KENNEWICK, WA – The Missoula Elite Lacrosse Men’s Varsity team travelled to Kennewick, WA, over the weekend to participate in the 2010 Three Rivers Shootout. The event featured many of the area teams and playing in the tournament was a significant moment in the growth of this program. After a long drive over to Washington, the boys got pumped up early and brought a lot of emotion to their first game. Midfielders Coty Becker (JR, Valley Christian) and Matt Gosselin (SR, Big Sky) led the offense all game. Gosselin chipped in one goal and Becker put in four as the boys in black took down Selah 5 – 3 to start off the weekend. Goaltender Rian Tuttle also had a huge game in the winning effort, registering 11 saves.

In the second game of the day, the boys took on Hermiston in a game that would come down to the wire. The MEL defense played very flat in this contest, allowing more than 20 shots in the game, and the offense seemed stuck in a rut for the majority of the game. The offense did click for brief moments and showed what it was capable of, with balanced scoring coming off of ball movement. Matt Gosselin, Hunter Brandt (SO, Big Sky), Trevor Johnson (JR, Sentinel), and defender Joel Colbert (SR, Hellgate) all notched goals in regulation, with Coty Becker and Trevor Johnson also adding assists. Time expired in regulation with a 4 – 4 tie, which led to a tournament style “Braveheart” best of 3 finish. Lance Altmaier (SR, Hellgate) won his round, but Hermiston took the other two for a 6 – 5 overtime victory over the boys in black. Goaltender Rian Tuttle registered 6 saves in the losing effort.

Saturday’s game three match up brought on the host school, Three Rivers, who have a solid squad put together. Knowing that it would be their toughest game of the day and having to bounce back after a dissapointing loss, the boys showed a lot of heart for their final Saturday game. Gosselin chipped in two goals and Altmaier, Brandt, and Johnson each scored once during the contest, while Brandt and Becker each tallied an assist. However that would not be enough to take down Three Rivers, as the boys fell to 1 – 2 on the day with a 7 – 5 defeat. Goaltender Tuttle registered 10 saves in the game.

After a night of pizza and good sleep, the boys took the field again Sunday morning against Wenatchee Valley. The coaches were hoping some of the momentum the boys picked up at the end of Saturday would carry over to this contest, but that would not be the case. The defense allowed Wenatchee to get off 13 shots in the first half and the offense hardly even touched the ball. Failures in communication and a simple lack of hustle would allow the team to only generate poor shot attempts and the offense would end the day shut out. Goaltender Rian Tuttle and defender Joel Colbert played tough all game and held Wenatchee to only two goals, but with zero offensive production the team lost their final game 2 – 0.

The team would like to thank Three Rivers for putting on a fantastic event, we will see you again next year! We’d also like to thank all the parents who made the trip and who helped out a ton with coordinating things throughout the weekend, we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you also to Gordy Pace for sharing some photos!

Next up for the Men’s Varsity team is a trip to Sandpoint this Sunday, May 2nd, for a double-header!

MISSOULA, MT – On Saturday, March 27th, the Missoula Elite Men’s Varsity team fell 7 – 2 to Sandpoint High School in their first game of the season. Sandpoint opened the scoring midway through the 1st quarter with 2 goals before attackman Lance Altmaier (SR, Hellgate) bull dodged his way to the net and notched MEL’s first goal of the 2010 season late in the 1st. Sandpoint put together a solid 2nd quarter, holding MEL to only 4 shots and no goals. They also scored twice in the quarter and held a 4 – 1 advantage heading into the half.

Midfielder Brandon Roose (JR, Sentinel) scored his 1st career goal to kick things off in the 3rd quarter before the Sandpoint longpoles clamped down. Sandpoint’s balanced attack would continue to find holes in the MEL defense in the 3rd as they again chipped in 2 goals, stretching their advantage to 6 – 2 heading into the 4th.

The short MEL bench seemed to take effect in the final quarter as there were numerous missed opportunities for the offense. Dropped passes in front of the goal and poor communication on ground balls led the team to generate only 2 shots in the final quarter, which would not be nearly enough to have a chance to come back.

Defensively the squad was again anchored by goaltender Rian Tuttle (SR, Hellgate) and defender Joel Colbert (SR, Hellgate). Tuttle registered 12 saves on the day, many at point blank range, and Colbert registered a game high 7 ground balls to go along with his 3 forced turnovers.

Overall the team learned a lot from their first game. Thank you to all the fans who came out to support the guys on another beautiful day for lacrosse in Missoula!

2010 is another wacky year of weather in the Pacific Northwest and wacky weather means schedule changes. Our friends over at Sandpoint High School have been snowed in for their pre-season and are looking for some extra preparation for the spring season. We have agreed to host them on Saturday March 6th here in Missoula for a scrimmage.

Since this is over a week before our season officially starts, we will only be allowing registered players (for either Men’s Varsity or Junior Varsity) to play in this contest. The game will be played at 12 PM at Hellgate’s Riverbowl Field. Participating players must be at the field by 11 AM.

So hurry in to Mauler’s and get registered if you’d like to participate in this pre-season scrimmage. For more information email Men’s Varsity coach Kevin Flynn at kevin@missoulaelite.com.