The Adidas Top 23 poll for MCLA (Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association) came out last week and Sam Houston made its first appearance coming in at #16!  “It’s big for the kids… big for the school and the program which is going through yearly transformations” said Coach Fritts.  Coach added “I’ve never taken pre-season polls (football, basketball) too serious but then again, I’ve never been a part of an organization that received a national ranking.  It’s exciting! I thank the folks who put this together for recognizing what is going on here at Sam Houston.  Now the hard part is proving to the rest of the country that we deserve it.”

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.

Sam Houston opens the 2010 season when Baylor (Feb 20) and OU (Feb 21) come to visit 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.

Sam Houston cruised through the weekend 4-0 to claim the Division II Championship at Texas A&M this weekend!!

Two keys to success… Defense and an Offense that is starting to click.  “When our defense is on, they can play with anyone,” said Coach Fritts.  “They just do what they want out there and can play ‘take-away’ with the best of them.  Our offense is now starting to click and is showing great patience and maturity in the attack area.”

Scores from the weekend:

Sam Houston – 8; St. Edward’s – 1

Sam Houston – 10; Centenary College – 4

Sam Houston – 18; Austin College – 0

Championship Game

Sam Houston – 11; Centenary College 2

The Kats are off the remainder of the Fall and will start practice in January with its season opener the weekend of February 20th against Division I opponents.  Baylor comes in on the 20th while Oklahoma rolls through on the 21st.

The Aggies came to town on Sunday (Nov 8th) with their huge, 50 man squad, and snuck out of Pritchett Field with a 2 goal win.  This was a controlled scrimmage, three quarters of 25 minute – running time.  Sam Houston took a quick two goal lead before A&M got their first tallie.  With just four minutes left in the second period, the Bearkats were up 4-2 and then suffered a total defensive collapse.  “For some unexplained reason, we just didn’t play defense at all, I mean we were just no where to be found” said Coach Fritts.  The Aggies scored 3 in that time frame to take a 5-4 lead.  In the 3rd and final period, the visitors netted four more to Sam Houston’s three.

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.

The Bearkats will be in Georgetown next Sunday (Oct 25) visiting the campus of Southwestern University to play in a Round-robin scrimmage.  They start off with Southwestern at 1pm and then take on last year’s Lone Star Alliance Division I Champion the University of Texas at 2pm.  The day will wrap up at 4pm with Texas State University.  Coach Fritts commented “We have a full day of top level ball coming.  This will be a great way for our guys to play with some of the best talent in the state and to learn what it will take to move up to the next level.”  Sam Houston currently plays in Division II and will be moving up to Division I for the 2011 season.

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.