2014-08-09 Junior Newsletter

Photos of the U/11 and U/13 games can be seen here.

Round 13 Game Reports

U/15 - Surrey Park / Moreland v Williamstown

The game was held at Fleming Park and with a couple of late withdrawals due to illness we were undermanned right from the start against the top team, Williamstown.

And we could see why after a few minutes where they played crisp, fast passing lacrosse. They highlighted the absolute need for good catching and throwing skills when you play Lacrosse.

We had our moments but once again our skills at the crunch and decision making were not as good as the other team. Improvement has taken place though and we hope in our next match in the battle for the wooden spoon against Melbourne Uni we can put it all on display and get a win.

Darcy once again put in a great display and was our standout player. Connor continues to improve in goals as does Lachlan in attack. Jerry and Tom were good targets on the field but very unlucky when near goal. Let’s hope it all comes together this weekend in what is shaping up to be a huge game for us.

Nick Farley

Parent Help Needed: Photographer and game report writer for the U/15 Boys. If you can help, please let Nick Farley or Tanya Wick know.

 

U/15 Girls - Surrey Park/Camberwell v Chadstone

Our under 15 girls had a return game with Chadstone who the easily beat last time they met however the tables were reversed this time around. Camberwell –Surrey started off well and were leading well into the first half until Chadstone seemed to go up another gear to be  leading 8-4 at half time with three quick goals before half time. Although the girls battled valiantly to withhold Chadstone’s scoring  for the first ten minutes of the second half they were unable to close the gap and Chadstone ultimately drew away to win 16-7. 

Our goal scorers were Abbie 3, Tayla 1, Zoe 1, Maeve 1, and Louisa 1.

Leigh Goucher

Parent Help Needed: Scorers and photographer for the U/15 Girls. If you can help, please let Jacinta Toomey (team manager) or Nick Farley (Junior Coordinator) know.

 

U/13 - Surrey Park v Caulfield

Saturday was a great day for our U/13 team. They overcame last week's disappointment to convincingly beat Caulfield, and we had an opportunity to field three boys from the U/11 team (who had a bye) to give them a taste of what playing with the hard ball is all about.

It was a wonderful sight to see a Surrey Park junior team with a full bench, and the play was fast a furious. Surrey jumped out to a 6-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, with Mitch and Hunter scoring two, Alice and Harrison one each. By the end of half-time, the score was 9-1 with Blake, Alice and Hunter each scoring a goal. It was particularly great to see Alice play with energy and strongly attack the goal.

By three-quarter time it was 11-1 with Hunter and Blake scoring. Hunter's charges at the goal are difficult to stop and Blake's trademark side-sling is accurate when he finds space around the goal.

By the final whistle, the score was 13-4, with Blake scoring and Lachlan scoring what was the goal of the day. With Lachlan a mainstay of our defence this year, it was terrific to see him slot so easily into the attack line, calmly catch and shoot into the back of the net.

A focus on attacking transition, and attack passing around the goal at training really paid off, with our passing spot on and our play around the goal the best yet. Patient passing, good cuts created many if not most of our scoring opportunities. Our improvement in this area was shown by the large number of players with assists: Alice, Hunter (2 each), Blake, Mitch, and Dylan (1 each).

Caufield had their opportunities, but were often thwarted by smothering defence and Ewan in goal (75% scoring shots saved!)

Four of next year's U/13 players from our U/11 group were invited to take advantage of their bye and get a taste of playing lacrosse with the hard ball. Unfortunately, Leo became ill, but Ashwin, Henry and Declan did a fantastic job in their first game wearing protective gear and playing with the hard ball. Ashwin had three shots on goal and passed an assist. Declan was one of the team's best at the ground ball and threw an assist. Henry played strongly at both ends, playing smothering defence, and creating opportunities in attack. It bodes really well for 2015! Well done boys!

The addition of a deeper bench took a lot of the pressure off Dylan, James and Cruz in carrying the ball for the team. Dylan in particular controlled the pace of our attacking plays really well and Cruz continued to be fearless in the ground ball and getting in the way of fast running opposition (regardless of their size!). James ran really hard and with ever improving stick skills, should become a regular scorer in the team.

With our final game against Altona on Saturday (equal top of ladder), at training we'll continue to practice our attacking transition (leep wide) and attack (keep wide and pass around and cut). If we continue our improvement and play like we have in the past 6 weeks, we'll give Altona a very competitive game.

(Keep improving your personal stick skills - it really shows on the field those who put in this effort. The US Lacrosse Organisation has a great 20-min wall ball challenge for the kids to practice. As it says on their website, "Stick skills are the basis of everything you need to be successful in lacrosse. It doesn’t matter if you are the fastest or strongest player if you can’t catch and throw. Stick skills are the great equalizer." Get practicing!)

Votes went to Hunter (3), Blake (2), and Mitch (1).

Thanks to Coach Blair, scorer Mark and umpires Ritchie and Ant for wearing the zebra stripes. Thanks also to the McAuliffes for the oranges. I also think we had a record number of grandparents at the game!

(Brent Dankesreither)

Parent Help Needed: Scorers for the U/13 Team. If you can help, please let Brent Dankesreither (team manager) or Nick Farley (Junior Coordinator) know.

 

U/11 - Surrey Park v BYE

The U/11s had a BYE this week, but four of our older boys were offered the opportunity to play in the U/13 game. Unfortunately, Leo became sick, but Ashwin, Henry and Declan all did really well in the U/13's win against Caulfied, in what was great preparation for their U/13 season next year. Well done boys!
 
Parent Help Needed: Scorers for the U/11 Mixed. If you can help, please let Team Manager Charu Limaye know. 

 

iPlay Report

Well back to normality this week, no rain, wind or cold temperatures just plain old good Lacrosse weather.

Illness and a few late season niggly injuries had numbers a bit lower this week, but 24 hardy individuals took to two fields and played some great Lacrosse.

Field No. 1

On my field, umpired by Sarah Goucher we had some great tussles and saw some terrific Lacrosse. Special mention should be made of Griffin who ran all night and picked up loose ball after loose ball. This kids is a future champion, mark my words. On the other team Harry provided the spark that ignited the whole team. Well done all players

Field No 2.

This game provided some real highlights with two coming to light as standouts. Firstly Hunter showed just what practice and determination bring. He ran and played so many loose balls and backed up with stout defense and breathtaking leads up in offence and then we have the emergence of the rapidly improving Julian stuck to his guns all night and denied the opposition so many shots in was not amusing for them. Thanks Xavier for putting up a great display as ref.

See you all again next week for our second last week of iPlay!

Nick Farley

Junior Coordinator

Scoreboard
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