PNCLL Division 1 Preview for Week 2
By Dan Wishengrad
Friday, February 6th
Chico State at Washington 7pm
Gonzaga at Pacific Lutheran 7pm
Saturday, February 7th
Portland State at Idaho 1pm
Montana at Washington State 1pm
Southern Oregon at Western Oregon 1pm
Willamette at Portland 4:30pm
Boise State at Simon Fraser
Sunday, February 8th
Portland at Western Oregon Noon
Chico State vs Gonzaga (at Tacoma) Noon
Montana at Idaho Noon
Boise State at Washington 1pm
After Willamette kicked off our ’09 season last week with the Bearcats’ third straight win at UOP in as many years, the PNCLL sees some actual regular season lacrosse up here for the first time since last May.
Chico State of the WCLL invades the Northwest for OOC games against Washington and Gonzaga. The Wildcats crushed the Huskies 18-4 at home last season, but were upset by the Zags on a neutral field in Portland. U-Dub is up first, under the lights on Friday night in Seattle. The Huskies return talent and experience on the offensive half of the field, with Middies Nick Tierney (24g, 12a) and Joey Cramer (30g, 21a) a potent All-PNCLL 1-2 punch, and on Attack where Sean Forsyth (22g, 27a), Jacob Sonkin (18g, 18a) and Steven Frankel (19g, 15a) form a solid starting unit. PNCLL All-Conference Goalie Cammy Moore (57% sv) anchors the defense, and has a terrific Frosh Long-Pole in Casey Weisner (Bainbridge Island HS, WA) who looks to make an immediate impact for UW. Stewart Kerns takes over the reins as Head Coach, assisted by former Kenyon teammate Jack Cerchiara, who played for the Huskies in ’08 as a grad student.
Ben Stein returns for a second season at the helm of Gonzaga, which takes on DII PLU at the Curtis H.S. stadium in Tacoma to kick off the ’09 campaign. GU has a pair of all-PNCLL stars in Stewart Allen (31g, 9a) and Aaron Niehuser (16g, 16a) to spearhead the offense. The underrated Peter Janicki (7g, 22a) will likely again serve as the Zags’ primary feeder. David Hughes (59% sv) returns for his Senior season between the pipes. Gonzaga failed to make the post-season in ’08, but was very competitive on the field — as the win over Chico State attests to. Close ’08 losses to UW, Montana and Oregon State proves that the Zags were right there “in the mix” one year ago, and the Bulldogs will likey be one of the teams battling for a shot to advance to the PNCLL post-season tournament again in 2009. The Sunday rematch at Curtis against Chico should be a great early-season matchup for fans to get out and watch.
On Saturday, Simon Fraser hosts Boise State in the ’09 debut for both schools. Only time will tell if this year’s squad can prove as good as the ’99 SFU team which made it to the national title game, but this year’s roster is certainly a deeper one. Reining ’08 PNCLL Co-Coaches of the Year Brent Hoskins and Jeff Cathrea have an abundance of offensive talent to send out, and Boise State will be the first to try to slow down the Canadians. ’08 PNCLL Offensive Player of the Year Ben Towner (60g, 10a) leads the parade of scorers from the Attack, with fellow 1st team All-PNCLL Russell Thomas (27g, 18a) the biggest threat at Midfield. All-PNCLL Attackman Adam Foss (12g, 22a) will often run the show from “X” while cranking in lefty goals as well. Attackman Chris Tessarolo (32g, 8a) can’t be ignored either, and will make opposing teams who focus on stopping Towner pay dearly. Senior All-Everything Curtis Manning should be a contender for MCLA national Player of the Year honors, presumably at LSM, but exactly where he will play this season is anybody’s guess. After being named a PNCLL 1st All-Conference player at Midfield and Attack his first two seasons, all Manning did for an ’08 encore was to earn PNCLL MVP honors at LSM, a first-team All-America selection and then get taken #6 overall in the NLL pro draft. Goalie Dean Stewart (60% sv) returns for his Sophomore season and should be even better, but may actually get pressed for playing time by Junior Mike Ripley, now converted to a full-time Keeper for ’09 after two seasons primarily playing Middie. The SFU close defense is deep, with Matt Brascia, Calvin Castagner, Mark Miyashita and Calvin Castagner the key returning poles.
Boise State comes off a disappointing 1-7 conference season in 2008, but Head Coach Brian Sanderson returns to try to guide the Broncos back to the playoffs, as he did in ’07. Senior Shawn Carman, who led all PNCLL Goalies with a 65% save percentage last year, will have to be a stud in the cage for BSU to have a chance against the Clansmen in Canada. With their two top scorers lost to graduation, other Broncos will have to step up in ’09 to put the ball in the opposing cage. Sophomores Shay Underwood (9g, 8a) and James Ottomeyer (11g, 4a) are two likely candidates. On Sunday Boise heads back down to the U.S. for a game at Washington. In their first two seasons in the PNCLL the Broncos played two thrilling one-goal contests against the Huskies, with each team winning once. But last season UW trounced BSU in Boise, so the Broncos should have ample motivation this time around.
Montana kicks off it’s second season in DI with a pair of road games up on the Palouse. The Griz have added UM alum (and former Idaho Coach) Ryan Hanavan as a Head Coach. ’08 Coach Kevin Flynn moves to Defensive Coordinator for the Griz. While some of the best talent graduated after last season, the cupboard is hardly bare for the Grizzlies. Senior Attackman Sam Cameron (29g, 22a) and the versatile Face-Off Specialist/Attackman Tucker Sargent (34g, 5a) return to lead the offense. Jason Keck (14g, 4a) and Willy Delius (8g, 15a) look to play more prominent roles on offense in ’09, as well. Senior Netminder Colin Connery (56%) gives Montana steady leadership on the other half of the field, while bruising close defenseman Henry Sulzbacher and the talented Bryce Davies at LSM should lead a solid group of Griz long-poles.
First up for Montana on Saturday is a game at Washington State. The Cougars had a rough return to the PNCLL in ’08, going winless in conference play and being forced to take the field with as few as a dozen players late in the season. But reports from Pullman have a large class of incoming Frosh and transfer players, which should greatly help WSU’s chances for being competitive in ’09. Key returners Nick Lyon (9g, 4a) and Kevin Weitz (3g, 7a) both switch to Midfield, with transfer Lucas Simons (41g, 4a at DII Western Washington) heading up what will be an entirely “new look” Attack. Last year’s stellar Goalie, Alex Garabedian, moves out to Attack to make way in the cage for Freshman Mike Dostie. And most significant for Washington State will be the presence of an actual, non-playing adult Head Coach — Dan Tuschong — giving the Cougs something that they have never really had in decades of lacrosse club existence.
On Sunday Montana makes the quick hop across the state border to Moscow for a contest with Idaho. The Vandals were one of 2008′s best success stories, as a team without a previous conference win ever finished in sixth place last year with victories over Boise State and WSU. New Head Coach Mike Band now prowls the sidelines, where he will be faced in the opener against his former Head Coach and mentor. Jake Ballard (15g, 15a) and Chance Townsend (18g, 11a) return to lead the UI offense, with Krieger Shaw (17g, 7a) and Grant Band (13g, 7a) also back to help provide scoring. Ben Lavigne was a well-deserved All-PNCLL Defenseman in ’08, while Frosh Goalie Gary Jurado (58% sv) is the other key Vandal returning player on the defensive half. This game should prove to be a very entertaining “chess match”, as the two coaches obviously know each other very well.
Good luck to all the teams taking the field for the first time!
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February 4th, 2009 at 6:02 pm WordPress MU
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