Walax Rundown Week Ten

Welcome back to Walax's Rundown.  This past week had more excitement around the state and around the nation as playoff May Madness is in full swing.  From high school to college to the professional level there was playoff action all across the board.  Featured this week is an interesting upset in DI, DII first round results, Washington boys in NCAA playoffs and the Stealth falling short in final game.

In Division I high school, Skyline was the big story raising eyebrows and showing why they truly were a dark horse team this season.  Despite their losses early in the season Lake Washington dealt Skyline a 12-7 loss with some handy work from Kang Cody Bernstein.  The Spartans went on to host an Issaquah squad unprepared for their team intensity.  Skyline kept the game close the entire way and forced overtime, Max Saffle found Ryan McMackin on doorstep goal and a sudden victory.  The win sparked the Spartans to hold Mercer Island to an 8-5 loss two days later.  However, the Spartans were knocked out of the playoffs with Eastlake taking the Northeast no. 6 seed. The late season surge only revealed too little too late for the Spartans, but played well nonetheless gaining a notable upset.  The Eastlake Wolves are team that always improves late in the season with their last regular season win coming against Northshore 13-9.  Patrick Keogh scored four goals and two assists in a victory that ousted Northshore out of the playoffs. The first round game between Eastlake and Tacoma will be one to keep an eye on this weekend.  The first round match pitting Eastside Catholic and Tahoma will also be an interesting one.  Tahoma edged the Crusaders 16-15 in overtime earlier this season. Check for the Division I bracket here.

In Division II, the playoffs are underway as the first round was completed last week, with the exception of a delayed game between Highline and North County.  All the favored teams won their first round games.  However, there were some close ones such as Sammamish's defeat of Three Rivers 14-11.  The Totems were without several of their players like leading scorer Tyvan Schmidt, but midfielder Tyler Wright once again proved a player to reckon with, scoring two goals and three assists.  Their next quarterfinal game will be a highlight for sure, they face a hot Providence team led by one of DII's top scorers and ball handlers Ryan Morris.  Also, Metro titan Garfield downed a Snohomish squad that was a highly ranked preseason prospect.  The Bulldogs downed the visitors 11-7 in the first round to advance.  Junior midfielder Carl Barnes scored five goals and one assist in the win.  

Washingtonians Advance In DI NCAA Madness

On the east coast, the NCAA collegiate playoffs have four Washington natives and one with ties to the state spread across several teams. All of them advanced to the next round with wins over their respective opponents. Shane O'Neill (Seattle Prep '06) advanced with his no. 2 seeded Cornell Big Red dismantling Hartford 12-5 in the first round.  Northwest icon Jamison Koesterer coached his Johns Hopkins Blue Jays to a 12-5 win over Hofstra.  His faceoff coaching work is visible in the Jays' domination at the circle and possession time. Cole Nordstrom (Bellevue '10) and his Denver Pioneers played in the first game of the NCAA playoffs west of the Mississippi against Villanova.  The Pioneers won 13-10 in front of a sellout crowd in the Mile High City.  They will travel to Baltimore to face Jamison's Blue Jays in the quarterfinals. The biggest performance of a Washington native this weekend was Drew Snider (Garfield '06) with his four goal performance against North Carolina. It included finishing off a highlight reel hidden ball trick that capped his fourth goal of the day.  Snider and Landon Carr (Curtis '09) advance to play Syracuse in the tournament's biggest quarterfinal match-up.  Maryland showed lots of talent, depth and a desire to win.

Maryland's Hidden Ball Trick Play- Snider finishes

Stealth's Run Ends With Seconds Remaining

The Washington Stealth made the improbable three road game run in the playoffs to the Champion's Cup game this Sunday.  However, the dream of a repeat was slighted by the game MVP Toronto goaltender Bob Watson who made 46 saves on the night.  He kept the Stealth shooters in check stopping several shots that could have given Washington the lead.  It was his farewell game and we salute him for a great performance.  Even though he was outdone by Washington's Tyler Richards with 50 saves and Paul Rabil's howitzer goal that made a yard sale out of Watson.  Stealth forward Lewis Ratcliff finished with a hat trick and an assist. We thank the Washington Stealth for another great season and we'll see them back on the floor next year.  

Baller of the Week- Cory Larson, Sr. Goalie, Skyline 

In Skyline's three games this week, they dropped the first one to Lake Washington which effectively eliminated them from playoff contention.  Larson made 16 saves on the losing effort on 28 Kang shots. The loss was rough, but the Spartans rebounded against Issaquah and made 10 saves on 19 shots in the 10-9 overtime upset.  In their final game of the season against Mercer Island, Larson kept the Spartans in the game against the high-powered Islanders making 17 saves on 25 shots.  Even though the Spartans lost the contest and were knocked out the playoffs, Larson's final games of his senior season were very much memorable. 

Game of the Week- Skyline 10 Issaquah 9 OT