Monthly Archives: March 2010

Taylor Anderson

3.27.10

Billy Brengle, #25, displays the affect a stick can have when it slashes an exposed body part. Brengle scored a goal during the third quarter of Saturday's game. Photo/Taylor W. Anderson

Both old mistakes and the Idaho Vandals beat the Montana Grizzlies men’s lacrosse team at Dornblaser Field, Saturday afternoon, as a blown three-goal second half lead and a 10-8 loss push the Griz further into the depths of a disappointing season.

Coach Tucker Sargent didn’t blame his team’s effort for the loss. Montana came into Saturday’s game fresh off a strong win over Gonzaga last week and played well in the first two quarters before simple aspects like throwing and catching played a factor, he said.

“Our transition game fell apart,” he said. “Not in a game-play manner, so to speak, but just as the, the fundamentals fell apart.”

Saturday afternoon’s game wasn’t necessarily a must-win for the Griz so much as it was time to build for the next season and play for pride in front of an ample crowd of both Grizzly and Vandals fans. The now 1-6 team has fallen back into the inconsistent habits of early season play, and the offense couldn’t quite keep up with that of the Vandals.

“Our D worked pretty well, our scoring wasn’t there,” Sargent said. “I mean, we could easily win a game, we hold a team to 10 goals, we should definitely win a game.”

First-year Idaho attackman Kyle Morse had a hat trick in the game. His three goals and one assist helped end a three-game Vandal slide that put Idaho’s record in the red, at 2-4.

“We fixed things in practice that we were doing wrong on our spring break trip,” he said, alluding to the team’s 0-3 California road trip. “We started moving the ball, and not ball-watching,” he added.

Montana’s goalie, freshman backup Hank Vieten, was in net again for injured starter Ty Hall, out with a separated shoulder. For the second straight week, the rookie held his team in a close game, adding 15 saves to his repertoire. “Hank played outstanding, he played out of his mind,” said Sargent.

Time of possession was an opponent the Griz couldn’t beat Saturday. A team can expect trouble with fundamental errors and a lack of quality shots in the offensive end.

Frankly, it was no feat that the team entered the second half with the lead. Kent Davis put his second goal behind Vandals goalie Blake Uphus early in the third. Attackman Jeremy Brown had two goals of his own, but the rest of the second half was a different game altogether.

Assistant coach and team alumnus, Will Freihofer, watched his first game after a six-month hiatus. “Our defense played really well for long stretches of the game, but what we didn’t have to carry that over was offensive possessions,” he said.

The Vandals played some good second-half ball.

After Montana took a three-goal lead into the final eight minutes of the game, Idaho answered with four unanswered, giving them the 8-7 lead early in the fourth. The string of goals brought back visions of last week’s last minute game three-goal run by Gonzaga.

There would be no recovery from this bout.

“When you get behind and there’s the pressure to score every time it’s in somebody’s stick,” it’s tough to win games, Freihofer said. The team that’s playing catch-up drives hard to the net, and if they don’t put it in it goes back the other way and it’s brutal, he said.

Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, hopes for a playoff spot this season look grim. The team has upcoming home games against 5-5 Washington and 0-6 Boise State. They can expect a slight revamping before then, Sargent said.

Taylor Anderson

Griz Lacrosse No Longer Winless.

3.20.10

The Montana men’s lacrosse team earned their first victory of the season after beating Gonzaga 11-9 in their home opener at Dornblaser Field on Saturday.

The team implemented new defensive strategies last week. This prevented the Bulldogs from getting good opportunities on Montana’s backup freshman goaltender Hank Vieten. Vieten filled in Saturday for injured starter Ty Hall, whose separated shoulder has hurt the team in the last three games.

The team worked last week on correcting defensive letdowns and missed offensive opportunities. They set in motion new styles of play in the offensive and defensive zones.

“The lock-off worked great, we worked on it in practice this last week,” says assistant coach Wes Armstrong on the team’s defensive adaptations. “It worked in practice, and it worked in the game.”

The lock-off was used to aggressively pressure Gonzaga’s offense to create turnovers. It proved Saturday to be just what the doctor ordered to prevent a winless season for the Griz.

Junior midfielder Kent Davis provided offensive assistance, scoring twice in the first quarter. “We played as six strong players,” he said of Montana’s improved offense. “You know, we were able to move the ball around and get the looks that we were looking for,” said Davis.

Three other Griz players had two goal games in the win over the now 2-2 Gonzaga Bulldogs. Griz attackman Jeremy Brown saw two rockets hit twine, and three other midfielders had deuce-goal games, Henry Bishop, Max Reuter and Kent Davis.

The game started with a quick Montana goal from Henry Burchenal that was overruled due to illegally narrow plastic on his stick, a three-minute penalty. But Max Reuter quickly put Montana in the lead with a snipe of his own. Gonzaga answered this with two consecutive goals, each by freshman Danny Zimny, who finished the game with a hat trick. Gonzaga’s Stewart Allen also had three goals in the game.

Gonzaga went into halftime trailing by one goal and was unable to tie the game again. Montana scored four unanswered goals after the break, taking an 11-6 lead until three minutes were left in the game. The Bulldogs then scored three quick goals, scaring the Montana sideline and cutting the deficit to just two goals with less than two minutes in regulation.

An inexperienced Hank Vieten proved capable of keeping his team in the game by making three point blank saves within the last minute, assuring Montana’s lone victory. The last minute saves were only a few of many great blocks by the freshman replacement.

“After last weekend, we’re starting off basically like a new season,” said Armstrong, alluding to the team’s trip south to Utah where they lost handily to Brigham Young University and the University of Utah. “So this win is exactly what we need.”

But the Griz can only wish they are 1-0. In reality, the team resides in fourth out of five teams in the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League with a divisional record of 1-2. The team they are currently ahead of, British Columbia’s Simon Fraser, played their first divisional game Saturday against BYU. They must take their remaining games one at a time, with the next three games all at home.

Montana now awaits a quiet University of Idaho team. “They’re coming here and we’re going to be fired up after a win, and we’re going to have a good week of practice and hopefully get another ‘W’,” said Davis.

First-year attack Patrick Shelso put in a goal of his own on Saturday. He attributes the win to a well-executed game plan that the team worked on in practice.

With the team now equipped with an arsenal that includes man-to-man, zone, and lock-off defensive styles, they look poised for another solid fight against the Idaho Vandals on March 27 at Dornblaser Field.