approximately four times as many high school players as lacrosse last school year — not to mention football (1,086,627 boys in 2012-13), basketball (538,676), or baseball (474,791).
The explosive growth of lacrosse seems to have trickled up to the collegiate level, too. Sixty-four colleges started new lacrosse programs in 2012-13, according to the NCAA.

MBSLA Top 10 May 7

Northern Lights Lacrosse took a couple weeks off to let things settle out with a few more games before putting together our most recent MBSLA Top 10 rankings.  With so many postponements and cancellations due to the weather, it's been tough to get enough games in to make sense of where teams are at.  After a couple of weeks, we have a little better idea where teams sit right now.  The top 5 teams look solid and after that there's a bit of a drop off.  While there are a few very good teams in the MBSLA this year, the drop off to the bottom tier of teams is drastic, as evidenced by scores of 21-2, 18-4 and games that end at the half 15-0 with the starters of the winning team being pulled for the entire second half.  League wide disparity in talent and experience is becoming an issue in the MBSLA.  Exactly where that bottom tier lies is difficult to determine as well.

Duluth continues to roll finishing the week at 6-0 with a lopsided win over Brainerd.  Becker also stays undefeated with a lopsided win over Waconia.  Hudson also picks up a lopsided win over Mankato.  Lopsided wins all around! (ugh...).  After a couple of weeks and a couple of wins over St. Paul, St. Louis Park is back to their dominant ways as well.  We still think St. Paul is a good team, but St. Louis Park appears to be quite a bit better.  We'll see a nice match-up next week with St. Louis Park taking on Hudson.  In the bottom half of the Top 10, Grand Rapids shut down Proctor with a 5-3 win.  While over the weekend, St. Cloud North beat Grand Rapids in the Grand Rapids Shootout for the Varsity Championship.  The Shootout by the way, was once again well organized and run and was a lot of fun as always.  We'll need a couple more weeks to determine exactly where these three teams shake out in the Top 10.  STMA rounds out the Northern Lights Lacrosse Top 10 at #10. 

Here's the Northern Lights Lacrosse Top 10 after 5 weeks of play:

LaxPower MBSLA Rankings May 6, 2014

Rnk Team                       PR     In    Cor   Chp  WL Pct  W  L  T
  1 Duluth                    90.20  97.20  0.02  0.00  1.00   7- 0- 0
  2 Becker                    88.76  95.09  0.03  0.00  1.00   4- 0- 0
  3 Hudson                    87.69  95.76 -0.02  0.00  0.80   4- 1- 0
  4 St Louis Park             87.39  93.74  0.00  0.00  0.86   6- 1- 0
  5 St Paul                   81.50  86.76 -0.05  0.00  0.50   2- 2- 0
  6 Proctor                   81.15  86.00  0.00  0.00  0.67   4- 2- 0
  7 Grand Rapids              80.08  87.34 -0.03  0.00  0.50   2- 2- 0
  8 Grand Cities              79.78  80.02 -0.08  0.00  0.33   4- 8- 0
  9 St Cloud North            79.76  91.48 -0.08  0.00  0.00   0- 3- 0
 10 St Michael-Albertville    78.91  83.13  0.03  0.00  0.67   4- 2- 0
 11 Wayzata LC                78.24  82.19  0.01  0.00  0.67   2- 1- 0
 12 Red River Valley          77.04  79.67 -0.05  0.00  0.33   2- 4- 0
 13 New Century               76.25  83.03 -0.07  0.00  0.25   1- 3- 0
 14 Brainerd                  72.31  80.58 -0.03  0.00  0.00   0- 1- 0
 15 Shattuck-St Mary's        71.91  77.14 -0.05  0.00  0.00   0- 2- 0
 16 Waconia                   70.81  78.93 -0.03  0.00  0.00   0- 1- 0
 17 Henry Sibley              66.33  76.78 -0.03  0.00  0.00   0- 1- 0
 18 Stillwater LC             66.08  76.52 -0.10  0.00  0.00   0- 4- 0
 19 Mankato                   64.00  74.01 -0.12  0.00  0.00   0- 5- 0

Where the Top 10 MBSLA teams rank overall in Minnesota (including MSHSL schools):

23 Duluth

33 Becker

39 Hudson

40 St. Louis Park

55 St. Paul

57 Proctor

58 Grand Rapids

61 Grand Cities

62 St. Cloud North

65 STMA

78 Shattuck-St. Mary's 

MBSLA Top 10 After Week 2

Another blizzard hit Minnesota on Wednesday night (April 16) and cancelled more games and will threaten a few more in the next several days, but a few games were played in week 2 of the MBSLA season.  St. Paul opened play with a resounding win over the new Stillwater club team.  Top 10 team St. Cloud North also opened play against a couple top ranked teams and dropped a close one to Proctor in OT and then were beaten by top ranked Duluth.  St. Louis Park bounced back from their loss to Becker to trounce Top 10 team Grand Rapids.  STMA stayed undefeated on the season with a win over Wayzata early in the week.  By virtue of their undefeated record, they jump 2 places to #8 while Grand Rapids and St. Cloud North, both winless after 2 weeks, drop one spot.  The remaining teams stay the same.  After two weeks of play here is the Northern Lights lacrosse MBSLA Top 10:

Laxpower MBSLA Rankings

It's really early in the season and LaxPower doesn't have a lot of data to base their rankings on, but two weeks into the season, here are LaxPower's MBSLA rankings:

           Norm    Reg
Rnk Team                       PR     In    Cor   Chp  WL Pct  W  L  T
  1 Duluth                    90.20  96.40  0.01  0.00  1.00   4- 0- 0
  2 Becker                    84.81  89.41  0.02  0.00  1.00   1- 0- 0
  3 St Paul                   84.78  86.97  0.00  0.00  1.00   1- 0- 0
  4 Hudson                    84.07  90.05 -0.02  0.00  0.50   1- 1- 0
  5 St Cloud North            80.38  91.44 -0.03  0.00  0.00   0- 1- 0
  6 St Louis Park             79.92  84.92 -0.02  0.00  0.50   1- 1- 0
  7 Proctor                   79.34  81.82 -0.01  0.00  0.67   2- 1- 0
  8 St Michael-Albertville    79.25  80.17  0.05  0.00  1.00   3- 0- 0
  9 Red River Valley          76.97  76.00 -0.02  0.00  0.40   2- 3- 0
 10 Wayzata LC                74.94  78.02 -0.01  0.00  0.50   1- 1- 0
 11 Grand Cities              74.47  76.60 -0.04  0.00  0.33   2- 4- 0
 12 New Century               74.26  76.29 -0.03  0.00  0.00   0- 1- 0
 13 Grand Rapids              69.10  74.42 -0.03  0.00  0.00   0- 1- 0
 14 Stillwater LC             66.43  73.31 -0.05  0.00  0.00   0- 2- 0
 15 Brainerd                   0.00   0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00   0- 0- 0
 16 Mankato                    0.00   0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00   0- 0- 0
 17 Shattuck-St Mary's         0.00   0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00   0- 0- 0
 18 Waconia                    0.00   0.00  0.00  0.00  0.00   0- 0- 0

LaxPower's power ratings for high school lacrosse are based on margin of 
victory calculations, including a 10-goal limit constraint, a correction
factor for teams over- and underperforming their power rating, win-loss
records, and championship bonus points. In addition to the power rating
and national ratings calculations, information is provided on strength 
of schedule and quality wins, although the latter two are not used in 
the power rating formula.

Criteria

Information on the five criteria are displayed on ratings pages:

(1) Margin of Victory
(2) Strength of Schedule (not used in Power Rating Formula)
(3) Quality Wins (not used in Power Rating Formula)
(4) Win-Loss Records
(5) Polls (used only in Coaches-Computer Rating (CCR)

MBSLA Top 10 after Week 1

With only a few games played in Week 1 of the MBSLA season, there were surprisingly, some great match ups. And, after week 1, we'll already see some significant movement in our rankings. Ten games were played in Duluth at beautiful Malosky Stadium last Sunday including a match up between #1 ranked and defending state champion Hudson and #3 ranked Duluth.  This one started out as we expected with both teams trading goals and it looked like it would be a tight battle with the last team with the ball at the end of the game likely taking the win.  However, Duluth had other things in mind playing at home, and controlled the ball and the game by taking a decisive early season victory over Hudson 13-4.  Faceoff man Cooper Carlson fared well against last years all-state midfielder and FOGO McKay Potter.  Duluth got scoring from all over the field with 5 different players scoring including a nice 5 goal 2 assist game from attackman Dan O' Connell.  The Duluth defense looked solid as well, holding a high powered Hudson team to only 4 goals.  Duluth also picked up a win against Red River Valley 18-3, in an indication of the youth and relative inexperience of the former Fargo team.  Hudson picked up a decisive win over #7 ranked Proctor.  However, Proctor looked solid in their other two games, both wins, and finished the weekend 2-1.

In the other game of the week against two top-ranked teams, #5 Becker picked up a solid 10-6 win over #2 ranked St. Louis Park.  This game was tied at halftime 4-4 before Becker pulled away in the second half.  This early in the season, we don't want to read too much into these top 5 matchups, but both Becker and Duluth appear to be strong this season.  Hudson and St. Louis Park are sure to be there in the end, and will use these early season losses as motivation for the remainder of the season. 

Duluth moves up to #1 with their victory over Hudson.  If you beat the best and pick up another win, you deserve to ascend to the top spot in the poll.  St. Paul moves up to #2 even though idle.  We still think St. Paul will be very strong this season.  St. Paul kicks off their season with a match up against an unknown Stillwater club team tonight.  Becker vaults two spots up to #3 with a win over a very good St. Louis Park team.  Park drops to #5, just behind Hudson at #4.  We saw enough of Proctor this weekend to see that they will be a solid team despite the loss to Hudson.  They remain at #7.  Red River Valley lost all three games over the weekend and drop out of the Top 10.  STMA, with two wins and looking improved over 2013, join the Top 10 at #10.  The remainder of the Top 10 teams were idle.  With some movement at the top and bottom, here is our MBSLA Top 10 after week 1:

Duluth Home Games to be Streamed Live on iFan.tv

Duluth Chargers home games will be streamed live this season on iFan.tv If you can't make it to the game or you'd like to watch a little Northern Minnesota lacrosse, check it out!

Post by Ifan Sports Network.

Despite All Odds, First Weekend of Lacrosse Goes On in the North!

Despite a late season blast of nearly a foot of snow in Duluth on Thursday night into Friday, all of the lacrosse games over the weekend were played except for the Friday night game between Duluth and Grand Cities which was postponed.  A lot of lacrosse was played over the weekend with 10 games played over two days.

STMA varsity had a successful trip up to Duluth going home with two victories, one over Red River Valley and one over Grand Cities.  Proctor also had a successful weekend picking up wins over Red River and Grand Cities while dropping one game against Hudson.  In the other Saturday game, the Duluth JV defeated STMA's JV 4-0.

On Sunday, Duluth's varsity squad got off to a great start with two wins.  Early in the day, Duluth

defeated Red River Valley 18-3.  In the marquee matchup of the weekend, #3 ranked Duluth took on #1 ranked and defending state champion Hudson.  Duluth controlled much of the game and came away with a big early season win, 13-4 over Hudson.  On the JV side, Duluth defeated Hudson 6-4.

Look for a new MBSLA Top 10 towards the end of the week.

2014 MBSLA Pre-Season Top 10

The first games of the 2014 MBSLA lacrosse season are scheduled to be played this weekend in Duluth.  Of all places in the state, Duluth is hosting the season's first games.  Fortunately, Duluth has reached an agreement with University of Minnesota-Duluth to play the games on the recently cleared turf at Malosky Stadium (there were areas on the field with over 3 feet of snow that needed to be cleared).  Unfortunately, another major winter storm has been predicted for Thursday night into Friday.  It's looking questionable whether the first game on Friday night will be played. It looks like a repeat of last season with too much snow, indoor practices and the start to the lacrosse season in doubt for many places in Minnesota.

This pre-season ranking is a best effort and certainly not definitive.  To come up with our rankings, we looked at last years performance, the number of seniors lost, top scorers and players returning from last year and returning all-conference and all-state performers.  Please feel free to comment on the rankings and let us know why we're right or why we're wrong.

MBSLA Pre-season Top 10: 

1.  Hudson - Last season's MBSLA State Champion Hudson will begin the season ranked #1.  Until someone challenges them and knocks them off their perch, they'll remain the pre-season favorite.  Hudson does return one of the best players in the State in senior McKay Potter, an All-State selection at both midfield and faceoff.  They do however lose some of their scoring punch with the graduation of All-State Attackman Brandon Schwartz, 2nd Team All-Conference Attackman Taren Motte, and 2nd Team All-Conference Midfielder Riley Collins.  They do have several returning contributors from last year to complement Potter including All-State LSM senior Cole Bjork and All-State Goalie senior Jordan Madden.  In addition they return  1st Team All-Conference Defenseman sophomore Gabe Franck and 2nd Team All-Conference Defenseman senior Connor McGill.  If Hudson can replace a couple major contributors at attack on offense it looks like they return several key players including an all-state goalie on the defensive side of the ball.  Hudson should remain a tough team to beat and a favorite to take home another state championship.

2.  St. Louis Park - St. Louis Park proved once again that they are a contender once playoffs arrive.  For the 6th time in 7 years St. Louis Park made it to the MBSLA Championship game.  And, St. Louis Park should be loaded for 2014 as well.  The Orioles return All-American midfielder, senior Carlos Sequenza along with much of their scoring punch in All-State attack junior Matt Harkema and 2nd team All-Conference performers, attack freshman Brody Ilstrup and midfielder senior Henry Albrecht.  While losing all-conference performer Eric Speicher on Defense and solid goalie Will Harkema, they return some younger defenseman including senior Joey Kramer, a 2nd team all-conference performer last season.  St. Louis Park looks to have the firepower to compete for a 7th state championship in 2014.

3.  Duluth - Duluth had a remarkable year in 2013 finishing the season in 3rd place and finishing up with a 19-1 record, perfect in the regular season.  But for this Chargers squad, 3rd place wasn't quite good enough.  Nothing short of a shot at a championship in the title game will be satisfying enough for Duluth in 2014.  It looks like they might just have the firepower to get there.  The question mark for Duluth remains with the defense.  Duluth begins the season needing to replace All-State performer, defenseman Tanner Fritszinger and All-Conference Honorable Mention defenseman Hunter Wieczorek, a solid presence on the other side.  Duluth will look to senior Seamus Mackinaw, a 2nd team All-Conference performer, to lead the young defense this season.  Capable juniors, defenseman August Cadotte and LSM Mike Nowicki, both All-Conference Honorable Mention performers last year, will help solidify the defense.  Duluth also loses 1st team All-Conference goalie TJ Vallie.  Freshman goalie Mitchell Pelkey will have to step up big for Duluth and he has the ability to do so.  Fortunately for Duluth they return all of their scoring punch.  The midfield will be led by All-State Honorable Mention senior midfielder Cooper Carlson and 1st team All-Conference midfielder sophomore Bryce Holak.  The Chargers return all 3 attackmen from last year as well, 1st team All-Conference senior Brody Carlson, 2nd team All-Conference junior Jesse Larson and All-Conference Honorable Mention junior Dan O' Connell.  This team should be able to put some points on the board in 2014.  The question mark will be if the young defense can step up.  If they can, this team should have a good shot a their first title game in club history.

4.  St. Paul - St. Paul is another team that has a great shot at a title game appearance in 2014.  They return possibly the best player in the state from last season, All-American attack, senior Jesse Rice.  St. Paul also returns an important cog in their defense with the return of senior All-State defenseman Noah Johnson.  The only significant losses for St. Paul were the graduations of 2nd team All-Conference performers attack Billy Tapio and defenseman Andy Broadnax.  St. Paul returns several young contributors all over the field led by 1st team All-Conference midfielder junior Josh Galkowski, and 2nd team All-Conference performers, junior goalie Garrett Goskey, junior midfielder Brady Olson, and junior LSM Austin Cameron.  I'm predicting that St. Paul will be one of the top two teams in the state by the end of the season.

5.  Becker - Becker is another team to keep a close eye on in 2014.  An early season match-up with St. Louis Park should give us a pretty good idea what this team may be capable of in 2014.  The young Becker squad took Duluth to the brink in the 3rd place game last season and should be even better this year.  Led by 1st team All-Conference attack senior Tyler Kruse and 1st team midfielder sophomore Milan Kent as well as 2nd team All-Conference performers senior attack Ethan Boutin, senior midfielder Ben Gilchrist and junior defenseman Adam Ewald the Bulldogs will be tough to beat.  Add in a few more improving young players and this team has a good shot to make it back to at least the 3rd place game in 2014.  Watch out for the Bulldogs!

6.  Shattuck-St. Mary's - Shattuck once again should have a great squad.  As always they won't participate in the playoffs, but should have a good shot to make it through the season undefeated.  They have a guantlet of tough games against the top 4 teams in the MBSLA in Hudson, St. Louis Park, Duluth and St. Paul so it will be interesting to see how they fare against these top teams.

7.  Proctor -Proctor is a team that will surprise people in 2014.  They finished the 2013 season strong and they are my prediction of a team on the rise this year.  With a dynamic attackman in 1st team All-Conference junior Luke Hannan and a speedy midfielder who can bring the ball upfield to feed Hannan or score in 2nd team All-Conference senior Frank Napoli, Proctor should be able to put points on the board.  It's the defense that could be Proctors achilles heel in 2014.  Led by solid 2nd team All-Conference defenseman junior Jake Wick, the young defense will have to grow up quickly.  The addition of several good athletes to Proctor's squad in 2014 should bolster their chances.  The numbers are growing in Proctor and this team could challenge Duluth for the top spot in the North.  A late season match-up with Duluth after some of the younger athletic players have had a chance to grow and develop some chemistry should be a game to watch.


8.  Grand Rapids - Grand Rapids will once again have a strong squad in 2014 and could also challenge Duluth in the North.  It's fun to watch teams like Grand Rapids and Duluth and now Proctor grow and develop and become perennially good teams in the MBSLA.  They've come a long ways from the days when one win on the season was a major victory and it's evidence that lacrosse is here to stay in the North.  While Grand Rapids did lose some scoring punch with the graduation of 2nd team All-Conference performer and leading scorer Chase Hunter and 2nd leading scorer Jackson Schwartz, they return many strong young players led by 1st team All-Conference LSM senior Graham Gallop and 1st team defenseman junior Logan Anderson.  They also return 2nd team All-Conference performers midfielders Carl Kasse a senior and Nick Zerfas a junior.  Senior goalie Grant Gunderson, an all-conference goalie in 2012 also returns.  All-Conference Honorable Mention, senior midfielder Trevor Hopkins adds to the strong midfield core for Grand Rapids.  With the addition of some promising young attack and defense, Grand Rapids can compete for a top 5 spot in the state and a shot at the top spot in the North.


9.  St. Cloud North - St. Cloud North should be good again in 2014, but they'll have to replace the departures of All-State performers defenseman Tyler Minkel and midfielder Matt Worzala who both graduated.  St. Cloud North should be strong on offense with the return of second and third leading scorers attack junior Carter Kasianov and senior Jake Nelson, both 2nd team All-Conference in 2013.  The defense may be their question mark where they lost both Minkel and 1st team All-Conference defenseman Tucker Isaacson.  Senior Logan Smoley, a 2nd team All-Conference defenseman will have to lead the defense in 2014.  1st team All-Conference goalie senior Tyler Demenge will bolster the defense as well.  St. Cloud North is looking like the primary threat to Becker for supremacy in the West in 2014.

10.  Red River Valley - Formely Fargo, Red River Valley will have a tough time repeating their successes of 2013.  With the loss of the top scorer in the MBSLA, attack Carter Shulke to graduation, it will be tough for Red River Valley to put as many points up as they did last year.  Red River Valley also lost 2nd leading scorer Alek Halverson to graduation.  The Polars will need 1st team All-Conference junior midfielder Aric Foster and All-Conference Honorable Mention sophomore Connor King to step up.  This young team will fare as well as their young players develop and could be a challenge later in the season.

Honorable Mention:  
Stillwater Club - We don't really know what to expect from this club team from a big school with a strong high school lacrosse tradition (exactly what we said about Wayzata last season).  They could be very good, or not.
Brainerd -Brainerd should be improved over 2013 and have a lighting fast midfielder in Bodin Nicols that should turn some heads.
Grand Cities - Grand Cities is young this year and could develop into a solid team as the season progresses and the young players build some chemistry.

Look for updated Top 10's as the season progresses.

Early MBSLA Predictions

As we did last year, we'll take an early look at who will be the favorites in the MBSLA in 2014. 

The 2014 MBSLA season continues a recent trend of exodus from the club league to the MSHSL.  Top teams like Shakopee and MontiQuois have bolted from the MBSLA along with up and coming teams like Providence Academy and Northfield (the latter two having only played two MBSLA seasons before moving on).  Henry-Sibley also disbanded their varsity team in favor of a JV only team.  The addition of a Stillwater club team and New Century-Hutchinson leaves us with only 18 teams competing for the 2014 MBSLA championship.

In 2014, I see four very good teams standing out above all others:  2013 MBSLA State Champion Hudson, St. Louis Park, Duluth and St. Paul.  Becker is right there as well.  After that there are some good teams, but probably not at the "compete for a state title" caliber.  The top four, I believe, all have a shot to win the 2014 title and would likely be fairly strong teams were they competing in the MSHSL.  Of the four, Hudson probably lost the most scoring firepower, but will still be strong and have a lot of talent coming up.  St. Louis Park, Duluth and St. Paul all return much of their scoring punch and will be tough teams to beat.  One team I see making a big breakthrough in 2014 is Proctor.  They have a big and dynamic attack player to pair with a couple of strong middies.  If their goalie can return from injury in 2014, they will surprise a lot of people.  Grand Rapids will be strong again in 2014 and return several starters, but did lose a few key contributors to graduation as well.  Red River Valley (formerly Fargo) may take a small step backward after losing one of the top offensive players in the state to graduation, but should remain in the Top 10.  St. Cloud North should be a Top 10 team once again and I see teams like Brainerd, Waconia, and STMA seeing improvement in 2014.  Grand Cities could take a small step back after graduating some good seniors but could be there as well and we're unsure where the Stillwater Club team will shake out.  Shattuck-St. Mary's will be really good as always, but they play few games and can't qualify for the playoffs. 

Looking forward to the start of the 2014 season and we'll be back in late March with our official MBSLA pre-season Top 10 rankings.  Stay tuned!

The 2014 Lacrosse Season is Underway!

Check out these highlights from the early 2014 college lacrosse season to get you fired up to get started!

25 Things Every Young Lacrosse Player Should Know

Courtesy of 24/7 Lax.  25 great things every young lacrosse player should know.  If you're a young lacrosse player, no matter what level - youth to high school all-american - you should take all of these points to heart.  Read up!

1)  When shooting with your friends, don’t stand around. Practice shooting on the run coming out of dodges. Time and room shots in games are few and far between.

2)  Work on your off hand. Only the elite talent/athlete gets by with one hand. Chances are you do not fall into that category.

3)  Celebrate with class. Thousands of players before you have scored more clutch goals than you. Act like you’ve been there before. Same thing goes for dog piling on the field after a win.

4)  Get low and use two hands on ground balls. Nothing makes you look softer than a failed one-handed scoop in traffic.

5)  Just put the ball in the net. You can be the kid with 3 goals in the box score or the the kid with 1 goal, a missed behind the back, and a sweet crank that missed top cheddar. Overhand and off hip work well.

6)  Respect your coaches. You may not be the All-American you think you are. Make eye contact when your coaches are talking and keep your mouth shut. You might learn something.

7)  String yourself a nice gamer and a good backup if possible and be done with it. Don’t try to keep up with the Jones’s and feel like you always need the next best thing. Spend that time and energy working on your fitness and skills.

8)  If you are on a budget, buy last year’s head and shaft on sale. You’ll get great deals on products that are not much different than the latest and greatest. Spend your money on a good pocket.

9)  If you limit your circle of friends to only other lacrosse players, you’re doing yourself a disservice. The lax bro culture isn’t very cultured at all. Be your own person.

10)  Be responsible for your gear, uniform, cleats, mouthpiece, etc. Take inventory well in advance of practice and make sure you have everything you need. Police up your gear after the game. Mom and dad work too hard to pay for replacement gear you lost track of because you were too busy squirting water on your teammates after practice.

11)  Getting stripped of the ball creates a sinking feeling. It happens to everyone. Don’t sulk, work to get the ball back. There’s nothing worse than seeing a kid hang his head and kick rocks instead of getting after the ball that is five feet away.

12)  Recognize that lacrosse is a team sport. When a teammate is open, get the ball to that player regardless of who it is. Make good decisions and let the coach worry about who he puts on the field.

13)  Take pride in the little things. If you’re an attackman, ride hard. If you’re a middie, play tough “D”. If you play defense, move your feet and value position over the home run check. Hopefully, you’re trying to help your team, not make a highlight reel.

14)  Respect your parents. Being disrespectful to your parents reflects poorly on you and embarrasses your family. Your parents don’t owe you anything.

15)  Don’t be a twit on Twitter, Facebook, etc. It is mind boggling what kids will put out on the internet for public consumption. Don’t let a screenshot of an ill-advised internet rant ruin you. It has and will continue to do just that to all too many kids who post before thinking.

16)  If it were up to most kids, they would always have new gear and clothes. Not everyone is in a position to indulge in the latest and greatest. Be deeper than judging a kid based on their appearance. Judge kids for what kind of teammate or person they are.

17)  Don’t be a black hole. No matter how good you think you are, your teammates don’t want to see you dodge through double and triple teams while passing up good looks to open players, whether you score or not.

18)  Show up to practice (on time) with the mindset that you are going to work to get better, not just because it’s what you have to do. Push yourself.

19)  Lacrosse is a small community. Act the fool, be uncoachable, or have meddling parents and you’ll find it tough to shake that reputation.

20)  From time to time, a coach is going to correct, yell, or bench you. Justified or not, get used to it and be open to the fact that you may not be as good as you (or your parents) think you are.

21)  Stick tricks will do wonders for your game. You’ll wonder where your playing time went because you were wasting time trying to perfect the “Triple Lindy” or something equally ridiculous, instead of working on actual skills.

22)  Don’t twirl or spin your stick. It’s a horrible habit that some kids can’t shake. A kid who can’t move the ball quickly because he has to twirl his stick every time he touches the ball will be twirling his flow on the sideline instead.

23)  Put as much time getting your body in shape as you do on honing your stick skills. Those stick skills don’t mean a whole lot if you’re gassed after 10 minutes.

24)  Play other sports. This has been said before, ad nauseam, because it’s good advice. Don’t burn yourself out and learn to be an athlete and not just a lacrosse player.

25)  Have fun and play because you enjoy the game.

The Medicine Game Film

The Medicine Game shares the journey of two brothers from the Onondaga Nation driven by a single goal; to play lacrosse for Syracuse University. In their darkest hour, with their dreams crumbling around them, the boys look to family and Native teachings for guidance. It is their search for identity that transitions a playful coming of age story to an important study of modern Native American life.

Lacrosse Coming Back to Bemidji

Ninham Brings Lacrosse Back to Bemidji
by Monte Draper
The Bemidji Pioneer

BEMIDJI — "The fire is back," said Dan Ninham as he discussed bringing lacrosse back to the area.

 A lacrosse clinic will be held today at the Bemidji State University soccer practice field, or if it rains it will be moved into the John S. Glas Fieldhouse. More than 50 youths have pre-registered — 12 players from the Green Bay area alone — for the free clinic, open to players of all ages interested in learning to play lacrosse. Lacrosse sticks and equipment will be provided.

"We will teach both traditional style of play with wooden sticks and club style with helmets and elbow pads," Ninham said. Ninham had former player Max Kelsey fabricate 24 wooden sticks modeled after those used in the 1800s.

The clinic is for youth in kindergarten to second grade from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., followed by a third- to 12th-grade session from noon to 6 p.m. A culminating event in the evening will be a movie screening of "Crooked Arrow" at 7 p.m. at the BSU American Indian Resource Center at no charge; there is limited seating.

The evening will begin with a lecture by Gewas Schindler, general manager of the Iroquois Nationals and three-time All-American followed by talks from Art Coulson (Cherokee lacrosse player), Brett Bucktooth (former All-American and national champion at Syracuse University), and Kevin Reed (president of the Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association). Before the showing of the movie at 8 p.m., co-producer Ernie Stevens III of "Crooked Arrow" will give the introduction of the movie.

The clinic moves east on Sunday to the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School in Bena with the same clinic schedule and movie screening at the school’s gymnasium beginning at 7 p.m.

Both days will have professional players and Minnesota club coaches helping instruct and motivate the youth. - See more at: http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/content/ninham-brings-lacrosse-back#sthash.s1S6p1Ry.dpuf

America's First Sport Documentary

Students in The History of Sport class at Syracuse University's Department of Sport Management researched the history, current status and future prospects of lacrosse during the 2012-13 academic year. This film is a product of their research which was led by Sport Management faculty.

Box Lacrosse League Starting in Duluth

The first season of the Duluth Box Lacrosse League (DBLL) is about to get underway this weekend.  The primary goal of the league is to provide a fun off-season lacrosse opportunity for Northern Minnesota high school lacrosse players. Games will be played at the Lower Chester Hockey Rink in Duluth, MN.  The league will have two divisions.  The High School+ Division is open to area high school players and adults (except current collegiate lacrosse players) and the Middle School Division is open to players in grades 6-8. 

College coaches across the country have identified box lacrosse as a great way to increase lacrosse skills and IQ.  Legendary college coach Bill Tierney (Princeton and University of Denver) has been quoted as saying, “If I was US Lacrosse, I wouldn’t let any kids play field until they were 10 or 12 years old.”  Canadian youth players start playing box lacrosse first and do not transition into field lacrosse until middle school or higher and have become some of the top players in the U.S college game. Canada is rapidly turning out some of the most dominant players on every collegiate level (i.e. DI/DII/DIII).  In 2010, ten of the top thirty point scorers in NCAA Division I lacrosse were Canadian, yet less than 5% of the Division I population are Canadian.

The benefits of box lacrosse are evident:

•    The ball is never out of play. Box lacrosse players touch the ball more often, no doubt about

it.  In a field lacrosse game with a 10 v 10 scenario, your player may never touch the ball.  In box lacrosse, your player is guaranteed to touch the ball a few times per game with only 5 players on the field per team and the boards to keep the ball in play.
•    The small nets in box lacrosse (4' x 4') encourage players to take higher percentage shots, work to find creative ways to get to the goal and improve their shooting accuracy.
•    The tighter confines of a box lacrosse rink improve a players stick handling skills and gets them used to passing and catching in traffic.
•    Box lacrosse emphasizes fundamental defensive footwork since no one is using a long pole.  Defenseman can work on their stick skills and even have some fun scoring goals!
•    Box lacrosse encourages the development of off ball movement and the 2 man game.  Players learn a higher level of reading the defense.

Sam Litman U11 Lacrosse Camp in Superior, WI

Sam Litman

Youth Lacrosse Skills Development Camp

Superior High School (WI)

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Camp Details: The camp will provide youth players with the opportunity

to learn fundamental individual skills and team concepts from

UMD Bulldogs Head Coach Sam Litman and Team Players.

Schedule:

8:30 am, Check In, Superior High School Soccer Field

9:00 to 10:15 am, Skills Session I

10:15 to 10:25 am, Break

10:30 to 11:45 am, Skills Session II

11:45 to 11:55 am, Break

Noon to 12:45 pm, Games Session I

12:45 to 1:10 pm, Lunch On Site

1:15 to 2:30 pm, Skills Session III

2:30 to 2:40 pm, Break

2:45 to 4:00 pm, Skills Session IV

4:00 to 4:10 pm, Break

4:15 to 5:00 pm, Games Session II

 Pre Registration Fees Before October 5 (add $10 to fee for event day registration):

Morning Camp: $40 Includes Lunch          Afternoon Camp: $40 Includes Lunch

Both Morning and Afternoon Camps: $70 Includes Lunch

Camper Age and Gender Limit: 11U Boys       Sam Litman Camp Moisture Resistant T Shirt: $15

All Campers Need To Be In Helmets and Pads            Athletic Trainer On Duty

Make Check Payable to: North Central Lacrosse and mail form and fee to: Dan Ninham, 2323 Wee Gwaus Drive, Bemidji, MN, 56601  Info: Dan Ninham, cell: 218.368.6430, coach.danninham@midco.net