On Saturday the Baylor Bears came to town thinking “easy game, Sam Houston… Division II… should be a practice.”  What they met up with is a Bearkat team that is out to prove they deserve their national ranking (currently 15) and doesn’t know the word QUIT!  The visiting Bears knew they were in for a game when Sam Houston took a 2-0 lead at the end of the 1st quarter.  The two teams traded 2 goals each in the 2nd quarter for a 4-3 Bearkat halftime lead.  Back came Baylor outscoring Sam 4-2 in the 3rd quarter to take a 7-6 lead.  The 4th quarter was just crazy!  Baylor scored first and had a two goal lead and then Sam Houston just exploded with 4 goals in a matter of 5 minutes and a 10-8 lead.  Victory looked inevitable until Baylor scored with just 1:09 left on the clock.  They (Bears) had several chances to force overtime but the Bearkat defense shut them down again!

Anchoring the defense is returning All Conference goalie Avery Flores and two All Conference Defensemen John Messer and Travis Cottle.  Coupled with returning senior Brian Eckhoff and three freshman (Greg Kremen, Forrest Schmidt, Tyler Tyson).  Coach Fritts said “These guys… all six of them, are on their own come game time.  I tell them who to look for or what to expect and then Cottle and Messer run the show from there. They are free to call their own slides, change it, go back… what ever they want to do… they do, and they do it well.”  Sam Houston implemented a “Defensive Midfield” line the week before consisting of Schmidt, Tyson and midfielder Nate Mitchell.  “They shut down the Goldstein brothers,” said Fritts.  “We had a good scouting report on Daniel and Michael (Goldstein).  Combined, they average 7.75 points per game coming in to Sam and the D-midfield shut out Daniel and held Michael to just one goal (1 point).  With that, our two offensive midfield lines got time to rest and catch their wind on the sidelines instead of playing defense.”

Leading the scoring attack were freshman Brendan Gawronski (4g,2a) and Wil Nielsen (4g).  Sophomore Attackman Nick Williams tallied one goal and freshman Midfielder Zach Fry had 3 points (1g, 2a).  Fritts commented “Gawronski and Nielsen were our ‘closers’ against Baylor. Everything that came their way, they buried it.”  Defenseman Greg Kremen also had an assist on the day.

A huge but welcomed surprise was in faceoffs.  Freshman Donny Meyer won all 10 of his opportunities while Junior Austin Atwood took 7 of 9. “Ball control like that is just paramount to winning games” said Fritts.  “My best day at Sam was 7-7 and Donny just killed that one!”

OKLAHOMA GAME

On Sunday, the Sooners came Booming into town with a big 14-5 win over Rice the day before.  Again, their confidence was high!  Here’s small Division II opponent Sam Houston facing another Division I school!  The Sooners took a quick 2 goal lead before Sam Houston would get their offense clicking to tie it at 2 but then OU got one more before the end of the 1st.  In the 1st half for the Kats, it became the “Nick Williams Show” as he scored all 5 Sam Houston goals!  “Nick was simply on fire” said Fritts!  “Every loose ball, every feed… every goal… it belonged to Nick!”  The Bearkat defense held the Sooner ‘O’ to just 2 in the 2nd quarter and the teams hit the half tied at 5.  OU opened the 3rd quarter quick by scoring just 1:18 seconds in and tallied again 8 minutes later.  Sam Houston could only muster one in the 3rd and was behind 7-6 to start the 4th.  But… it’s the fourth quarter and that means Sam Houston OFFENSE!  OU started off the scoring in the 4th but then the Kats did it once again this time with 3 unanswered goals.  OU tied the game up with 5:06 showing on the clock.  With just 2:38 left in the game, Fry scored his second of the day and capped off yet another nail biter for the Bearkats!

Fritts was exhausted!  “Two days of this… opening weekend and we win by the same score and in the very last minutes of the game.  Someone called the team the ‘Cardiac KATS’ and after these two games, I’d have to agree with that name… I surely almost had one!”  Nick Williams was “IT” for the KATS scoring 6 goals and assisting on another.  Fry had 2 goals, 2 assists while freshmen Logan Holmes (1g,1a) and Sam Lockett (2a) got in to the scoring ranks.  Nielsen had one assist and Gawronski finished with 1 goal.

“To open up with back to back, Division I opponents… and beat them both, is a great way to start the 2010 season” said Coach Fritts.  “We had 5 weeks of practice leading up to this, no full-field work what so ever, and these young men come out and just explode and execute all that they have been learning up to this point.  Truly was a job well done and they all should be proud of what just happened this weekend… I know I am.”

The KATS open up play on Saturday, February 20 (1pm) against Baylor University at Sam Houston’s Pritchett Field.  The next day, Oklahoma University rolls in for an 11am game.

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.

On Saturday, November 7, the Texas A&M Aggies will be in Huntsville for a scrimmage.  Game time and field assignment has not been finalized yet.

The following week (Nov 14/15), it’s back to College Station for the annual Aggie Fall Classic.  Schedules are still being determined by the Aggie coordinators.

So please… come join us, view the selections, and make a pledge!  It truly is a “WIN-WIN” for everyone!

Anticipated launch date is July 15, 2009!

August 1, 2009 is the cut-off date for the Fall semester.  At that time coach will announce the final 2009 recruiting class here and on laxpower.com and collegelax.us.

The winners of the two games play on Sunday for the Lone Star Alliance, Division II Championship.  Below is the format and location.

Location
Eanes ISD Westlake Stadium
562 Camp Craft Rd.
Austin, TX 78746
Format as follows:

Saturday – April 25
9:00 AM Division II Playoff game #2 against #3
11:30 AM Division II Playoff game #1 against #4
2:00 PM High School Playoff game #1
4:30 PM Division I Playoff game North #1 against #2/3 from South
7:00 PM Division I Playoff game South #1 against #2/3 from North

Sunday – April 26
11:30 AM Division II Championship
2:00 PM Division I Championship
4:30 PM High School Playoff game #2

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!