How it's Made

Only one of mine and Jay's favorite shows ever!

Stormin'

There was a lot of talk this last week that the Thunder had lost it's drive. That we were vulnerable, and people where thinking that with that one loss, we'd be shut down.

Well, the critics were shut up pretty harsh last night when we came out to dominate against the Storm Troopers. 16-7 was the final, with us controlling from the get-go. I felt much more solid in goal this week after making some changes to my positioning and style. The shots they did get in were very good, so I'm pretty happy with that. I also stuffed the majority of 1on1's that came up, so I was stoked with that.

We were short Stuart this week as his parents had just arrived to visit that evening, and the 'Troopers were short two guys. Turned out that three (of five!) of George's brothers were in town to visit for a couple of days and they wanted to play. Mike asked for Zak in goal and two of George's brothers, and we took the other two. It made for a very interesting dynamic, having the bro's split up. Needless to say, there was a whole lot of 'brotherly love' going on (you should see John's ribs...).

George himself was on fire, racking up more than nine goals I believe. Mark was also on a mission again (goals, ground balls, rebound, everything!) after a quiet round last week (it might have helped a bit that he could actually pass with his stick again, after a bit of restringing work before the match). Dara and Gibby also stepped up on Defense and made it very difficult for the 'Troopers up and down the court. They had to work extremely hard for every shot.

All in all, a very good game for us. I'm actually pretty happy that we lost last week. I think it cleared any tightness in the lads and allowed them to have fun on the pitch. And when we're enjoying our game, it's very difficult to match us.

The Keeper

Man, folks are sending me all sorts of good vids lately...

UCD Highlights

The on-campus student video network at UCD, CTN posted a highlight reel of the second game (in a three game series) between UCD and Dublin Lacrosse. Not the most recent game, which was recorded by TG4, but still a very cool deal for the UCD boys. It's great to see how much the sport is growing out here. Paddy and the lads at UCD are doing an amazing job of promoting and growing their club.

http://www.ucdlacrosse.com/

Eliuk Interview

Nice little vid that was forwarded to me today. Gives you an idea of what a box goalie is (and the man is a legend as well):

Stung

(Apologies, I just now realized that I didn't hit Publish on this post last friday)

Well, it had to happen sometime I guess. We lost our first game on Wednesday night to the Darkside. Not much to it really. We played good Defense, allowing only 8 goals, but on Offense it just came down to not finishing. We only scored about half our average number of goals.

The game was close all the way through, with us picking up our rythm in the second period and pulling ahead by 1. Unfortunately, it seems that the period end stopped that momentum. The DS boys put up one heck of a fight and we ended up tied at 7 with 2 minutes left to play. Somehow Paddy got free of the defense and it was 1on1 right on the crease. The ball just barely, I mean barely, slipped past my arm to put them ahead. I felt pretty low after that, as I felt I lost the whole game.

Stepping back and evaluating things, we made some mistakes as a team, but not a ton. The DS came out very strong, and they earned the win. They simply wanted it more than we did on that night. I think this will be good for us as a team though. It should be in everyone's head that we are not invincible, and that we are going to have to continue to work very hard if we want to finish strong and take home the cup. We're now 6-1, with 2 games left in the season.

I'm happy that I've been able to keep my goals-against average pretty low, but also pretty angry with myself for not making the save when we really needed it. I feel I made improvements on the night though, not making any of the mistakes I have previously. So, if I can keep my focus and continue to improve, there's no reason we won't win it all.

Playing in field goal for my third time tonight when Dublin Lacrosse takes on UCD. We're 1-1 in the three games series, so tonight's the big night. The Irish national TV station, TG4 will be filming the game tonight as well, which is pretty cool.

Don't Stop Believin'

6 and 0. Yes, that's right, undefeated still!

The best thing about last night's game was that every single player scored!! Well, not me as I don't really count, but I did get an assist. ;-) Couldn't be more proud of these guys. There was a definite difference in play from Stuart, who had been playing a bit tentative so far this season. He had a break out game, taking a lot of quality looks and scoring two big goals. Mark and Dara also stepped up their games, with both getting a good amount of looks and good shots. Mark picked up two and Dara one. George has had a great impact on the Offense, not just by leading the league in scoring, but he's provided leadership for the rest of the team; setting up feeds and helping to build confidence. Gibby does the same thing on Defence, setting the standard for proper strong box play. It's amazing how fast everyone has gelled together to form a strong team from all angles.

We were short Gibby again due to him being grounded in Nova Scotia due to a hurricane (yea, weak excuse I know), but so again no subs. It was a tough and gritty game, with the score real close in the first two periods. As has been our trademark all season though, we found the winning rhythm in the third and pulled away to a 12-9 win. I'm a bit annoyed with myself though, as 8 points was the most any team had scored on me all season, and at least 2 of those goals were completely my own fault (two bad passes that resulted in easy shots). I really need to keep my head when clearing the ball.

You'd think that with winning consistently the lads would get a bit cocky and complacent. This hasn't happened though, with every player continually improving each week. It's a beautiful thing to be a part of.

Now, most of you will have no idea what this is all about, but I gotta give a shout out to my boyz:

5 and 0 Baby!

That's right, even heavily undermanned on Wednesday, we still pulled together for the win. As it was Halloween night, all teams were short, and the 'Troopers put on a heck of a fight, keeping it very close through the first two periods, with us down by 1 or 2 for most of the game. We held them goalless for the final period though to jump ahead and take the win. I can't say enough about Mark Colgan and the rest of the lads. Mark stepped up and had a huge game on both sides of the field. Just goes to show that you don't need to score all the goals to carry your team to a win! George pulled out some amazing shots on O as well, and Dara found his range, netting 3 goals from the point like a sniper.

I can't believe we're undefeated so far. Last season we won only our last game of the season. Needless to say I'm pretty stoked with the balance we have this season.

Check this out. I've been working on designing some shirts for the team and got my first one in the mail today. It's a place out of Germany that makes them to order.


The above one is in Irish (slick eh?). They're in English as well for all non-gaelige folks out there too. ;-) Want one? I knew ya did.. Well then, check out our Store!