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Timely Mile High Stars First Win Over Rangers in Finals – IBLA Week 11

Author’s Note: Through the 2017 season, we’ve partnered with the Interstate Box Lacrosse Association (IBLA) to give you an inside look at what’s going on in all three Regional Box Lacrosse Leagues (RBLL). The Mile High Stars took Game 1 of the RBLL Colorado Front Range Cup. One more win and they’re on to Nationals.

The Finals of both the A and B sides of the RBLL Colorado rolled out last weekend and one win came much easier than the other. While Mile High finally got their revenge on Parker in Game 1 of the Front Range Cup, Parker was busy blowing the doors off Denver in the inaugural Platte Cup opener.

One win for the Stars means a trip to IBLA Nationals, but will Parker allow another slip up? What an exciting web these guys are weaving…

Colorado

Sr. A: Stars 13, Rangers 12 – Game 1

The first Stars win over the Rangers couldn’t have come at a more crucial time. After falling victim to the Parker onslaught in the regular season, twice, Mile High swung back in the postseason and a late goal from the night’s hero, Rob Milnes, sealed the deal in Game 1.

Parker Rangers Mile High Stars IBLA RBLL ColoradoSunday night featured one of the tightest battles RBLL Colorado has ever seen. Mile High shot out to an early lead, but it didn’t take long for Parker to steal the show. The Stars fought tooth and nail to keep in the game, letting the deficit fall to no more than two at any given time. They were able to tie the game, twice, in the final frame, finally taking the lead back in the 13th minute with a huge goal from Tyler Doskins.

The Rangers were quick to respond, evening the score at 11, before Rowan Sloss could connect on his second goal, taking it back for the Stars. The unparalleled leadership of Tyler Snyder resulted with another Parker goal, knotting the score at 12 with barely over 2 minutes left. With the crowd on their feet, both teams left everything on the floor in the final minutes of regulation. Then, as heroes do, Rob Milnes hammered in his team-high 7th goal of the night, with just 22 seconds left on the board.

Parker Rangers Mile High Stars IBLA RBLL ColoradoNo doubt, Rob Milnes showed up on Sunday to ball. From the opening minute to the closing seconds, Milnes made his presence known on the floor, and especially the scoreboard. The veteran’s 7 goals spread themselves across all three periods, leading the way for the Stars offense and drastically helping to win Game 1.

Parker had their chance to capitalize on all of the penalties Mile High racked up. Even facing multiple 5-on-3 opportunities, the Rangers could only put a run together in the second period. They did shine in transition, collecting 3 goals from Preston Plume, and 1 from Nick Amendt and Cj Gerber. Tyler Snyder was able to lead Parker’s offense with a 4 goal game, but the Stars defense did a great job putting the clamps on Dan Finck and the talented forwards.

Mile High net-minder Brandon Scharaga (.727) saw a lot of rubber on Sunday, but found a way to turn away 32 of the 44 shots he faced. Sloss was the only shooter, aside from Milnes, to have a multi-goal night. 7 total runners had at least a point in the game. It’s going to take every bit of this effort across the floor to capture the second and final win.

Sr. B: Buzz 12, Stars 11 – Wild Card

While, like the A side, many were expecting another Stars versus Rangers final, the Buzz had other plans. It didn’t even take two minutes for Denver to jump out to a, 3-0, lead.

After laying it on early, the game leveled out for both sides before the Stars got their first streak going in the 9th minute.

Denver Buzz Mile High Stars IBLA RBLL ColoradoKnotted at 3s, the Buzz swarmed back with another quick trio of goals and suddenly the momentum was back in their corner. Mile High’s David Laroach snuck a late goal in the final seconds of the period, bringing the score to, 6-4, before the intermission.

The break saw a goaltending change for the Stars, Mathew Simonton (.727) replacing Scott Fields (.400) and the change seemed to immediately disrupt the game. Despite 9 shots on goal, the Buzz were only able to connect once in the second. Mile High punched in 3 goals, tying the game up going into the third.

Denver Buzz Mile High Stars IBLA RBLL ColoradoThe back-and-forth action kept up for the final frame, Ryan Spitz striking quickly to take back the Buzz advantage. Goals would be exchanged between both sides before the Stars found a way to go ahead at the half-way point. It took one possession for Kevin Costanza to knot the game, and Spitz to return to give another lead. The Stars had another answer in Torey Welch, locking the score at 11s with time ticking away.

Then Denver’s Anthony Solla defined the word clutch. With a fraction of a second left on the game clock, Solla directed his 4th goal of the night into the back of the net. Confirming the ball was beyond the goal line, the Buzz capped off the most thrilling Senior B game of the season.

Denver Buzz Mile High Stars IBLA RBLL ColoradoMile High likely killed their own chance of playing in the finals by committing 22 minutes of penalty time. The Stars out-shot the Buzz, 37-32, but when Denver got their looks, they picked their shots and hit them.

The thrilling win meant Denver had to turn around that same night and face top-ranked Parker in Game 1 of the Platte Cup.

Sr. B: Rangers 28, Buzz 11 – Game 1

Then came the reality check. Maybe it was the long turnaround from a 10am game to a 7pm game… maybe it was a lot of things, but the undefeated Parker Rangers were not going to give Denver any room for doubt who the top team in the league is.

The Rangers started to lay the boots to the Buzz from the opening minutes and never slowed down. In the first half of the opening period, Parker stormed off to a 7-1 lead, with 6 different scorers already in the books. They two went on to slug in goals 3 goals each in the latter half, but at the break, the Rangers were already off to a lead of 6 goals.

Parker Rangers Denver Buzz IBLA RBLL ColoradoPeriod two was more of the same narrative. Parker just kept scoring, 11 more goals, with a 4 goal performance from Cj Gerber leading another 3 hat tricks from Tyler Kirby, Ben Weisz, and Ethan Heritage. Talk about results from the call-ups, wow.

Despite leading, 21-8, the Rangers were not straying from the game plan. Keeping the wheels rolling, Parker pounded another 7 shots into the nylon. Two more runners got in the books, while Heritage, Weisz, and Jordan Cohen made it 4. Three different Buzz shooters found success, but it wasn’t hardly enough to hold back the flood of Parker shots on goal.

The positives for Denver come in their distribution of scoring. 9 different runners found a way to put a ball past the Stars goaltending. Anthony Solla and Kevin Costanza both got to a pair, but the work was pretty evenly distributed.

Parker Rangers Denver Buzz IBLA RBLL ColoradoHauling nearly 30 goals is a crazy stat for the B sides, this whole roster might be ready for the jump up. It’s going to take a perfect game from Denver this coming weekend, with the Buzz capitalizing on any, and every, mistake the Rangers could make.

RBLL Colorado

Sr. A: Front Range Cup – Game 2

#1 Parker Rangers (0-1) vs. #2 Mile High Stars (1-0)

Saturday, October, 28th – 7:00 pm
Foothills Fieldhouse – Denver, CO

Mile High is one win away from hoisting the Front Range Cup for the first time. With a win also comes a trip to the very first IBLA Nationals. But, with a 1-2 record against Parker this season, can they keep the momentum, or were this a one-time win?

If the Rangers strike back with a win in Game 2, we’re heading back to Parker on Sunday to finish the series.

Sr. A: Front Range Cup – Game 3 (if necessary)

#1 Parker Rangers (0-1) vs. #2 Mile High Stars (1-0)

Sunday, October, 29th – 7:00 pm
Parker Fieldhouse – Parker, CO

Sr. B: Platte Cup – Game 2

#1 Parker Rangers (0-1) vs. #2 Mile High Stars (1-0)

Thursday, November, 2nd – 8:45 pm
Parker Fieldhouse – Parker, CO

Minnesota

Hastings Walleye wins seires, 4-2.
Hastings will meet the winner of RBLL Colorado on November 4th, 7:00 pm, at the Foothills Fieldhouse in Denver, CO.

Oregon

Portland River Monsters win series, 4-1.
Portland will meet the winner of RBLL Colorado on November 4th, 3:20 pm, at the Foothills Fieldhouse in Denver, CO.