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MEN'S LACROSSE: GAME SUMMARIES (2006)
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BUCS MAULED BY THE GRIZZLIES! (5/10/06)
The Bucs travelled to Plano for the national championships with
far different goals than the #5 Montana team in the nation.
Montana was hungry for a spot in the National Championship. The
Bucs were hoping to provide a solid showing against the Griz, and
to prove with at least one of the three games they would be
playing, that they belonged in the National mix.
The following is the first in a series of four write-ups about the
national tournament and the season for the Bucs.
The Bucs showed up to the field to play Montana in a hurried
state. After not leaving until the morning of the game day, and
then hitting standstill traffic in Dallas, the Bucs did not roll
off the vans until about 45 minutes until game time. Everything
was rushed. The rush to finish finals, the rush to get to the
tournament and field, and the rush to prove that we belonged.
There is/was one problem with that. Each team has its own
identity. Each team does things its own way. Rushing for the
Bucs is not in their vocabulary. It showed. The Grizzlies
controlled the entire game and won easily in a 19-3 rout.
The Bucs, on the other hand did not play Southwestern Lacrosse.
Don't get me wrong. The Grizzlies are in a different class.
There are about four to five teams in Div. B that simply play at a
different level and have the athletes AND experience to put it all
together for a total team effort. Montana is definitely one of
those teams.
While they deserve all the credit in the world for this game,
Southwestern by no means played as they could have. To be clear,
Southwestern had about as much chance of winning this game as they
did of winning against San Diego last year in the first round.
Nevertheless, The Bucs were still hoping (at least their coach
was) to play Southwestern Lacrosse and earn some respect at the
national tournament. This game did nothing to garner any support.
Goalie play was suspect and did not have a chance to get in any
type of rhythm as shot after shot made it to the cage. Many shots
were painting the corners, others were too close to react to as
middie defense fell apart on men cutting from week sides. The
offense was disappointing as well. The Bucs refused to slow the
game down on offense. While playing a blow and go transition game
in the LSA works on many levels, against Montana, it played into
their hands. Not once did our offense really work together (even
stringing around three or more passes to set up the offense was
non-existent), with too many guys trying to go by excellent
defenders and slides on their own. In essence the Bucs did not
pass the ball at all.
By halftime the score was 8-2, with Webb scoring both goals, one
on an assist from Jones on a man-up. The second half saw the team
that usually is unflapped by anything or anyone totally deflated.
The only score came in the fourth on a beautiful move by Jones,
who had an excellent tournament.
While the end was predictable, the outcome and how we got there
was very disappointing. The Bucs were an unknown to all the other
teams, as they knew no one gave them or the LSA much more than a
passing thought. With the team they had this year that could
truly adapt to any style of play, they were prepared in the first
game to get off to a solid beginning and set the tone (in their
minds)for the rest of the tournament.
Credit goes to Montana for taking what we gave them (everything)
and for playing an excellent tournament.
After seeing several other games in the day, the Bucs knew that
any other team in the losers bracket would give the Bucs a very
solid chance at a win at the national tournament. The next day,
the Bucs were able to play Augustana from the GRLC. The hope was
that the real Buc team would show up.
- Bill Bowman
 Back to Men's Schedule/Results (2006)
Back to Men's Lacrosse Home
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