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

Coach Fritts had this to say… “I was in bed when I got the phone call about the bracket.  Looked it up online myself and then started putting the scout report on St. Thomas together.  We’re not the same team that lost to Kennesaw State in March.  The guys are much more patient and we’re hitting on all 6 cylinders.  The loss to Texas Tech was one we felt we should have kept the ‘W’ and the win over Texas A&M proves that we can play with some of the best talent in the country.  Our DI schedule this year served its purpose… to prepare us for the tough competition at nationals.”

The game is scheduled for 10am on Tuesday, May 11, 2010.   Field assignment at Dicks Sporting Goods Park is not known at this time.

Stephen F Austin came to Huntsville but the Lumberjacks were just not ready as the Bearkats awaited them in their “DEN.”  One hour before game time and SFA only had 7 players… 20 minutes and counting, a few more trickled in.  By game time, SFA had about 13 players, enough for three subs.  You just can’t come to Pritchett Field short-handed to play Sam Houston, especially when such a huge rivalry is on the line.

It’s 12 midnight and Coach Fritts advised us he just got home as I-45 south was closed.  We’ll get more of the victory over SFA tomorrow after the Championship game.

Sam Houston (5-0) vs Centenary College (4-1)

Pritchett Field – 3pm

Does that make the Sam Houston – Stephen F Austin game an easy win?  “Not by any means” says Coach Fritts.  “You have to understand the history of our two schools.  Not just lacrosse but in football, basketball, baseball… any sport, any organization, it just doesn’t matter who is UP or who is down.  The score always starts out 0-0 and there is too much rivalry to get caught up in records when we play.”

Undefeated season is surprisingly not new to Fritts as his 1984 team swept the division with a perfect 10-0 mark.  “Those were some games back then!  We played everyone in our division (A&M, Tulane, Rice, LSU, U of H) twice (home/away) and beat them all both times.  LSU, U of H,  and Rice were the only games with large margins.  A&M, Tulane along with Texas and TCU, were never separated by more than 5 goals. ”

SFA game is Saturday night at 6:30pm in Pritchett Field.  The DII Championship game is Sunday at 3:00pm, also in Pritchett.

True test for the Kats will be this Monday (3/8) when 17th ranked Kennesaw State comes to faceoff with the #22 Bearkats.  Coach Fritts said “This game has been planned for many months and Coach Byers (KSU Head Coach) and I look forward to a great game.”  Both Fritts and Byers are from Long Island so this might mean some… “bragging rights?!”  “Coach Byers will have his boys ready, trust me.  They’ll be in shape, they’ll have a great amount of finesse and by all means, they’ll hit you when they need to… just as we do.  It will be good old fashion ‘Long Island’ ball all night long.”

The two coaches have never met before as all communication has been done via phone and email.  “This is going to be fun. He (Byers) is a class act and I know we both look forward to being able to put a face with a name.”

Monday night’s match up will be the most important game in the history of Sam Houston lacrosse. Fritts says “This game will either catapult us forward on the national scene and get us some respect or we’ll drop like a hot potato.”

Game time is 6:30pm.  Be there… support your KATS… and wear your ORANGE!!!

Sam Lockett (1g/3a); Nick Williams (3g); Wil Nielsen (4g/4a); Brendan Gawronski (5g/1a); Will McNutt (1g); Logan Holmes (3g/1a); Donny Meyer (1g/1a); Nate Mitchell (1g) and Zach Fry (2g/4a).

The Bearkats picked up a season high 82 ground balls led by Defensemen John Messer and Greg Kremen.

KATS are back home this Saturday (March 6) with Austin College visiting.  Game time is 2pm in Pritchett Field.

The excitement for the 2010 season to begin is just electrifying!  Players are ready to get back to school and get the 2010 lacrosse season going!  They have been given harsh messages of returning in shape from Coach Fritts.  There’s no more goofing off… it’s time to get serious and win a Conference Championship!

Top games for the Kats will be visiting Kennesaw State from Georgia.  Coach Byers is also from Long Island so the Bearkats know they’ll be in for a “run and gun” kind of game.  Add to this, Sam Houston will face five teams from the MCLA Division I bracket.  Baylor, OU, Rice, Tech and A&M.  Fritts said “We definitely have our hands full with this schedule.  Tough back to back games and some high level games with just a few days off… it’s going to be challenging but well worth it.  We’re going to learn a lot about what kind of talent we do or don’t have and most importantly, what kind of character this team is made of.”

Break out your ORANGE and be at Pritchett Field for ALL of the Kat’s home games.

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.