It’s very humbling when you lose a game (22-3) by the score you beat your divisional opponents by.  It’s a little easier to swallow when it’s the #1 ranked team and two-time National Champions the “Tommies” from St. Thomas University.  “Wow!” Said Coach Fritts!  “Very impressive ball club and absolutely eye-opening for the entire team.  It (22-3 loss) is exactly what the doctor ordered for us!  We have a much better idea of what and where we need to train for next season to compete better at the national level.”

Scoring the three goals for Sam Houston were Wil Nielsen (unassisted); Nick Williams assisted by Zach Fry and Alex Badour (unassisted).

Sam Houston – 11  Missouri State – 9

In the consolation game, Sam Houston played much better!  Donny Meyer and Austin Atwood dominated face offs going 14/16 and 5/6 respectively.

But the big story was Freshman Attackman Brendan Gawronski who netted 6 goals and assisted on one other.  “Brendan just kept finding the soft spots in their defense and as much as he found them, his teammates found Brendan as all 6 goals had an assist tied to them! His hands were quick and ‘soft’ this game.  Every pass that came in contact with him, he finished it.”  In fact, only one goal that game (Badour) was unassisted.  “When 50% of your goals are tied to an assist, you feel good about a TEAM effort.  When 10 goals out of 11 have an assist… you just shake your head in total bewilderment.  THAT is total TEAM ball” said Fritts.

Besides Gawronski, other scorers on the day were Wil Nielsen (2g/3a); Logan Holmes (1g/1a); Zach Fry (1g/2a); Alex Badour (1g/1a) and Nick Williams (1a).

The KATS are done for the year!  Overall record is 11-3 and we’ll sit and wait for the year end polls to come out and see where the Kats end up.

2008: 0-8 record

2009: 6-5 and a Conference Championship appearance

2010: 11-3; Undefeated Conference Champions and 1-1 at the nationals in Denver, Colorado

Fritts added “Overall, it was a very good showing for us. Our patience on offense compared to last year was night and day. Except for that defensive lapse, our ‘D’ was absolutely incredible!”  Considering the results of this scrimmage last year was something like a whole lot (20 or so) to little (5ish)… this is a tremendous change for the Kats.

The “newbies” are really bringing value to the program.  Things on the offense are starting to click.  They’re understanding that settling things down for a good scoring opportunity is 100 times better than forcing the “just ok or maybe” opportunities.

Sam Houston is back in action this coming weekend (Nov 14/15) at the A&M Fall Classic in College Station.  First game is on Saturday at 10am against Trinity University.  All things going well, they should be playing Austin College in the winners bracket that same afternoon at 12:30pm.

Nine players for the Kats contributed the 50 shot fire power!  Freshman Michael Mann led all scorers with 5 goals and 5 assists.  Seniors Lance Mitchell (4g/3a), Baron Copeland (3g/3a), Joe Cox (2g) and Robert Bailey (1g) contributed a total of 10 goals towards their last game at Pritchett!  Finishing up the scoring were Neal Thompson (3g) and Alex Badour (1g/1a).  Travis Cottle assited on two goals while Austin Atwood had one.  Goalie sensation Avery Flores just had to make 7 saves to keep the Lumberjacks in check.

With this win, the LSA Division II playoffs are set with the Kats going in as #3 and playing a revenge game against #2 seat, St. Edward’s.  Sam Houston lost a close one earlier in the season to the Gents 10-8.  Southwestern University is the team everyone is trying to dethrone.  They’ll be in action against #4, SFA.

With his 10 point day, Mann is now tied at #2 for the most points in MCLA Division II.  Badour and Mann both dominated SFA in faceoffs with each taking 9 of 11!

The last regular season game is this coming Saturday at TCU.

Game time is 4:30PM at Pritchett Field.

See you then… come out and support the Men’s Lacrosse Team as they play a very old rival school!