But what really tops off the season is when players are recognized on the national level.  Zach Fry (Midfield) and Greg Kremen (Defense) were both named 3rd Team All American while John Messer (Defense) place on the Honorable Mention.  Last year the team had just one on the All American list.  The exposure in Denver at the nationals solidified the spots for these three.  “Without Denver and these guys being seen by the other coaches on the Selection Committee, I wouldn’t have had much to negotiate with during the selection process” said Coach Fritts.    Fritts is on the Selection Committee and elaborated on the process.  “It (process) was great to be a part of.  We all get a list of the nominees which came from all ten conferences around the country.  If the nominee is there at nationals, each of us has a responsibility to scout him and see what he has.  The Friday night before the championship game, we are on a two hour conference call voicing our opinions.  It was a very respectful process and at times quite ‘open’ as far as opinions go. ”

The Academic All American is to Fritts the “Cream” of the Student/Athletes.  “This is what we’re here for… an education first and if you can excel in the class room and on the field… my hat is off to all those who achieved this honor.”  To qualify for the Academic All American honor, you must have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher and have been selected to your Conference’s 1st or 2nd team.  Doing just that are Zach Fry, John Messer, Donny Meyer and Nick Williams.  Worth noting is Brendan Gawronski missed this honor by .01!  “That’s how picky they are!  They wouldn’t even round up .01 for Brendan.  I’m sure he’ll get it next year!  Either way, I’m very proud of all the young men here who have achieved national recognition.”

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

If you know any of these players and see them in class or walking by on campus, please stop and shake their hand as they “represented” Sam Houston State University in a huge way!

Wil Nielsen – Attack, 1st Team
Nick Williams – Attack, 2nd Team
Brendan Gawronski – Attack, 2nd Team

* Zach Fry – Midfield, 1st Team
Logan Holmes – Midfield, 2nd Team
* Donny Meyer – Midfield, 3rd Team
Sam Lockett – Midfield, 3rd Team

* Greg Kremen – Defense, 1st Team
* John Messer – Defense, 1st Team
Travis Cottle – Defense, 2nd Team

Avery Flores – Goalie, 1st Team

Donny Meyer – FOGO (Face Off/Get Off) there is only ONE selection for this… it’s all Donny!

Tyler Tyson – Long Stick Midfield, 1st Team
Forrest Schmidt – Long Stick Midfield, 3rd Team

Individual League Awards
Most Valuable Player – Zach Fry
Rookie of the Year – Greg Kremen
Offensive Player of the Year – Wil Nielsen
Defensive Player of the Year – Greg Kremen

* = All American Nominee

With this win and Conference Championship, Sam Houston will receive the AQ (automatic qualifier) to the national playoffs held in Denver, Colorado.  The team flies out two weeks from today (Sunday) but still doesn’t know who their first opponent will be.  Reason is there are some conferences around the country who have not held their championships yet so the MCLA (national group) cannot finalize the tournament seeding.

More updates are coming!

Congratulations to the Sam Houston State University Men’s Lacrosse Team!!!

2010 Champions!!!!!

It was 8-0 at the end of the 1st quarter with UTSA and 16-0 at the end of the first half.  “My players hate running time” says Fritts.  “It’s frustrating for them to travel so far and then end up playing about half of a real game.  But, as the adult here, I have to think about what the other team is feeling.  I’ve been on the end of blowouts worse than this UTSA game and no one offered to go running time back then.  Not only is it demoralizing for the losing team but things usually start to get cheap as they’d rather hurt you than properly play and defend you.”

Scorers for Sam Houston:

Sam Lockett (2g); Nick Williams (2g); Wil Nielsen (2g/4a); Brendan Gawronski (4g); Austin Atwood (1g/1a); John Messer (1g); Logan Holmes (5g); Donny Meyers (1g); Forrest Schmidt (1a); Zach Fry (3g/3a)

Final regular season game is this Tuesday (April 20) at Pritchett Field against rival SFA!!!  Game time is 6pm! Come support your Bearkats as they seek to close out their division schedule UNDEFEATED!

KATS took a 2-1 lead at the end of the 1st quarter and went into the half leading 6-3.  To open the 2nd half, A&M scored in the first ten seconds! “Exactly what we didn’t want to see” said Coach Fritts.  “It was what we spent half time talking about… ‘Don’t let them back in.’”  The Aggs would score again before Sam Houston got things going.  “Tech lit us up for 5 goals in the 3rd quarter on Sunday and it stuck in our minds not to let that happen again.”  A&M got 3 but so did Sam and the 4th quarter started with a 9-6 lead.  The 4th quarter, especially at Home, means great Sam Houston lacrosse and it came through again as the defense held A&M to just one goal in the 4th while the offense put 3 more in the net.

Sam Houston was flagged for 13 penalties (11 minutes) while A&M only saw the penalty box for 4 (3.5 minutes).  “Our Man-Down team was just incredible.  Twice we were two men down and they only scored once on that.  Two total extra man goals during 11 minutes… just incredible.”  That Man-Down team is made up of Goalie Avery Flores and Defensemen John Messer, Travis Cottle, Greg Kremen, Tyler Tyson, Forrest Schmidt and Brian Eckhoff.  Fritts added “Never, in the history of Sam Houston lacrosse, has there been such a collection of defensive talent.  It’s amazing what these guys can do on the field.”

Offensively, the Kats were thrown a curve ball.  Alex Badour went down in the Texas Tech game on Sunday with a broken collarbone.  For an opponent like A&M, you need as much offensive power as you can at all times.  With Coach Fritts, Zach Fry, Logan Holmes, Nick Williams and Badour, all met and outlined the plan.  It was decided to rotate Fry or Holmes to Attack when the 2nd Midfield was in and bring Nick or Wil Nielsen up from the Attack to run Midfield.  “It worked.  Plain and simple, it worked due to the hustle and endurance of those four. We settled the ball more on offense to give everyone time to catch their wind and got good scoring opportunities with our patience. ”

A major contributor to the win was ball control.  With help from the wings on faceoffs, Donny Meyer and Austin Atwood were credited for winning 68.5%!  “For people who don’t know this game, understand, that number is HUGE… off the charts in a game like this!”

Scoring:

Zach Fry 6 goals/2 assists; Wil Nielsen 3 goals/1 assist; Logan Holmes  2 goals; Brendan Gawronski 1 goal; Nick Williams 3 assists; Donny Meyer 1 assist.

Tomorrow, Sam Houston heads out of Huntsville at 8am for a meeting with Texas Tech. The game is being played at Keller Central High School.  Game time is 2pm.  There is a ton of history between these two teams.  The schools have played for three Southwest Lacrosse Championships in the 80′s (83, 84 & 86) with Tech being victorious in each.  Coach Fritts was there for the 83 & 84 games.  “We had them at the half both games. In 83, we shocked them because we were so new.  They just turned things up another level in the 3rd and 4th quarters on us and we just couldn’t finish hard” said Fritts.  But, he added “tomorrow is a new day, these are different times, and different talent levels.  Coach Widmer has a very good and respected program so we’ll definitely have our hands full.”

There is no rest for the weary!  After this Division 1 match up with Tech, long time rival Texas A&M visits Pritchett Field on Wednesday night for a 7pm face off.  “Almost 30 years of history is what the Aggie – Bearkat game brings to Wednesday night.  A&M is always my measuring stick for where we need to be.  It’s coming up on 30 years that I’ve known Coach Scazzero as mentor, colleague and friend.  We know what the games were like in the 80′s so each time we meet, it’s always a special time.”

Bearkats jumped out to an early 1-0 just 51 seconds in to the game on a goal by Nick Williams assisted by Zach Fry. In a span of just a minute and a half, the Owls rattled off three of their own.  Sam Houston answered with two goals by Wil Nielsen and Fry to end the 1st quarter tied at 3.  Donny Myer and Logan Holmes assisted on Nielsen and Fry’s goals respectively.

In the 2nd and 3rd quarters, the Owls just turned up the heat a few notches and Sam Houston just didn’t keep pace.  KSU outscored Sam 4-1 in the second quarter and 5-2 in the 3rd.  Logan Holmes scored on an assist from Donny Meyer in the 2nd while in the 3rd Brendan Gawronski hit in the on an assist from Nielsen and Williams scored again unassisted.  Alex Badour scored the lone goal in the 4th to KSU’s 3 goals.

After the game, Coach Fritts said “We played a good, fast and deep Kennesaw team tonight.  They were able to find the open man and finish the play.  We missed about 4 or 5 one on one’s with their goalie which can just kill you.”  Besides those missed opportunities, Sam Houston controlled the face off winning 16 of 24.  Donny Meyer was 7-11; Austin Atwood 8-11 and Zach Fry was 1-2.  “We had the ball, we had the opportunities and just did not take advantage of those situations.”

Sam Houston is in action again tomorrow night (Wednesday, March 10) when the Rice Owls come to Pritchett Field for a 7pm game.

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.

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.”