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VIKINGS COMPLETE SEASON WITH STRONG REPRESENTATION IN QUEEN
CITY 50
As
the Vikings Club era draws to a close, the team will field
four players for the Charlotte Queen City 50 All-Star
Classic to be held Friday May 30th at Charlotte Memorial
Stadium. We congratulate Billy Blakely, Kyle Brashear,
Eric Fuschino and Will McDonald for their hard work and
dedication this year. Please remember that the Queen
City 50 is a night of celebrating the growth of the
Charlotte Lacrosse community. The traditional
tailgate-barbeque runs from 4pm to 7:30pm. There will
be a preliminary LAXSTARZ game at 5:30pm with the Queen City
50 face off at 7:30pm. The barbeque is great, the
lacrosse is even better. Come on out and get your last lax
fix of the season.
The
barbeque is $10, or pre-order and pay only $7. Take a
plate and enjoy a nice tailgate experience uptown before the
action starts. Game tickets are $10, $5 for students and
parking at the stadium is only $3. Come out and show
the community that lacrosse is alive and better than ever in
Charlotte!!!!
VIKINGS STAGE DRAMATIC SECOND HALF COMEBACK TO SECURE 7 -
7 TIE AGAINST LADY VIKINGS
It required a total team effort (at times all on the field
at the same time) to stage a classic Vikings comeback
against a gritty and loud Vikingette team. In a
pattern that has become known throughout the LAX world as
the "Vikings opening gambit", a quick Viking goal was
followed by a barrage of shots against a shell-shocked Eric
(can we please run the Gilman clear??) Fuschino, leading to
a half time deficit that appeared all but impossible to
overcome.
In all fairness, the Vikings faced seemingly overwhelming
odds due in part to the rules set forth by the "fair and
impartial" committee of Chris (thank God the season's over)
Diamond and well, Chris (I'm really going to miss these fine
student atheletes) Diamond. As one Viking player
explained, "basically we were screwed, I mean THREE passes
before a shot, come on, that's just not our style...."
In addition, the Vikings faced a menacing opposing goal
keeper. While not insinuating that the lady Vikings
were experimenting with physical enhancement drugs, their
keeper looked, well, like a clone of Ian (why did I have to
come to all those stupid varsity games) Stimson...
The
Vikings staged a classic rally behind the tandem of Ryan
(I'm open on the crease....again!) Cawley and Billy (I'm
going left, jumping and shooting, try and stop me) Blakely
to even the score at 7 with but a few minutes to play.
Unfortunately, "referee" (we use the term loosely) Diamond,
perhaps finally inundated by a season of questionable
refereeing, resorted to the style of officiating he was
exposed to all year and simply made it up as he went along
down the stretch, resulting in some questionable calls
(coach, the goalie doesn't count as a man in the crease
violation....).
In
the final minute. both teams resorted to their 25 man up
offense, but to no avail. Mercifully, no cries for
overtime, sudden death, shootouts, braveheart,
rock-paper-scissors, or any other means of breaking the tie
were requested by either team.
So
ends another season of Viking Lacrosse. The Vikings
ended the season at 5 - 8, ranked 26th in the state and
ranked second among club teams to an Asheville HS team that
finished their season 1 - 2. 1 - 2 ???? Boy do we need
to issue a challenge. One more game!!!!
Thanks to everyone for their efforts, with special gratitude
to the coaching staff. We didn't always understand
what was going on and why, but your dedication to our kids
never wavered and for that we are deeply grateful.
Please remember that there is still a lot to do to make sure
the transition to Hopewell and N Meck works. Now more
than at any other time we will need parents to donate time
as well as financial means to keep this legacy alive.
One
more time.....GOOOAAALLLL VIKINGS!!!!!!
VARSITY, JV END SEASON ON HIGH NOTE WITH A PAIR OF
VICTORIES AT LAKE NORMAN
In a circus-like atmosphere and lots of little lax players
running around, the Vikings teams put a hurt on the
Wildcats' Senior Night. The JV set the tone, taking a
5 - 1 halftime lead, only to tease the home crowd by
allowing the Wildcats to close to 7-4 by the end of the
game. Vikings goals came from a pair of goals by Dylan
Knight (from Zack Baughan and Grant Gougeon)
two by Miles Jahns (from Chris Ahern and Kendall Moore)
another pair by Zack Baughan (from Chris Ahern and
unassisted) and a solo tally by Kendall Moore (unassisted).
As usual, Ian Stinson was the man in goal, recording 9 saves
on 13 shots. Nice work guys.
In the varsity game, the Vikings again faced a fired up team
celebrating Senior Night. In a pattern that is all to
familiar and painful to Vikings fans, the team spotted Lake
Norman two early goals before waking up and playing Vikings
lacrosse. The Vikings got on the board with an
unassisted goal by Kyle Brashear and a pair of late first quarter
goals by Billy Blakely gave the Vikings a 3 - 2 lead after
one and they never trailed again. Lake Norman stayed
within striking range, trailing 5 - 3 at the half and
managed to tie the game at 6 - 6 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter was dominated by the Vikings as four
straight goals, two by Blakely, one by Brashear and one by
Ryan Cawley game the Vikings a 10 - 6 lead and a final score
of 10 - 8.
In a
game marking the end of the road for a strong senior class,
the seniors carried the day.
Eric Fuschino kept the Vikings in the game with some early
point blank stops and his usual forays into the offensive
zone. Seniors Jarrett Chambers, Justin Ckezepis, Josh Hedrick,
and Wil McDonald anchored the defense and took up the slack
when Kevin Hart was injured early in the game. Jordan Smith
handled a lions share of the face-off duty, supported by
fellow mid-fielders Kyle Brashear, David Russell, Nick Venuti,
and John Dalrymple. The attack was led by Billy
Blakely with support by Jamie Morton and at times, Kyle
Brashear and John Dalrymple.
Blakely and Brashear ended their Vikings careers with six
goals (career high?) and two goals respectively, and Ryan Cawley accounted
for the other two scores. The only down side to the
game was an injury to Kevin Hart in the first quarter.
Kevin was transported to the hospital for tests. We
will list his status as soon as we get more information.
A big thanks to all the Vikings families who turned out in force
to support our players. GOOOAAALLLL VIKINGS!!!!!!!!!!
VARSITY RALLIES, COMES UP SHORT IN HEARTBREAKER AGAINST
MYERS PARK
The
varsity squad looked nothing like the team that took the
field Friday night, playing a great game against rival Myers
Park. After Spotting the Mustangs to an early 5 - 2
lead, the Vikings came out in the second half to forge a 7 -
6 lead. Both teams traded scores, and the Vikings
rallied a second time to take the lead 10 - 9 with under
five minutes to play. Two late Myers Park goals went
unanswered in the final two minutes, as the Vikings fell 11
- 10. This was a great lacrosse game by two teams who
on this day were very evenly matched. Great effort
guys, but that's probably the last thing you want to
hear........
The
Vikings close out the regular season with a double header at
Lake Norman on Tuesday. The men's/women's scrimmage follows
on May 2nd.
We
are still looking for summer camp info to share with other
Vikings. Please email us you experiences and
recommendations for summer camps....
JV
CONTINUES TO WIN, VARSITY UNDERACHIEVES ON THE ROAD AGAINST
ARDREY KELL
The
evening started on a high note as the jv squad played strong
defense en route to a 4 - 1 victory over the home standing
Firebirds. A pair of goals by Chris Ahern led the
attack, with solo scores by Miles Jahns and Adam Lockhart
rounding out the scoring. In the varsity match up, an
early goal by Ryan Cawley seemed to promise more good things
for the Vikings. Unfortunately, this was the high
water mark for the game as Ardrey Kell, playing with lots of
emotion on Senior Night, dominated the rest of the way en
route to an 8 - 5 victory. In a game marked with
sloppy play at both ends, the Vikings were never able to
climb back into the game.
The
Vikings have no time to dwell on this game as they must
return to the Firebird's field for a 1:00pm rematch against
Myers Park.
JUNIOR VARSITY DOMINATES IN WIN AT DENVER
The JV
came out on top with a 6 -1 victory against host Denver HS.
More details when made available. Please see Board
News for update on North Meck. HS situation.
VIKINGS FALL TO CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC 12 - 3, FACE WINNER
OF TONIGHT'S CCD - MYERS PARK GAME
Kyle
Brashear, Billy Blakely and Blake Hart scored for the
Vikings, but it wasn't enough as the top team in the state
continued its undefeated season in the first round of the
City Championships. The Vikings will face the winner
of tonight's game between Charlotte Country Day and Myers
Park on Saturday at Ardery Kell, game time 1:00pm
VIKINGS RECOVER FROM BREAK WITH STRONG OUTING AGAINST # 4
RANKED CHARLOTTE COUNTRY DAY
While
there may be no such thing as a moral victory, the Vikings
strong effort against the number four team in the state
proved a strong turn around from Wednesday's game at
Catholic. Continuing to experiment at times with a
zone defense against teams with lot's of offensive
firepower, the Vikings fell behind in the first half, 6 - 1.
After the break the defense played better and the offense
finally found the net as the Vikings outscored CCD 5 - 4,
coming up on the losing end of a 10 - 6 game. The
Vikings were led by Billy Blakely's two goals while solo
scores were recorded by Kyle Brashear, Ryan Cawley, Jordan
Smith and David Russell.
The
Vikings hope to continue their improvement as they get a
rematch Wednesday in the opening round of the City
Championships against Charlotte Catholic. Game time is
8pm at Catholic.....Be There!!!!!!!
VIKINGS SECURE POSITION IN CITY CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - FULL
WEEK AHEAD FOR BOTH SQUADS
The
Vikings gained the 8th seed for the upcoming Charlotte City
Championship Series. The tentative schedule will
insure lots of action next week. Here is the schedule
for both varsity and jv........
First
round game will be a rematch against Charlotte Catholic on
Wednesday, April 23rd at Catholic, face-off at 8:00pm
On
Thursday the 24th, the jv plays an away contest at Denver HS
Friday
will be a jv/varsity match up at Ardrey Kell, with the jv
facing off at 6pm, varsity to follow at 8pm
Saturday will find the varsity back at Ardrey Kell for the
second round of playoff's, regardless of the outcome of
Wednesdays game at Catholic. There is a good chance
that this will be a rematch with Myers Park. Game time
expected to be 1:00pm.
That's
a lot of LAX next week, congratulations to the Vikings for
another appearance in the City Championships.
Address/Directions for all game locations posted on the
Directions page of website
The
Vikings appearance in the City JV Championship slated for
May 10th will be determined by the level of availability by
the jv team. We will post information on this as soon
as possible.
Unofficial Charlotte Rankings....
1 -
Charlotte Catholic
2 -
Charlotte Country Day School
3 -
Providence Day School
4 -
Charlotte Latin
5 -
Providence HS
6 -
Weddington HS
7 -
Myers Park HS
8 -
Vikings Lacrosse Club
9 -
Ardrey Kell HS
10 -
Lake Norman HS
11 -
Cannon School
12 -
Ft Mill HS
13 -
Butler HS
14 -
Marvin Ridge HS
15 -
South Meck HS
PHOTOS FROM 2008 GAMES AVAILABLE
Game
photos can be accessed from Pictures page of website.
We will post "highlights" from each game as well as provide
a link to gallery of additional pictures. Follow
instructions on Photo page of website. Thanks to Mary
Davis for setting us up !
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