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Team Hulu Vail Lacrosse Shootout
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VAIL Shootout 2011 Update!

The Vail Shootout out in Colorado seems to go on and on for weeks, and that’s a GOOD thing!  The lacrosse is great at pretty much all the levels and you can see high schoolers, college players, college grads, masters, grand masters and even the oldest of the old!  It’s really quite an amazing confluence of lacrosse culture and generations, and along with the Lake Placid tournament in upstate New York, it sits at the apex of Summer Lax Tourneys.

This year, the tourney has a ton of divisions, and the Masters, Supermasters, and Grandmasters all kicked things off.  There was even an exhibition game featuring the Zenmaster age group, which is 60 and UP!!!  I would probably pay good money to see that actually.  In order to make it out to Vail next year, I’ll probably have to!  Although maybe someone will pick me up and pay for my flight out there… my (then to be) 32 year old legs will be valuable for someone’s midfield in the Master’s division!

The Masters semi-final matchups were the exact same as last year’s. Except Team AGWA de Bolivia used to be called Team Jagermeister. Their gear is still sick! Genesis played Hulu and AGWA played Olympic Club. Hulu won big, 11-3, in a disciplined manner, while Agwa De Bolivia won a tighter game, 8-5, that was close all the way to the end. ADB needed 3 goals in 2 minutes during the 4th to pull out the W.

The Grandmasters Semis saw the Elder Statesmen, a Hobart alum squad, take down the Gravediggers 10-2.  Wow, the old guys from the ‘bart are still crushing people.  Do people call Hobart, “the ‘bart”?  They should.  Los C2C Viejos also won a spot in the Championship with their 9-8 win over Middlebury.  The Zenmasters also played their exhibition game with the Blue beating the Red, 7-5.  One of the guys was born in 1941.  That means he’s 70 and still playing.  So much RESPECT!

The following day, the Championships were played for the Masters and Grandmasters, with Hulu and the Elder Statesmen taking the respective titles.  The Statesmen dominated but didn’t top 10 goals, as they had for much of the tourney.  The won 6-1.  In the Masters game, it was MUCH tighter.  Hulu ended up winning 9-8 and had margins of 5-1 and 9-6, at the half.  But ADB just kept coming and it took 8 second half saves from Kevin McGurn to secure the win for Hulu.

Team Hulu Vail Lacrosse Shootout
Team Hulu - Champs!

Photo courtesy Vail’s Facebook page… LIKE them!

All-Tournament Team:
Attack:
Chris Massey – Team AGWA de Bolivia
Dave Maguire – Team Hulu
John Galvin – Team Hulu
Greg Lawler – Olympic Club

Midfield:
Mark DiGiovanni – Team AGWA de Bolivia
Jim Kappler – Team AGWA de Bolivia
Kevin Turek – Team AGWA de Bolivia
Josh Sims – The Olympic Club

Defense:
Doug Steel – Team AGWA de Bolivia
Michael Bartol – Team AGWA de Bolivia
Ben Focht – Team Hulu
Jeff Burroughws – Genesis
Goalie:
Anthony Katagas – Team AGWA de Bolivia

Face-Off:
Jim Lofredo – Team Hulu

Long-Stick Midfield:
Mike Leonard – Olympic Club

Short-Stick Defense Midfield:
Phil Eichhorn – Genesis

Tournament MVP:
Kevin. McGurn – Team Hulu

In the Super Masters Semifinals, the OTHER Elder Statesmen team also won, 14-6, over Yellow Dog.  C2C Magic Wands won the other Semi 11-1, over Millennium/Rock-it Pocket.  Should be a good one in the Finals!!!!  The Boys U-19 and Girls U-19 games also kicked off and that means the Elite Open isn’t too far behind!  The action continues to impress!!!