Georgia Lax Blog

Casey Powell Elevator Shot!

2012-01-30T13:32:00.001-05:00

This is just an awesome fast-break goal... changing the elevation of a shot is key!

Some Great College Lax Goals!

2012-01-26T11:54:00.003-05:00

Some Links Of Interest

2012-01-19T18:50:00.006-05:00

- Concussions have been a hot topic as the professional leagues are trying to address complicated issues related to prevention and treatment of head injuries. Here are a couple of interesting articles from Inside Lacrosse... a general discussion of lax concussions and an interview with a medical expert in the field. A must read for everyone!

- Here's a reminder of the end-of-season regional Under Armour rankings from 2011... a great showing by our State Champs!

2012 Inside Lacrosse All-Name Team Powered by Flow Society

2012-01-19T18:30:00.003-05:00

While Georgia lax fans are gearing up for the 2012 season, the GLB thought it might be fun to assemble an "All Name Team" similar to what IL did for the college game. You can check out their Flow Society inspired list by clicking HERE.

I'm sure we can come up with some suitable nominees from our state... a few who graduated last year would have fit the bill... Connor Butz, Jimbo Izlar, and Chase Dubois among others. Feel free to throw in your suggestions in the comment area below.

5A Pre-Season Talk!

2012-01-12T19:29:00.002-05:00

With the season just weeks away, let's get the conversation going on the AAAAA bracket. Who do you think are the favorites, the up-and-coming teams, and the players to watch for the 2012 season? As always, let's keep the discussion positive and upbeat... the GLB won't tolerate the trashing of individual players or any negative nonsense... HONOR THE GAME!

4A Pre-Season Talk!

2012-01-12T19:23:00.003-05:00

With the season just weeks away, let's get the conversation going on the AAAA/AAA/AA/A bracket. Who do you think are the favorites, the up-and-coming teams, and the players to watch for the 2012 season? As always, let's keep the discussion positive and upbeat... the GLB won't tolerate the trashing of individual players or any negative nonsense... HONOR THE GAME!

We Are Back With Coverage of the 2012 Season!

2012-01-12T19:07:00.002-05:00

The GLB is back for our third year of the best coverage of Georgia boys lax! The last two years have been a blast as the Georgia Lax scene is booming, and the GLB looks forward to making 2012 coverage even better. As always, we are dependent on our readers to truly make this an interactive sight... your positive comments, team info, pictures, suggestions and more will continue to make this site the best place to keep up with all things related to lax in the Peach State.

With the season just weeks away, let's get the lax discussions going again! We will be updating links and previewing the season and your input is needed. Help spread the word about the GLB to everyone in your school's program... players, coaches, parents, and fans will all enjoy the coverage as we shine the light on Georgia lacrosse!

Lambert Championship Video

2011-05-24T14:19:00.002-04:00

This video was well done... just like the Longhorns' entire season.

College Bound Players

2011-05-17T07:20:00.001-04:00

Let's get some POSITIVE discussion of who will be playing college lax next year... at any level.

Announcing CrankItLax.com Online Store!

2011-05-13T18:54:00.008-04:00

The GLB is proud to announce a preview of CrankItLax.com for our readers. This new brand of apparel will be expanding rapidly, but we wanted to give you a peek at the type of lax apparel with attitude that we will be offering.

The above design, Peach State Ripped Pride, is a celebration of the growth of the sport in Georgia, and we hope you will support the GLB and Georgia lacrosse by wearing this T-shirt with pride. This shirt is available immediately, just go to the store and place your order.

For every Peach State Ripped Pride shirt we sell, CrankItLax.com will donate $1 to AJO4 LaxFest and $1 to Legacy Cup... we are all about supporting and growing the sport in GA. Please keep in mind that our pricing includes shipping by USPS Priority Mail... which is the only way to confirm receipt of your orders.

We hope you will support the GLB and Georgia lacrosse by purchasing one of these shirts... think of it as your subscription to the GLB!

Visit the store by clicking HERE!

5A State Championship - Sat. 7:30 pm

2011-05-13T14:37:00.004-04:00

-- Walton Raiders (17-3) @ Harrison Hoyas (15-3) - 7:30 pm - Harrison Stadium

Walton Season Recap - The Raiders started the season strong by reeling off 7 wins before their 1st loss to Lambert 2-8 on Mar. 28. Their only other losses were to Lassiter 10-11 on 4/20 and Harrison 8-9 in the last game of the regular season. Their signature regular season wins include Roswell, Alpha, Pope, Northview, Westy, SPX and McCallie. Their playoff run started with a 14-2 win over Hillgrove, and continued with 11-7 over Peachtree Ridge and an exciting, last-second 7-6 win over Northview in the Semis.

Harrison Season Recap - The Hoyas also started strong with 6 wins before dropping a pair of games to strong 4A teams in late March... 4-5 to Lovett and 12-13 to Pope in OT. They also lost 4-7 to Milton in late April, so they lost 3 games by a 5 goal differential. Harrison's best wins were against Alpha, Westy, Lassiter, Memphis Univ. School (TN), McCallie (TN) and Walton in the last game of the regular season. Their playoff path began with a 13-2 win over Etowah, but the Hoyas had to win a pair of tight games, 10-9 over Alpha and 5-4 over Milton in 2OT, to advance to the finals.

This looks to be a great matchup for the 5A crown, and a rematch of the one-goal victory for Harrison that ended the regular season. Both teams are very balanced, and the fact that they met recently will make things interesting. The Harrison defense seems to rise up in big games, so a low scoring game seems to favor the Hoyas. But the Raider defense can hold its own and goalie Michael Harper is among the best when he's on. The Raiders only gave up 8 goals to Lambert, and they've scored enough to beat several very good teams. Both of these teams won nail-biters to get to the Finals, and 5A fans may be in for another memorable finish in this tilt.

4A State Championship Tonight - 7:30 @ Lambert

2011-05-13T13:01:00.006-04:00

The entire Blogger system has been down the last 26 hours... talk about crummy timing! The system is finally back up, but Thursday's content has not been restored, so my 4A Championship posting is lost... will try to get posted soon.

Let's get the conversation re-started here!

-- Pope Greyhounds (17-3) @ Lambert Longhorns (20-1) - 7:30 pm

Pope Season Recap - The Greyhounds weren't beaten by a 4A team this season, and the only blemishes on their record were losses to 5A powers Milton 3-7, Alpha 6-9 and Walton 4-11 in the middle of the season. Their best wins in the regular season were SPX, Riverwood, Harrison 13-12 OT, Lovett 7-6 OT, Lassiter and Westy. Their playoff run includes wins over Pace 11-2, Johns Creek 9-6, and Lovett 9-8 in the Semis.

Lambert Season Recap - For the second year in a row, the Longhorns lost only one game in the regular season, with their lone loss at the hands of Northview 5-11 in the 2nd game of the season. Since that loss they have reeled off an impressive streak against the best in GA and other states. Their signature wins include Westy, McCallie (TN), Milton, Lovett, Roswell, Walton, Coppell (TX 14-13 OT), Highland Park (TX 8-7), and Providence (NC). They have been untested thus far in the playoffs with lopsided wins over Greenbrier, McIntosh and Westminster.

It will be interesting to see if this will be a close game or another blowout in a dream season for the Longhorns. The Lambert faithful posted a countdown clock to the Championship after their Semi-Final loss to Lovett last season, so there is no doubt what their goal has been this season. While they have had a truly impressive season with a strong schedule, they haven't really been tested since their Texas trip the first week of April. If Pope can keep this game close, they may have an advantage since they have had to pull out some close games to get to this point. One of these teams will lose their 1st 4A game tonight, and most 4A eyes will be eagerly watching to see if Lambert can finish off this impressive season by securing the title.

5A Semi-Finals Tonight

2011-05-11T12:56:00.002-04:00

-- Milton (15-5) @ Harrison (14-3) - 7 pm. - Milton won the first meeting of these two 7-4.

-- Walton (16-3) @ Northview (17-3) - 7 pm. - Walton won the regular season matchup 7-6.

The GLB has been dealing with car troubles, so discuss away!

4A Semi-Finals

2011-05-09T21:18:00.005-04:00

The GLB will update this post with some more analysis tomorrow, but let's get the conversation going... let's stick to some real analysis and/or positive comments please... rivalry/we'll beat you type rhetoric will be deleted... keep it respectful! HONOR THE GAME!

-- Lovett(16-3) @ Pope (16-3) - 7:30 pm

-- Westminster (13-7) @ Lambert (19-1) - 8 pm

5A 2nd Round Matchups Today

2011-05-07T10:18:00.003-04:00

The 5A second round gets underway today with some great matchups. Two games will feature rematches of regular season tilts that should be intense:

-- Alpharetta (14-5) @ Harrison (13-3) - 12:30 pm - This will be a rematch of the very first game of the season for both teams, and Harrison prevailed 3-1 in a defensive battle in that first meeting. Alpharetta beat Mill Creek 14-4 in the 1st round while Harrison advanced with a 13-2 win over Etowah. The GLB will be covering this game live with a full recap to follow.

-- Milton (14-5) @ Lassiter (9-10) - on GHSA sched as 6:30, but I believe it has been pushed back to 8:30 - Milton won 8-4 in the first meeting of these teams earlier in the season. The Eagles beat Collins Hill 9-1 in the 1st round, and the Trojans advanced by beating E. Coweta 24-2. Milton apparently played some interesting personnel changes in their last game, so it will be interesting to see who has the Mo' in this rematch of last season's 5A Championship Game.

-- Woodstock (12-7) @ Northview (16-3) - 1 pm - This will be the first meeting of the season between these teams. Woodstock beat Newnan 14-4 in the 1st round, and Northview advanced by beating Grayson 17-3.

-- Walton (15-3) @ Peachtree Ridge (15-4) - 3 pm - This is another 1st meeting... Walton beat Hillgrove 14-2 in the 1st round and Ridge beat Roswell 14-8. This should be an interesting tilt since Walton has been a bit inconsistent down the stretch and Ridge faced a good opponent in the 1st round.

Recap: Westminster @ St. Pius

2011-05-07T10:00:00.010-04:00

There are two things you can count on at St. Pius' Stadium on a beautiful Spring evening during the Playoffs: a great crowd and glaring sun beaming straight at the stands. Both were in evidence on Friday evening as the Westminster Wildcats visited the Golden Lions in the 2nd round of the 4A Playoffs. A great crowd from both schools had gathered, and the air was filled with intensity as the SPX squad made their traditional entrance accompanied by bagpipes. This was not only a rematch of a regular season game won by the Lions, but it was a rematch of last year's semis in which the Wildcats prevailed, so both teams were aware of the stakes for this tilt.

As this 4A battle got underway, it didn't take long for the scoring to begin, as Westminster's senior middie Trey Williams fed senior attackman Michael Thomas behind the cage and Thomas streaked around the edge for the goal. Less than two minutes later Pius answered when senior middie Rick Lewis dodged to his right and unleashed a righty crank that ripped net to even the score 1-1. Moments later the Lions took the lead when Kip Bray fed fellow senior attackman Garrett Dominy for the early go-ahead goal. It took a couple minutes for the Wildcats to answer, but junior attackman Shelton Collier assisted on Michael Thomas' second goal of the opening quarter to knot the score 2-2. Later in the period the Wildcats' junior middie Andrew Steuer retook the lead as he dodged to his left and slid a nifty shot low into the back of the net. But the Golden Lions answered again when senior middie TJ Bickes found junior attackman Donovan Kuhstoss cutting to the crease for a goal that tied it 3-3. In the last minute of the 1st quarter, Westy's Shelton Collier dodged all the way around the cage and buried a lefty overhand shot to give the Wildcats a 4-3 lead at the end of the 1st.

Early in the 2nd quarter, St. Pius again tied the score 4-4 when TJ Bickes dodged from X around the right side for an unassisted goal. But Michael Thomas must have been watching from the other end, because he made a mirror-image of that play to put the 'Cats back on top 5-4. At the 4:29 mark, Thomas assisted this time as he fed senior attack/middie Jimbo Izlar for a nice quick-stick goal. Less than a minute later, Thomas struck again as he faked a pass as he rolled around the left side from X and slid a crafty shot past the Pius goalie. Shelton Collier capped an impressive run by the Wildcats with a lefty crank that rang pipe before finding the back of the net to give Westminster an 8-4 lead at halftime.

After the halftime break, the Lions were looking to solve the stout Westminster defense and great goalie play by junior Ned Zakas, and SPX was able to chip into the lead at the 10:08 mark when TJ Bickes fed junior middie Curtis Doelling as he streaked to the crease for a nice quick-stick goal. Several minutes later the Lions scored again when freshman middie Patrick Girard dodged from the top of the box and beat his man for a low shot that made it 6-8. But Westminster answered on a fast-break when junior d-pole Danny Catan fed Shelton Collier for a goal at the 4:26 mark. Collier struck again two minutes later as took the point on a fastbreak and threaded a long pass to Collier on the doorstep to give the Wildcats a 10- 6 after 3 quarters.

A few minutes into the final quarter, the Lions' TJ Bickes cut into the lead with a nice unassisted goal as he dodged from X with an ankle breaker change of direction and buried a shot to upper right. But Westminster answered quickly on a fastbreak that ended with a right hand crank from Jimbo Izlar after an assist from junior middie Blake Ashley to make it 11-7. Izlar scored again a minute later on a nice passing combo from Trey Williams to Michael Thomas for the assist. Michael Thomas gave the 'Cats a 13-7 lead less than a minute later as he found net after an assist from Shelton Collier. And Blake Ashley rounded out the scoring with an unassisted fastbreak goal with a hard righty shot that found the upper right corner. The final score showed Westminster on top 14-7.

This was an impressive showing and turnaround for a Westminster offense that had been uneven throughout the regular season. The attack combo of Michael Thomas (5G, 3A), Shelton Collier (4G, 1A) and Jimbo Izlar (3G) was too much for the Pius D, and Thomas obviously had a stand-out performance. The Westminster defense did a great job of keeping Pius' All-American Rick Lewis at bay, and the Lions offensive attack was never able to find a consistent seam in the 'Cats D. If Wesminster puts together four quality quarters in their Semi-Final meeting with Lambert, it could be a very interesting night.

Photos courtesy of Steve Powell, Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved.

4A 2nd Round Matchups

2011-05-06T07:30:00.004-04:00

The 2nd round of the playoffs get underway in 4A today, so let's take a look at the matchups:

-- Blessed Trinity (10-5) @ Lovett (15-3) - BT beat Marist 14-2 in the first round and Lovett won 19-8 over Sprayberry to advance. These two did not meet in the regular season.

-- Johns Creek (13-4) @ Pope (15-3) - Johns Creek, the only #3 seed to advance, beat Decatur 7-5 in the first round. Pope beat Pace 11-2 to advance, and they will see Johns Creek for the first time this season.

-- McIntosh (14-5) @ Lambert (18-1) - McIntosh beat Riverwood 15-10 in what was probably one of the best first round matchups. Lambert was untested in their first round game against Greenbrier 16-1. These teams did not meet in the regular season.

-- Westminster (12-7) @ St. Pius X (12-6) - Westminster beat Northgate 16-5 in the first round and SPX beat Wesleyan 14-3 to advance. This is a rematch between Westy and SPX, Pius prevailed 10-7 when the teams met in the 2nd week of the regular season. Since this game looks to be a great rematch, the GLB will be covering this one live with a full recap to be posted later.

Official 4A All State/AA Recognition

2011-05-04T21:56:00.004-04:00

All-Americans
Rick Lewis - St.Pius
Cory Palmer - Lovett
Connor Butz - Lambert
Adam Seal - Lambert
Matt Sommerfeldt - Pope
Dan Maples - Pope
Jordan Cunningham - Lovett

All-State
1st Team

Attack
Cory Palmer - Lovett
Adam Seal - Lambert
Connor Butz - Lambert

Midfield
Rick Lewis - St. Pius
Cory Phillips - Lambert
Holland Frost - Pope

LSM/Face-Off
Jordan Cunningham - Lovett

Defense
Dan Maples - Pope
Loren Bailey - Lambert
Matthew Wilkes - Lovett

Goalie
Matt Sommerfeldt - Pope

2nd Team
Attack
Shelton Collier - Westminster
Zack Powers - Pope
TJ Bickes - St.Pius

Midfield
Zack Price - Lambert
Will Horne - Blessed Trinity
Harrison Cheeley - Wesleyan

LSM/FOGO
Jordan Lee - Lovett

Defense
Braxton Roman - Lambert
Chris Reagan - Westminster
Colin Massa - Lambert

Goalie
Kyle Larkin - St.Pius

Honorable Mention
Attack
Connor Breslin - Wesleyan
Scotty Smith - GAC
Ian Parker - McIntosh

Middie
Jimbo Izlar - Westminster
Maxwell Smerka - Northgate
Tim Geran - Lambert

LSM
Wilson Powell - Westminster

Defense
Brittian Gilbert - St. Pius
Daniel Szambelan - Johns Creek
Lewis Schendowich - Riverwood

Goalie
Ben Rigger - Decatur

5A All State Announced

2011-05-02T16:09:00.000-04:00

See results and post your comments in the existing post below.

We Need Tweeters!

2011-05-01T21:59:00.002-04:00

Back in the halcyon days of the GLB, that headline meant you needed new stereo equipment. NOW IT MEANS... WE NEED MORE SCORE INFO DURING THE PLAYOFFS! We need some more folks at different schools to send live quarterly score updates... it's pretty cool to see what's going on at other games.

It's easy... if you are going to be in the stands during the playoffs follow @georgialaxblog on Twitter... then shoot the GLB an email by clicking the link in the upper right corner of the GLB so that we can follow you to get score info.

We need info from more schools!

5A Bracketology Discussion

2011-05-01T21:54:00.001-04:00

5A talk about the playoff brackets can be found here.

4A Bracketology Discussion

2011-05-01T21:53:00.002-04:00

4A talk about the playoff brackets can be found here.

5A All-State & All-American Selections UPDATED

2011-05-01T21:51:00.005-04:00

2011 AAAAA Boys All-State and All-League Teams Released by Georgia High School Coaches Committee

5/2/11

The 2011 Georgia High School Boys All-State Teams were selected this past weekend by the High School Coaches Council of the local chapter of US Lacrosse. The High School Coaches' Council also selects All-Americans and Academic All-Americans as well as Coach of the Year and Man of the Year Awards. The full list of players and awards given are listed below.

Academic All-Americans
Michael Trainer (Northview)
Tripp Roberts (Walton)
Daniel O’Meara (Harrison)

All-Americans
Preston Lovingood (Northview)
Brandon Colton (Northview)
AJ Canara (Milton)
Peter Dewispelaere (Alpharetta)
Mike Nugent (Milton)
Justin Evan (Harrison)

1st Team – AAAAA
Attack
Preston Lovingood (Northview)
Ned Kaish (Walton)
Cory Hall (Peachtree Ridge)

Midfield
Brandon Colton (Northview)
AJ Canara (Milton)
Tyler Botts (Peachtree Ridge

Defense
Peter Dewispelaere (Alpharetta)
Jack Chase (Walton)
JC Berry (Northview)

Goalie
Mike Nugent (Milton)

Specialty
Justin Evan (Harrison)

2nd Team – AAAAA
Attack
Nick Hanchey (Alpharetta)
Michael Trainer (Northview)
Nick Green (Harrison)

Midfield
Daniel O’Meara (Harrison)
Jordan Taylor (Lassiter)
Matt Morabito (Walton)

Defense
Logan Seagraves (Northview)
Chase DuBois (Milton)
Chris Daley (Harrison)

Goalie
Michael Harper (Walton)

Specialty
Patrick Baldwin (Alpharetta)

Honorable Mention – AAAAA
Attack
Jack Fitzharris (Lassiter)
Ed Thorne (Milton)
Bo Shaw (Lassiter)

Midfield
Mick Stapleton (Etowah)
Cooper Audley (Roswell)
George Walker (Alpharetta)

Defense
Andrew Carlton (Alpharetta)
Steven Gernatt (Walton)
Ethan Adams (Roswell)

Goalie
Alex Squires (Collins Hill)

Specialty
Gary Heusel (Peachtree Ridge)

4A All-State & All-American Selections

2011-05-01T21:50:00.003-04:00

Discuss your thoughts on the selections for 4A here.

Some Huuuge Games Today

2011-04-29T08:17:00.002-04:00

All four of these games have big playoff seeding implications which have been detailed in the Playoff Picture posts below. So, no matter what part of ATL you live in, there is some great lax to be seen:

-- Blessed Trinity @ Wesleyan
-- Westminster @ Pope
-- Newnan @ East Coweta
-- Alpharetta @ Milton

Sportsmanship... A GLB Challenge!

2011-04-28T22:27:00.004-04:00

Since there is frequent talk of sportsmanship issues at this time of the season as things get a bit heated, the GLB would like to share a lacrosse tradition that could be passed on to HONOR THE GAME! in Georgia.

It's really quite simple, but can have a huge effect. After the last whistle, each team gathers together and has a brief talk... then you give a cheer of respect to the other team, e.g. "Rah! Rah! Lions!"... then you go shake hands/bump knucks as fellow competitors and lacrosse brethren/bros.

Your aged GLB reporter was part of the oldest HS sports rivalry in the South, and this simple gesture was a great way of shifting gears from competitive to respectful. The GLB encourages all teams to embrace this tradition.

Today's Best Matchups

2011-04-28T16:34:00.001-04:00

-- Wesleyan @ McIntosh
-- Walton @ Harrison
-- Peachtree Ridge @ Lassiter

At The GLB... Ya Gotta Scroll... That's How We Roll!

2011-04-27T14:14:00.003-04:00

There is a bunch of new content posted... make sure you scroll down to catch it all!

Here are today's games to watch:

-- Blessed Trinity @ Decatur
-- Milton @ Lovett - 6pm - GLB covering live
-- McIntosh @ Whitewater
-- Starr's Mill @ Roswell

Great College Lax In Town This Weekend!

2011-04-27T13:58:00.006-04:00

The Southeastern Lacrosse Conference Championship Tournament is coming this weekend with games at Northview, Alpharetta, Lambert and Chattahoochee. Participants this year include:

Division 1 - Georgia, Georgia Tech, West Virginia, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Clemson, South Carolina, University of Central Florida
Division 2 - Kennesaw State, Elon, Palm Beach Atlantic, Emory, Savannah College of Art and Design, Davidson, UNC-Charlotte, Coastal Carolina

There are tons of local kids on these rosters, and students 18 and under in a lacrosse jersey get in free all weekend!

All the pertinent info can be found by clicking HERE.

The 5A Playoff Picture

2011-04-27T13:05:00.002-04:00

Similarly to 4A, we know which 16 teams will make the playoff tourney, but there are some seedings to be sorted out the next few days. Here's the 5A picture:

Area 1 - Harrison has locked up #1, Newnan can lock up #2 with a win over E. Coweta, Hillgrove would be #3 and E. Coweta #4. If Newnan loses it gets complicated... somebody else do the math.

Area 2 - Lassiter locked up #1 by beating Walton who is #2, Woodstock locked up #3 with their OT win over Etowah who is #4.

Area 3 - Northview has locked up #1, Milton and Alpharetta play for #2/#3 on Friday, and Roswell is #4.

Area 4 - Peachtree Ridge has locked up #1, and it looks like Mill Creek, Grayson and Collins Hill in the other 3 slots. Need some insider help since some of the teams play more than 7 Area games as to how the seedings shake out.

The 4A Playoff Picture

2011-04-27T12:29:00.003-04:00

With a few crucial games left to be played, the "who" has been settled in 4A but the "where" is yet to be determined. In other words, we know which 16 teams* will make the playoff tourney, but some of the seedings will be determined over the next few days. After sorting through the standings, here is the picture as of now:

Area 1 - Lovett has locked up the #1, McIntosh locked up #2 by beating Northgate previously, Northgate #3, and Pace Academy secured the #4 with their OT win over Woodward.

Area 2 - Pope and Westminster will meet Friday to decide #1/#2, Riverwood can lock up #3 by beating Kell on Fri., and Sprayberry would be #4. *If Riverwood should lose to Kell, then a tie-breaker may settle the last two seeds... I think goal differential in Area is the secondary tie-breaker after head-to-head.

Area 3 - Lambert has locked up #1, Blessed Trinity can lock up #2 with win over Wesleyan, Johns Creek would be #3 and Wesleyan #4. If BT loses then the 2-4 seeds get complicated.

Area 4 - St. Pius has locked up #1, Decatur locked up #2 with their win over Marist who is #3, and Greenbrier will be the #4 seed.

Recap: Westminster @ Riverwood

2011-04-27T10:14:00.010-04:00

With 4A Area 2 seeding still up for grabs, this was an important meeting between the Westminster Wildcats and the much-improved Riverwood Raiders. The Raiders have turned heads this season with strong results and a coaching staff that is well known and respected, and the defending champs from Westminster have been improving their form as they approach the playoffs, so all 4A eyes were focused on this tilt at Riverwood.

Your GLB reporter arrived early to find a great atmosphere at the Raiders' stadium: a good crowd from both schools and almost a playoff style intensity in the air. The Riverwood crowd seemed to embrace the gravity of the team's success thus far in the season and the importance of this game, and a lively student section was there to cheer their squad on.

The game looked to be a mostly defensive battle from the start, and neither offense was able to score early on in the opening quarter. The Wildcats d-poles, Chris Reagan, Danny Catan, Andrew Griffin and LSM Wilson Powell were dominant in the early going with aggressive stick checking, and they didn't allow a Riverwood shot in the entire quarter. At the other end, the Raider defenders, led by Lewis Shendowich, Josh White and Mason Totri, did a good job of limiting the Wildcat offense early on. But the Raiders' senior goalie Mike Hashimoto set the early tone with some great saves, and the Raider fans responded with chants of "Hashi!" At the 7:20 mark in the 1st, the Wildcats finally broke through with a score as junior middie Blake Ashley fed junior attackman Shelton Collier for a goal from the right side. A few minutes later the Cats went up 2-0 when senior attack Duncan McColl scored unassisted with a low bouncer from the left. And McColl set up the last goal of the quarter as he dodged to his left drawing two defenders, and he fed to Shelton Collier on the doorstep to give Westminster a 3-0 lead at the end of the 1st.

The 2nd quarter started with a trade of possessions, but at the 9:45 mark Riverwood was flagged for a push, giving the Wildcats an EMO. Westminster capitalized on the man-up as Duncan McColl fed senior middie Trey Williams who ripped to upper left from 12 yds. out. A few minutes later Shelton Collier gave Westminster a 5-0 lead when he noticed the Raider defense sagging, and he stepped up to crank one in the back of the net. And that 5-0 score stood at halftime.

After the crowd had consumed their share of the signature Riverwood BBQ sandwich at halftime, the fans and defenses settled in for the early part of the 3rd quarter. With 6:39 showing in the 3rd, Westy's Shelton Collier again scored an unassisted goal, this time after picking up a GB on a broken play. Riverwood won the ensuing faceoff and finally got on the board as senior middie Jake Griffith dodged from top right for an unassisted goal. And just over a minute later the Raiders tried to get back in the game as soph middie Christian Wendlandt fed junior attackman Drew Schweers for the goal to cut the lead to 2-6. But the Cats answered fairly quickly as Shelton Collier picked up a Raider turnover at midfield and streaked to the cage, where he fed Duncan McColl on the doorstep to give Westminster a 7-2 lead. And Westy's senior attackman Michael Thomas scored a nice unassisted goal on an inside roll making it 8-2, which stood at quarter's end.

With the game well in hand, Westminster controlled most of the final quarter, but the Raiders added one more goal as Jake Griffith scored unassisted as he roofed a bounce shot after dodging through the middle. The final score showed Westminster on top 8-3.

This was a clean, well played game with very few penalties. Both goalies, the Raiders' Mike Hoshimoto and junior Ned Zakas for the Cats, played well and had some nice saves. And both defenses played well as previously mentioned. Westy's Shelton Collier and Duncan McColl both had outstanding offensive games as well. Riverwood might not earn a state title this year, but they are certainly earning respect in 4A. Coach Lou Corsetti, his staff and team seem to be doing it the right way, and, with a feeder program in place, the future of Raider lax looks bright. Westminster faces an Area showdown with Pope on Friday for the #1 seed, so 4A eyes will be watching for that result.

Photos courtesy of Steve Powell.

Monday's Games To Watch

2011-04-25T14:40:00.001-04:00

Here are the best matchups involving playoff contenders today:

-- McIntosh @ Alpharetta
-- Johns Creek @ Lambert
-- Collins Hill @ Grayson
-- Kennesaw Mountain @ Walton

4A Discussions - Final Week of Regular Season

2011-04-25T14:37:00.001-04:00

Here's the place to have an on-going discussion of 4A activity this week. Share your thoughts on the final week's games, playoff predictions and more!

5A Discusions - Last Week of Regular Season

2011-04-25T14:35:00.002-04:00

Here's the place to have an on-going discussion of 5A activity this week. Share your thoughts on the final week's games, playoff predictions and more!

Under Armour Southeast Rankings

2011-04-22T07:46:00.001-04:00

Southeast
1. Saint Andrew’s (Fla.), 14-1
2. Lake Highland Prep (Fla.), 15-1
3. St. Mark’s (Texas), 16-1
4. Dallas Jesuit (Texas), 13-2
5. Ponte Vedra (Fla.), 16-1
6. Bolles (Fla.), 15-3
7. Lambert (Ga.), 15-1
8. Walton (Ga.), 12-1
9. Northview (Ga.), 13-3
10. Coppell (Texas), 9-4
States: North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma

Notes: There were no changes in the rankings this week, though Winter Park (Fla.) made an enthusiastic case to earn a spot after an upset win over No. 6 Bolles during the week. But there was trouble justifying dropping Bolles down or removing any of the Georgia teams, who have continued to do what they've needed to do to stay in the Top 10. Luckily, the Florida playoffs are coming to help clarify the situation. Texas, too, is entering playoff mode as well. No changes among the Lone Star State programs this week.

More Area Battles In Today's Games

2011-04-21T15:44:00.005-04:00

They are two more important Area games in 4A today, and a matchup of 5A powerhouses as well. The GLB will update with more preview info, but here are the games to watch today:

-- GAC @ McIntosh - Although GAC won't be in the playoffs this season, they've beaten several teams that will be, and it will be interesting to see if McIntosh can bounce back after their loss to Lovett last night.

-- Woodward Academy (7-8, 5-3) @ Pace Academy (8-7, 4-3) - Pace faces a must-win to make the playoffs and knock Woodward out, so this should be a battle.

-- Northgate @ Starr's Mill - Northgate has already locked up at least a #3 seed, and a win today and a McIntosh loss to Whitewater (unlikely) could move them up.

-- Peachtree Ridge @ Collins Hill - 5A Area 4 still has several games left that will determine seeding. Ridge could lock up the #1 seed with a win today, but Collins Hill could steal it if they can win today and take their last two Area games against Grayon and Duluth.

-- Harrison @ Milton -This could be a preview of a potential 2nd round playoff matchup. Harrison has already locked up a #1 seed, and Milton will face Alpharetta to determine the #2 seed if Alpha can beat Roswell tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how much these teams show their hands since this game doesn't mean much other than bragging rights and momentum.

Some Great Area Battles Today

2011-04-20T11:51:00.003-04:00

There are some great matchups today, and the GLB will focus on three games that will likely determine the #1 and #2 seeds in their respective Areas. As always, you can comment on other games in this posting, or you can get some discussion started in our new weekly discussion posts.

The GLB will have a full recap on one of these games... it may be a game-time decision which one we'll cover... but let's get some feedback from other folks who are catching these games:

UPDATE: Walton @ Lassiter has apparently been moved up to 6 pm.

-- Walton (12-1, 4-0 in Area) @ Lassiter (5-9, 4-0) - While Lassiter is trying to recover from a 9 game losing streak, they can get well in a hurry with a win today. Their remaining schedule is Lovett, Ptree Ridge and Wheeler (Area). Walton would likely wrap up 5A Area 2 with a win today, since Kennesaw Mtn. is their only remaining Area game. The Raiders have won 5 in a row against good teams.

-- St. Pius (9-6, 3-0) @ Decatur (9-4, 2-0) -This battle will likely determine the #1 seed in 4A Area 4. SPX will be looking to turn around a 3 game losing streak, and they will still face much-improved Marist in an Area game. Decatur narrowly beat Marist in their last outing, and they've won 7 of their last 9 games. A win today could land them the #1 slot since they have two winnable Area games remaining.

-- McIntosh (10-3, 7-0) @ Lovett (11-3, 8-0) - This 4A Area 1 battle was stopped due to weather on Friday night with McIntosh leading 2-1. The Chiefs have won 7 games in a row, and their only remaining Area game is against Whitewater. Although the Lions will start the game down a goal, they have the talent to secure another #1 seed. Their remaining games are against Lassiter and Milton as they prep for the playoffs.

4A Talk For This Week's Games

2011-04-20T11:43:00.001-04:00

Our readers asked, and the GLB delivers. There will be a weekly posting for both 5A and 4A where readers can comment on anything relevant to what's going on in each classification. Remember to post using a tag, and HONOR THE GAME!

5A Talk For This Week's Games

2011-04-20T11:37:00.002-04:00

Twitter Scorefeed Is Gaining Momentum!

2011-04-19T21:38:00.004-04:00

As we approach the playoffs, the GLB Twitter scorefeed will be a great source for GA lax fans to track what is going on with other schools. Please follow the feed, and we need more folks tweeting scores and details of the games they are following

If you haven't already noticed, the GLB has embedded the Twitter scorefeed on the right side of the GLB... if you are watching scores on your computer simply keep the GLB open in your browser window and refresh to see the updates.

So check it out... you can start following @georgialaxblog by clicking HERE. If you want to send scores from the games you catch, please be sure to shoot the GLB an email so we can follow your tweets.

More Comments About Comments... Help!

2011-04-19T20:28:00.002-04:00

As of right now, Anonymous comments will be deleted, regardless of the quality of the comment. Your faithful GLB reporter has made numerous pleas to eliminate Anonymous comments. Despite the fact that the following appears in the dialog box for comments: "Posting anonymously is discouraged, it would be much cooler if you would take a few seconds and register, or at least log under a name.Use the "Comment As" menu below to select how your tag will appear.", we are still getting a majority of comments posted anonymously.

The GLB is very happy with how interactive the conversations have become, but the quality of the conversations would be much better if we all had "identities". I appreciate the efforts by users like Milton Dad, Southside Lax, Decleated, Beta, and other members who have posted under tags... but they are in the minority as far as commenters using tags.

The other options for moderating comments are going to be difficult for all of us, so we hope that everyone will immediately start using a tag when posting comments. We will see how this goes over the next week, but if there isn't a major change in commenting, we will go to a format where everyone must be registered.

And an important message to everyone... last year as we approached the playoffs some comments got a bit disrespectful (some were beyond that and deleted)... please remember... this is a moderated Blog with the purpose of shining a brighter light on Georgia HS lax and trying to grow the sport, gain respect for GA lax around the country, and, most importantly, HONOR THE GAME!

Monday's Games Of Note

2011-04-18T15:03:00.002-04:00

After a great weekend of lacrosse at the Legacy Cup, we can focus on multiple locations and games this week. Here are some of today's best matchups:

-- Walton @ Etowah
-- Newnan @ Northgate
-- East Coweta @ Roswell
-- Whitewater @ Starr's Mill
-- McIntosh @ Woodward

Legacy Cup Begins This Afternoon

2011-04-15T13:44:00.002-04:00

The Legacy Cup kicks off this afternoon... Let's hope the weather cooperates. You can check the Legacy Cup website for all of the details by clicking HERE. Here's the lineup of boys' games:
Friday
-- Westminster vs. Charlotte Catholic
-- Milton vs. McCallie
-- Providence vs. St. Pius
-- Northview vs. Charlotte Latin
Saturday
-- Harrison vs. Memphis
-- Lambert vs. Providence
-- Milton vs. Charlotte Catholic
-- Georgia Tech vs. Georgia
-- Charlotte Latin vs. Memphis
-- McCallie vs. Harrison

Two Games Of Note Today

2011-04-13T14:31:00.002-04:00

Although there aren't too many good matchups today, there are a couple games that should be good tilts:

-- Lassiter (5-8) @ Pope (9-3) - Although this is an inter-classification game, it may be viewed as a pretty important game for Lassiter. The Trojans are reeling a bit with an 8 game losing streak, including 4 losses to NC teams during their Spring Break. They need to get on the winning track as they approach the playoffs. Pope has found their form during a 4 game win streak that includes impressive OT wins over both Harrison and Lovett.

-- Blessed Trinity (6-4) @ Sprayberry (9-4) - Believe it or not, this was the next most intriguing matchup today. Both of these 2nd tier teams are coming off 2 game win streaks and two weeks without a game, so it may be interesting to see which team shakes off the rust the best.

Tuesday's Best Matchups

2011-04-12T16:25:00.002-04:00

-- St. Pius @ Alpharetta
-- Kennesaw Mtn. @ Riverwood
-- Westminster @ Walton
-- Lovett @ Holy Innocents
-- Starr's Mill @ Pace

Legacy Cup This Weekend!

2011-04-11T14:02:00.003-04:00

Since the schedule is pretty light today, let's go ahead and get some discussion started on the Legacy Cup lineup for this weekend. You can check the Legacy Cup website for all of the details by clicking HERE. Here's the lineup of boys' games:
Friday
-- Westminster vs. Charlotte Catholic
-- Milton vs. McCallie
-- Providence vs. St. Pius
-- Northview vs. Charlotte Latin
Saturday
-- Harrison vs. Memphis
-- Lambert vs. Providence
-- Milton vs. Charlotte Catholic
-- Georgia Tech vs. Georgia
-- Charlotte Latin vs. Memphis
-- McCallie vs. Harrison

Light Schedule For Saturday

2011-04-09T11:04:00.003-04:00

As we wind down the public school Spring Break week, there are only a few games on the schedule:
-- Decatur @ Ensworth (TN)
-- Alpharetta @ Charlotte Latin
-- Alpharetta @ Providence
-- Peachtree Ridge @ McCallie

Friday 4/8 - Games On Tap

2011-04-08T16:09:00.006-04:00

Here are the games on today's schedule:
-- Wesleyan @ Walton
-- Decatur @ Baylor (TN)
-- Starr's Mill @ Darlington
-- Westminster @ Lovett
-- Pace Academy @ St. Pius X
-- Woodward @ Whitefield

Tragedy Strikes The GA Lax Community...

2011-04-06T22:50:00.003-04:00

We should all embrace the Harrison lax community... they have suffered a tragic loss. A good friend of the the GLB let us know that a local story involves the GA lax community... the death of a Harrison lax parent... please reach out to the Hoya lax community... the following is from the AJC:

Panama City Beach cops probe Marietta woman's fatal fall
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Police in Panama City Beach, Fla., remain baffled as to what caused a 44-year-old Marietta woman to plunge to her death from a 14th-floor balcony Tuesday.

About 7:30 p.m., Michelle Haley landed on the third floor of a parking deck at the Laketown Wharf condominiums.

"Investigators are still working and talking to people, but we don't suspect any criminal activity, leaning more toward some type of accident," Police Chief Robert Harding told the AJC on Wednesday.

Haley was in Panama City Beach with her husband, Todd, and 17-year-old son, Judd, a football and lacrosse player at Harrison High School. When she fell, her husband was in the condo talking to a friend while her son had gone out to get something to eat, Harding said.

"Apparently she was in the bathroom, they heard the hair dryer going," Harding said. "Then they don't hear the hair dryer anymore. The husband doesn't see her, he walks out on the balcony. Apparently she's a smoker. He doesn't see her out there. He looks over and sees her on top of the parking deck.

"Nobody heard anything, nobody saw anything," Harding said, adding the husband's friend confirmed that account.

The balcony railing is intact. There are no video cameras on that side of the building, Harding said. The coroner will do a full toxicology exam, he added.

Condo resident Gabrielle Garrison told The News Herald that five-foot guardrails surround the balconies. She said she heard screaming seconds after the fall.

"It gave me chills," she told the paper.

Michelle Haley worked as office manager for Todd Haley & Associates, manufacturers' representatives for the kitchen industry.

Tuesday's Games 4/5

2011-04-05T14:34:00.002-04:00

Here are the games on tap for today:

-- Wesleyan (5-4) @ Holy Innocents (4-7)

-- Lovett (7-3) @ Pace Academy (6-5)

-- Darlington (1-9) @ Westminster (5-4)

-- Lassiter (5-6) @ Charlotte Latin (5-1)

Monday's Action Out-Of-State

2011-04-04T15:48:00.002-04:00

All of today's action is taking place outside GA:

-- Milton @ Nease (7-4) @ 5 p.m.

-- Milton (9-2) @ Ponte Vedra (10-1) @ 7 p.m. - Milton started their SB trip with an OT win over Country Day in Charlotte. Today they will face a pair of teams from Florida's District 3. Ponte Vedra is currently ranked #2 in the state, according to LaxPower.

-- Northview (8-1) @ Vero Beach (7-4)

-- Lambert (11-1) @ Highland Park (7-5) - Lambert started their Texas trip by beating Coppell 14-13 in OT, and Highland Park appears to be a weaker team than Coppell.

Saturday's Games... Near And Far

2011-04-02T10:52:00.005-04:00

There are a handfull of GA teams playing out-of-state teams today, and a couple of good local matchups:

-- Milton (8-2) @ Charlotte Country Day (7-3) (NC) 12 p.m. - Milton is coming off 3 good wins against Westminster, Lassiter and Roswell as they head to NC for several games this week. Country Day is also on a 3 game winning streak, including a 12-6 win over Charlotte Latin, who was ranked #1 at the time.

-- Lovett (7-2) @ Pope (8-3) 1 p.m. - Lovett has won 3 one-goal games in a row: Harrison 5-4, St. Pius 7-6, and Starr's Mill 9-8, and today's game will be their 3rd in 4 days. Pope has also won 3 in a row, with their latest a 13-12 overtime thriller over Harrison. This should be a great game of 4A playoff contenders.

-- Lassiter (5-5) @ Charlotte Catholic (NC) (6-4) 1 p.m. - Lassiter left GA on a 4 game losing streak, and the trend continued yesterday as the fell to Providence Day (NC) 8-9 in OT. Perhaps their luck will change today as they face a Catholic team that also lost to Providence 3-9.

-- Marist @ Darlington 2 p.m. - Marist has quietly put together a good start to their season, and a score from yesterday got the GLB's attention. Marist opened with a 6-3 win over Collins Hill, and yesterday the defeated East Coweta 7-6, so it will be interesting to see how they handle back-to-back games as they face a struggling Darlington team today. Darlington's lone win came against Pace 5-3 in early March, and they lost 6-7 in OT to Holy Innocents this week.

-- Lambert (10-1) @ Coppell (6-3) 3 p.m. - This tilt will feature teams listed in the Under Armour Southeast Top Ten on Inside Lacrosse.com. Lambert is currently ranked #8, and Coppell dropped from #4 to #10 this week with a loss to Episcopal Dallas. The game will be webcast on Coppell's site which you can follow by clicking HERE. The teams will enjoy a Texas style BBQ after the game, so it will be fun to hear the details of how the GA boys do on and off the field.

Friday's Games To Watch

2011-04-01T11:26:00.003-04:00

The sound of screeching tires and "Beach Bound, Baby!" will be heard across the metro ATL as the public schools begin their Spring Break. So, for the next week, our local focus will be primarily on the private schools, but we'll be following several schools from afar as they play out-of-state competition. There are a few public schools playing on "getaway" day in some of today's games to watch:

-- Marist (7-2) @ Darlington (1-7) - Marist has quietly put together a good start to their season, and a score from yesterday got the GLB's attention. Marist opened with a 6-3 win over Collins Hill, and yesterday the defeated East Coweta 7-6, so it will be interesting to see how they handle back-to-back games as they face a struggling Darlington team today. Darlington's lone win came against Pace 5-3 in early March, and they lost 6-7 in OT to Holy Innocents this week.

-- Woodward (5-5) @ Decatur (6-3) - This should be a good non-Area tilt between likely playoff teams. Although Woodward's overall record stands at .500, they are 4-2 in their Area with 3 Area games remaining. They are coming off a 3OT 10-9 win over GAC... they fell to Northgate in 3OT just a week previously. Decatur recorded lopsided wins over Lakeside-Evans and Grady in their last outings. They will be playing two Tennessee teams next weekend.

-- Holy Innocents (4-6, 1-2 in Area) @ McIntosh (7-3, 4-0) - This 4A Area 1 game features two teams headed in opposite directions. Holy Innocents lost a bunch of talent to graduation, and they have had a tough time so far. They are coming off two straight OT games... they lost 11-12 to Northgate and beat Darlington 7-6 earlier this week. McIntosh has won four in a row over Decatur, Newnan, Starr's Mill and Pace. They need to take care of HIES today and Grady later, then their game with Lovett will likely be a battle for the #1 seed.

-- Alpharetta (7-4) @ Wesleyan (5-3) - All of Alpha's losses have been to very good teams, including their 3-5 loss to Northview last weekend. They will head to Charlotte next weekend to face Providence and Latin. Wesleyan is coming off two losses... 10-13 to Pace and 8-21 to a surprising Johns Creek squad. They will likely have their hands full today unless the Alpha Raiders are focusing on the beach.

-- Lassiter (5-4) @ Providence Day (7-3) - This is the 1st of 4 games for the Trojans against NC teams. They are coming off 4 losses to very good GA teams in Harrison, Northview, Milton and Westminster, so they are hoping the change of scenery will do some good. Providence is coming off a loss to Dublin (OH)... they play teams from 6 states. The GLB will be pulling for all our boys in out-of-state tilts.

Thursday Results

2011-03-31T20:42:00.002-04:00

Since the GLB wasn't able to do previews today, let's get some comments about the games you were following. The biggest tilt of the day has already come across the Twitter scorefeed... Walton 7-6 over Northview... hmmm. things are getting interesting.

Wednesday's Games To Watch

2011-03-30T13:09:00.003-04:00

There is a fairly light schedule today, but there are some good games in both 4A and 5A. The GLB had a tough time deciding which game to cover live tonight... here are the four most interesting games on tap:
-- Harrison (7-1) @ Pope (7-3) - Harrison lost for the first time last week to Lovett 4-5, but they rebounded with what is best viewed as a "lax lesson" 27-1 over the South Cobb program that they have "adopted." That score is not reflective of the bond between those 2 schools. Harrison should have a better test today from the Pope Greyhounds, whose 3 losses were to good 5A teams Milton, Alpharetta and Walton. Pope is coming off a big 11-5 Area win over Riverwood. My guess is that this will be a defensive battle.
-- Milton (7-2, 4-1 in Area) @ Roswell (4-6, 1-1) - This 5A Area 3 tilt will likely help decide seeding for the playoff slots. With Northview in the driver's seat for the #1 seed, Milton needs to take care of Roswell today and Alpha further down the schedule. The Eagles are coming off good wins over Westminster 10-3 and Lassiter 8-4. Roswell is likely to make the playoffs and their later meeting with Alpha will also be important. They had 4 straight losses before beating Woodstock 15-11 in their last outing.
-- St. Pius X (7-2) @ Lovett (5-2) - SPX is coming off a very physical game in which the lost to Peachtree Ridge 8-11. Their best win to date came against Westminster 10-7, and their game against Decatur later in the season figures to be for the #1 or #2 seed in Area 4. Lovett rebounded nicely from their loss to Lambert with a 5-4 victory over Harrison last week, and they have an interesting schedule the rest of the way with alternating games between weaker/tough teams. Although the GLB covered the SPX/Ptree Ridge game last week, this is too intriguing a matchup to miss... soooo we'll have Twitter feeds and a recap of this one.
-- Decatur (5-3) @ Grady (0-8) - While the respective records show that this should be an easy win for Decatur, the GLB just had to point out this tilt because of the proximity of these geographic rivals and the potential for a great lax rivalry in the future. Decatur's biggest remaining game will be against SPX, but they need to win this type of game. Grady is only a second year program, and they would love to earn a little respect against their neighbors.

Recap: Lassiter @ Westminster

2011-03-30T13:08:00.002-04:00

Although the weather had looked a bit gloomy all day, the rain held off for this great inter-class matchup... remember... Mother Nature is a Lax Mom. This was an important game for both teams as they had both had some early season struggles. The Westminster Wildcats had a bad week of three losses before their Spring Break, but they had righted the ship with two Area wins. The Lassiter Trojans entered with a 3 game losing streak against tough 5A teams, and they face a tough schedule down the stretch.

As the game got underway, the teams traded possessions before Westminster struck at the 9:26 mark, when junior defenseman Danny Catan started a fastbreak, looked off the defender, and found senior attackman Duncan McColl parked on the crease. McColl made a nice series of fakes before tucking the ball into the net for the 1-0 lead. On the very next possession, McColl scored again after he was set up by fellow senior attackman Michael Thomas, who started a nifty give-and-go that resulted in his assist to McColl. Just a minute later, McColl notched the early hat-trick, this time with an unassisted lefty crank from the right side that ripped lower left. A few minutes later, Michael Thomas caused a turnover near midfield, scooped the GB and streaked toward the cage, where he found Duncan McColl for his 4th goal in under 4 minutes. Lassiter finally got on the scoreboard at the 4:30 mark of the opening stanza, when soph attackman Jack Fitzharris scored after a Trojan fastbreak. Westminster held a 4-1 lead at the end of the quarter.

Lassiter cut into that lead early in the 2nd quarter, when senior middie Bo Shaw scored an unassisted goal as he dodged to his right and shot to the lower left corner of the goal. On the ensuing faceoff, the Wildcats' junior FOGO Julian Houk scooped a groundball and headed to the cage, where he fed junior attackman Shelton Collier for a dunk from the doorstep to make it 5-2. Less than a minute later, Collier notched an assist as he fed Michael Thomas, who faked high and slid the ball low into the back of the net. At the 7:00 mark of the 2nd, Lassiter answered when freshman middie Tom Barre beat two defenders in front of the cage and shot to upper right to make it 3-6. With about 3:00 left in the 1st half, Westy's Shelton Collier scored a pair of nearly identical unassisted goals as he netted hard lefty shots to put the Cats up 8-3. With just over 2:00 remaining, Westy's junior goalie Ned Zakas cleared to senior middie Trey Williams, who made an acrobatic one-handed leaning catch at midfield, streaked to the cage, and buried the shot for an unassisted goal. The Trojans cut into the lead a minute later as senior middie Jordan Taylor scored an unassisted goal with a lefty overhand shot to upper right. The halftime scoreboard showed Westminster leading 9-4.

Early in the 3rd quarter Westy was flagged for a 1:00 slashing penalty, and the Trojan EMO unit took the field. But the Wildcats reversed the advantage when Danny Catan started a fastbreak and notched his 2nd d-pole assist as he found Shelton Collier on the doorstep for a man-down goal. With a 10-4 lead, Westminster looked to be in control of this game, but Lassiter fought back in the latter part of the 3rd quarter with three unanswered goals. Lassiter's freshman attackman Jude Collins began the surge as he dodged from X for an unassisted goal. And the Trojan's Jack Fitzharris notched his 2nd goal after he took a feed from Jordan Taylor and ripped a shot to upper left. Soph middie Jared Gannt capped the flurry as he scored on an assist from middie Tom Barre. The Trojans had cut the Wildcats lead to 10-7 by the end of the 3rd.

The determined Trojans continued to fight early in the 4th quarter, and Tom Barre made things interesting when he scored an unassisted goal with a fake to his right, inside roll, and a nice overhand bounce shot for the score. Westminster was able to re-gain some momentum a couple minutes later, when attackman Shelton Collier was somehow able to bury an unassisted goal with a defender glued to his outside shoulder to give the Cats an 11-8 lead. Midway through the final quarter, Westminster capped off a very long possession with a Trey Williams goal as he shot on the move from the right side. Lassiter answered on their next possession as Jude Collins scored a nice unassisted goal, but Lassiter was running out of time. Westminster's senior middie Jimbo Izlar sealed the Cats' victory in the last minute as he scooped a GB in front of the cage and buried the shot for a 13-9 win.

This was a good win for a Westminster team that looks to be regaining their form at both ends of the field. The Westminster attack of Duncan McColl, Shelton Collier and Michael Thomas did a nice job of opening the early lead and sustaining the scoring pressure, while goalie Ned Zakas and his veteran defensive group held strong at the opposite end. Lassiter has had a tough stretch of games, and the load doesn't get any lighter as they face a very tough schedule until the last week of the season. But the future looks bright for first-year coach Bryan Wallace and the Trojans, who had a strong game from underclassmen Tom Barre, Jude Collins, and Jack Fitzharris. Both of these teams will be interesting to track as we move closer to the playoffs.

Tuesday's Games To Watch

2011-03-29T11:43:00.004-04:00

There are some very interesting games on today's schedule, and it looks like the rain won't hit our area until tonight... let's hope after 9 p.m. or so. Most teams are around the midway point in their seasons, so games either have some playoff/Area implications, or, at the very least, show what type of form a team is in as we head toward the playoffs. There are some great games in both 4A and 5A, and the GLB will be covering a good inter-class battle live with a recap to follow. The Twitter scorefeed is growing, and we are still looking for more GLB followers to send scores to the feed. Here are the games to watch today:

-- Wesleyan (5-2) @ Johns Creek (6-2) - This is an important 4A Area 3 battle which could help determine the #2 and #3 seeds since Lambert seems to have a stranglehold on the top slot. Wesleyan (5-0 in Area) is playing their first game since a 10-13 loss to Pace Academy nearly two weeks ago. They will still face Lambert and Blessed Trinity in Area games. Johns Creek (4-1 in Area) got their best win to date last week over Area rival GAC 12-9. Their only Area loss was to BT.

-- Pace Academy (6-3, 2-0 Area) @ McIntosh (6-3, 3-0 Area) - Both of these teams are undefeated in 4A Area 1 play, so something has to give in this tilt. Pace enters having won 5 in a row, highlighted by a 13-10 win over Wesleyan. They are starting a stretch with 7 of 8 games against Area 1 foes. McIntosh has won 3 in a row themselves, and their losses were to good teams in SPX, Northview, and Westy. They are starting a 6 game stretch of Area games.

-- Lassiter (5-3) @ Westminster (4-4) - This should be a great inter-class battle of perennial contenders who seem to be a bit off-form in the early going this season. Lassiter is coming off 3 losses to strong 5A teams Harrison, Northview and Milton, and things won't get much easier until their season-ending matchup with Wheeler. They head to Charlotte to face 4 tough NC teams during their Spring Break, then return to face a very difficult in-state sched. After a very uneven start, Westminster seems to be returning to form as they tuned up with Area 2 wins against Kell 17-4 and Sprayberry 16-4. They always seem to hit their stride late in the season, so it will be interesting to see if the Wildcats are headed in the right direction against the Trojans. The GLB will cover this tilt with live Twitter feeds and a full recap afterwards.

-- Etowah @ East Coweta has been cancelled due to field conditions.

-- Collins Hill (5-2) @ Newnan ((7-5) - Both of these teams are a bit enigmatic, with winning records against fairly weak teams. Collins Hill had a bad 3-6 early loss to Marist, and most of their wins have come against lower tier teams. They will have 3 Area games left on the sched including Peachtree Ridge. Newnan has a shot at making the playoffs this year, but they are coming off 3 straight losses. They have 4 Area games remaining on their schedule.

-- Mill Creek (4-3, 3-0 in Area) @ Peachtree Ridge (6-1, 2-0) - First year varsity team Mill Creek has a decent shot at the playoffs in 5A Area 4, and if their exuberance is any indication (the GLB is FB friends with several of the guys), then they will give it their all. With 4 more Area games left, this will be a good indicator for Mill Creek. Ptree Ridge is coming off a very physical and emotional 11-8 win over St. Pius (which the GLB covered... eventually), so it will be interesting to see how they rebound from that game. They have won 4 in a row, and the remainder of their schedule has some big games against McCallie, Northview and Lassiter.

Ptree Ridge @ Pius Recap... Finally!

2011-03-28T17:53:00.002-04:00

The recap is finally posted below... not only was the end of the game ugly... so was the GLB's inability to get this posted in a timely manner. Thanks for your patience... you get what you pay for here at the GLB. And the formatting is not allowing separate paragraphs, so it looks like a William Faulkner novel. Should be some more interesting comments about the end of the game.

Walton @ Lambert Is Monday's Best Tilt

2011-03-28T11:54:00.002-04:00

This game got postponed on Saturday, but it looks like the weather should clear up by this evening. Since the other games on the sched for today aren't too compelling, we'll focus our attention on this great matchup: -- Walton (7-0) @ Lambert (8-1) @ 7:30 p.m. - This should be a great inter-classification battle between teams that look to be top contenders in their respective classes. 5A Walton has gotten off to a great start with wins over Roswell, Alpha and Pope as their best showings. They beat Blessed Trinity 12-4 in their last outing. 4A Lambert has also had a very strong beginning to their season, and they are coming off a pair of 13-6 victories over Lovett and Roswell. The Longhorns, who were ranked in the IL Southeast Top Ten this week, will travel to Texas next weekend to face #4 ranked Coppell and perennial TX power Highland Park.

Two Great Matchups Today... Soggy Saturday

2011-03-26T09:36:00.007-04:00

Hopefully, the weather won't impact today's games... well, it's going to impact them... we just don't want cancellations. There are two great tilts to watch today:

-- Pope (6-3) @ Riverwood (9-0) @ 11 a.m. - This is an important battle for 4A Area 2 seeding, and both of these teams will face Westminster in the last week of the season. So the winner of this one will likely have one of the top 2 slots in Area 2. Pope's best wins came against Decatur, SPX, Sprayberry and Woodstock, while their losses were all to good teams in Milton, Alpharetta and Walton. Riverwood has been turning heads with their strong start, and their most significant wins came against Decatur, GAC, HIES and Sprayberry. This tilt is a very important game for both squads, so the result will be interesting... hope we get some good recap info from GLB readers.

UPDATE - The Walton @ Lambert game has apparently been postponed until Monday @ 7:30 p.m.due to the weather.
-- Walton (7-0) @ Lambert (8-1) @ 5 p.m. - This should be a great inter-classification battle between teams that look to be top contenders in their respective classes. 5A Walton has gotten off to a great start with wins over Roswell, Alpha and Pope as their best showings. They beat Blessed Trinity 12-4 in their last outing. 4A Lambert has also had a very strong beginning to their season, and they are coming off a pair of 13-6 victories over Lovett and Roswell. The Longhorns, who were ranked in the IL Southeast Top Ten this week, will travel to Texas next weekend to face #4 ranked Coppell and perennial TX power Highland Park.

Friday's Games Of Note...

2011-03-25T15:10:00.002-04:00

The GLB is trying to get caught up on new content, so we won't have much preview info on tonight's games... but there are some good ones to watch.

-- Harrison (6-0) @ Lovett (4-2)
-- Starr's Mill (3-5) @ McIntosh (5-3)
-- Westminster (3-4) @ Sprayberry (7-3)
-- Alpharetta (6-3) @ Northview (7-0)
-- Woodstock (6-5) @ Roswell (3-6)

Recap: Peachtree Ridge @ St. Pius

2011-03-25T11:18:00.009-04:00

As the game got underway, Peachtree Ridge wasted little time in striking first on a fastbreak, when junior attackman Michael Ruffcorn took a pass at top right, turned and fed sophomore middie Miller Holstein as he streaked to the cage for a nice goal. Just a minute later, the Ridge Lions took a 2-0 lead as senior middie Tyler Fortier, working from X, roll dodged around the right crease for an unassisted goal. At the 8:57 mark, freshman attackman Steven Lee dodged from behind the cage and fed to senior attackman Cory Hall to his left, and Hall ripped it into the lower left corner to give Ridge a 3-0 lead. A minute later SPX got on the scoreboard as senior middie Rick Lewis dodged past two defenders and buried a lefty crank from 8 yards out. Pius scored again at the 3:19 mark when senior attackman Garrett Dominy fed junior middie Curtis Doelling for a quick-stick score to close to 2-3. The first quarter closed with a wild play that started with a great save by Pius goalie Kyle Larkin, but Pius turned the ball over on the clear and Ridge's Steven Lee put the ball in the back of the net before Larkin was able to recover. That goal with :03 left in the opening period put Ridge up 4-2, and SPX was flagged for unnecessary roughness on the play. Ridge took advantage of the 2nd quarter EMO as Cory Hall ripped a wormburner from the left side into the lower right corner to extend the Lion's lead to 5-2. Hall scored again at the 7:15 mark on a play that was equal parts headsy and hustle. After knocking the SPX goalie out of bounds on the endline with an aggressive ride, Hall was quick to get the ball back into play, and he raced around the corner of the cage to bury a quick shot. Ridge extended their lead to 7-2 at the 6:02 mark, when Steven Lee found Michael Ruffcorn camped on the crease for another goal. Peachtree Ridge was flagged for a slash at the 5:05 mark, and Pius capitalized as senior attackman TJ Bickes took a nice pass from Garrett Dominy for the man-up goal. In the last minute of the 1st half, Bickes returned the favor as he fed Dominy for a quick-stick goal, and Ridge held a 7-4 lead at the break. Early in the 3rd quarter, the Pius combo struck again as Bickes again fed Dominy for a man-up goal following a Ridge unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. But Ridge made it 8-5 two minutes later as Cory Hall beat two defenders with a sweet inside roll for an unassisted goal. At the 4:53 mark, Ridge was flagged for unnecessary roughness, and Pius converted as freshman middie Patrick Girard fed Curtis Doelling for the man-up goal. And two minutes later Pius made it a one-goal game when TJ Bickes fed senior attackman Kip Bray on a nice bang-bang passing combo. But Ridge widened their lead to 9-7 in the last minute of the 3rd, as Michael Ruffcorn, dodging from X, made a nice inside roll and put the biscuit in the basket. The 4th quarter opened with a slashing penalty against SPX in the first minute, and Ridge widened their lead to 10-7 as senior middie Tyler Botts fed Michael Ruffcorn for the man-up goal. With 9:20 remaining in the game, Peachtree Ridge went a man down following a slashing call, and Pius converted as TJ Bickes cut across the middle to unleash a lefty crank for the score. The remainder of the game was penalty strewn, and... frankly... ugly. Around the 7 minute mark, Pius was flagged for a series of infractions, and had 3 men in the sideline slammer at one point. They were able to kill off the penalties without a score, but the remainder of the game went from chippy to downright embarrassing at the end. The lone bright spot was the final scoring play of the game: as Ridge's Tanner Botts appeared to be simply killing off clock time, he found an unguarded lane to the cage and sealed the Ridge win at 11-8. The final minute of the game was disappointing as Peachtree Ridge was simply trying to run out the clock. Just as the game ended the Ridge ball-handler was mauled by basically the entire SPX defense, and some of the hits were unnecessary cheap shots. So the indelible image of this game was unfortunate as the refs through their flags, hats, and any other laundry they could find to attempt to break up the ruckus. At least one SPX player was ejected and will face a GHSA suspension for at least one game. It's a shame that type of play is what will be remembered and commented on here at the GLB. There were some great offensive performers on both teams: Ridge's Cory Hall, Michael Ruffcorn, and Tyler/Tanner Botts all had strong games, and TJ Bickes and Garrett Dominy were good in the losing effort for Pius.

Inside Lacrosse SE High School Rankings

2011-03-24T15:01:00.005-04:00

The top contenders in GA 5A and 4A have entered the mix in the latest SE rankings from Inside Lacrosse. Both Northview and Lambert have made the list... Lambert plays #5 Coppell the first week of April and Northview plays #4 Lake Highland Prep the same week... so it will be interesting to follow these rankings:

SOUTHEAST
1. Saint Andrew’s (Fla.), 6-1
2. St. Mark’s (Texas), 10-0
3. Dallas Jesuit (Texas), 7-1
4. Lake Highland Prep (Fla.), 7-1
5. Coppell (Texas), 4-1
6. Ponte Vedra (Fla.), 7-1
7. Bolles (Fla.), 8-1
8. Northview (Ga.), 7-0
9. Lambert (Ga.), 8-1
10. Episcopal Dallas (Texas), 6-3
States: North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma

Notes: Old faces out, new faces in for the Southeast Regional Rankings this week. Highland Park (Texas), Lassiter (Ga.) and Charlotte Country Day (N.C.) are gone. Bolles (Fla.), Northview (Ga.) and Lambert (Ga.) fill those spots in this weeks Top 10. Dallas Jesuit (Texas) moves into the No. 3 spot after beating Coppell (Texas) 13-11 last week.

Fairly Light Schedule For Thursday

2011-03-24T14:43:00.002-04:00

Although there is a fairly light schedule today, the GLB will be covering the best game live... so we'll have Twitter updates and a full recap of the inter-classification battle... and there is some notable action in 5A Area 2 as well.

-- Peachtree Ridge (5-1) @ St. Pius X (7-1) - This should be a good inter-class battle between potential #1 seeds in their respective Areas. Ptree Ridge's best win was a 12-11 OT thriller over Roswell in their season opener. Their only loss was 7-8 to Alpharetta in another OT game. SPX's only loss was 6-7 to Pope in the first week, and they have recorded good wins over McIntosh, Westminster, and Roswell. The GLB will be there for this tilt.

-- North Cobb (2-5) @ Kennesaw Mountain (4-3) - This is a 5A Area 2 contest, and N. Cobb would like to pull off the upset. Kennesaw Mtn. still has an outside shot at the playoffsa... they would have to win out in Area (including upsetting Walton) and hope for some help

-- Etowah (7-3) @ Wheeler (2-6) - Etowah has looked like a good 2nd tier team with lopsided wins and respectable scores in their losses to Alpha, Roswell, and Lassiter. If they keep winning in Area, they will have an interesting showdown for seeding with Woodstock the last week of the season. Wheeler will have 3 Area games after this one, so an upset today could make things interesting in Area 2.

Some Comments About Comments...

2011-03-22T23:40:00.003-04:00

While the GLB is ecstatic about the number of recent comments to posts... the proliferation of Anonymous comments needs to change. The GLB wants commenters to have some identity... Please post regularly using some sort of tag..."ATLlaxBro" or "4A fan" etc. The GLB's only other option is to only accept comments from registered users... WORK WITH US PEOPLE!

UPDATE: To comment using a name, you have several options. Just below the comments box where you type your comment, there is a pull down menu for "Comment As"... you can use a Google account, AIM,etc. or you can select "Name/URL" and type in a tag. I believe it will associate that tag on future posts if your cookies are enabled.

Tonight's Twitter Score Feed...

2011-03-22T13:10:00.003-04:00

If you haven't started following the GLB's Twitter scorefeed, tonight is the night to check it out. Since the GLB Corporate Office Of Accounting/Finance has finally opened up the GLB purse for an iPhone purchase, the scorefeed should see some nice improvements. Thanks to the GLB accounting geeks... you know who you are... your GLB reporter will be using voice recognition software to assist in sending more deets in the tweets... seriously!

So check it out... you can start following @georgialaxblog by clicking HERE. If you want to send scores from the games you catch, please be sure to shoot the GLB an email so we can follow your tweets.

Some Good Tilts On Tap For Tuesday

2011-03-22T12:19:00.002-04:00

With the dust having settled from this past weekend's great AJO4 LaxFest, your GLB reporter is beginning to get over the depression of missing that event. What's the best way to get over missing great lax action? Catch more lax... "Let's play two!" So the GLB will have a doubleheader of recaps of today's games... we'll cover both 4A and 5A. Here's the slate of games of interest today:

-- Walton (6-0) @ Blessed Trinity (4-3) - After notching significant wins over Roswell and Alpharetta during their strong start, the Walton Raiders continued with a dominating 11-4 win of host Pope during the AJO4 LaxFest on Saturday. They'll look to carry on their winning ways as they face a 4A BT team that has had an uneven start to the season. BT got their best win to date on Saturday in beating Roswell 6-3, but they later fell 4-12 to a strong St. Pius squad.

-- GAC (5-3) @ Johns Creek (5-2) - With Lambert looking like a lock for the #1 seed, this will be an important 4A Area 3 battle for one of the other 3 playoff slots. GAC's only close game was their 11-10 opening win over Pace, and they are hoping to be at the top of the 2nd tier teams. They are coming off a 15-5 win over Lakeside-Evans. Johns Creek posted a similar 16-6 win over Lakeside-Evans on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see this result. Johns Creek is still looking for their first signature win, and an Area win in this one would be just that.

-- Whitefield Academy (1-7) @ Pace Academy (4-3) - While this Battle of the Academies may not be a close game, first-year varsity program Whitefield did notch their 1st win 6-5 over Brookwood. This young team is feeling the typical pains of a starter program, but it will be interesting to see what kind of a showing they can muster against Pace. The Knights' losses to GAC, Decatur, and Darlington were all close games, and they recorded a good win 13-10 over Wesleyan last week. Pace is entering the important part of their schedule, with all but one of their remaining games against 4A Area 1 foes, so they need to start taking care of business today. The GLB will be covering this game with a full recap to follow.

-- Milton (6-2) @ Lassiter (5-2) - The marquee matchup of the day is a rematch of last year's 5A State Championship game, so all eyes will be following this result. Milton raised some eyebrows with their losses to Northview and Lambert, but they notched their first signature win on Saturday as they overpowered Westminster 10-3 at AJO4. It's important for the Eagles to round into form since there are no easy games left on their schedule. They are entering the meat of their schedule, and they will use 5 games against tough out-of-state competition to gauge their readiness. The Lassiter Trojans started strong, but they were really untested in their 5 wins. They are coming off back-to-back losses to strong 5A teams, as they fell to Harrison 5-11 and Northview 11-15 on Saturday. The Trojans have already entered the toughest part of their sched, and they will also face 4 out-of-state games as well as a tough string of GA teams until their finale over Wheeler. The GLB is planning to cover this tilt live, and, as long as the GLB's Laxikorski 5000 helicopter lifts off the pad at Pace on time, we'll have a full recap of this great 5A battle.

AJO4 Recaps

2011-03-20T10:03:00.002-04:00

Since the GLB wasn't able to cover this great event, we are relying on our GLB friends who did catch the action live.There is some great recap info in the comments sections below.

AJO4 LaxFest Today!

2011-03-19T08:34:00.003-04:00

Scroll down to see complete preview info on today's games!

GLB Needs Your Help Covering AJO4 LaxFest

2011-03-19T00:38:00.002-04:00

Due to a last minute conflict, your usually faithful GLB reporter needs some help covering the AJO4 LaxFest. If you can help with game recaps or other info, please shoot an email to the GLB.

Preview Of AJO4 LaxFest

2011-03-18T08:14:00.009-04:00

Saturday promises to be the biggest day of the early season as the AJO4 LaxFest returns to Pope High School. This year's lineup features five great matchups and includes some of the top teams in both 4A and 5A:

-- Pace Academy (3-3) vs. Wheeler (1-5) - Pace is starting to make some noise in 4A after their 13-10 win over Wesleyan. Their losses were all close games against GAC, Decatur, and Darlington. While Wheeler has gotten off to a tough start, they are looking to right the ship at this great event. Their losses have been fairly lopsided, and they topped McEachern for their lone victory. Wheeler Head Coach Chris Kelly hopes to make a triumphant return to Pope.

-- Lovett (4-1) vs. Lambert (6-1) - This should be a great re-match of the 4A semifinal game last year, which Lovett won 13-9. Lovett is yet to be tested by in-state teams, as they have notched 4 Area victories and fell to Louiseville Trinity (KY). Saturday marks the beginning of a tough stretch of games for the Lions. Lambert has gotten off to a strong start following their impressive inaugural season last year. While their lone defeat was at the hands of Northview, they have recorded significant wins over Westminster, GAC, McCallie, and Milton.

-- Northview (5-0) vs. Lassiter (5-1) - Another great scheduling move by the Oswalds pairs these teams that met in the 5A semis last season. Northview has looked to be the top contender in the early going, and a win on Saturday would definitely send a message to the rest of 5A. They have started strong, with wins over Milton, Lambert, Johns Creek, and 12-5 over Roswell in their last game. Lassiter is coming off a 5-11 loss to Harrison, and they weren't really tested in their 5 wins. So it will be interesting to see if Northview can continue their dominant start or if the Trojans will show that they will be a 5A force again this year.

-- Milton (5-2) vs. Westminster (2-3) - This is the matchup we would have liked to have seen late last May, but the BCS committee didn't grant us a showdown between the 4A and 5A champs. And both of these teams look quite different with the loss of players to graduation. Milton began the season with a 10-11 loss to Northview, then reeled off a string of wins before losing 3-11 to Lambert in their last outing. Westminster began the season by beating Alpharetta in their opener, but then dropped games to Lambert, SPX, and Harrison the week before their Spring Break. They got back into winning form this week with a 13-7 victory over McIntosh. This should be a great inter-class battle between these defending champs.

-- Walton (5-0) vs. Pope (5-2) - The finale of the LaxFest will be another great inter-class matchup as the host Greyhounds face the Raiders of Walton. Walton has notched wins over Roswell, N. Cobb, Alpharetta, Wheeler and Woodstock. Pope's best wins include Decatur and SPX, and their losses were faily close: 3-7 to Milton and 6-9 to Alpharetta. The Greyhounds will be looking to make a statement at their home event.

Thursday's Games Of Note

2011-03-17T12:54:00.002-04:00

There aren't too many compelling games to watch today, but the following tilts may shed some light on where some teams are headed as we enter the meat of the schedule:

-- Kell @ Woodstock
-- Peachtree Ridge @ West Forsyth
-- Grady @ Holy Innocents
-- Woodward @ Starr's Mill

We'll begin the AJO4 LaxFest preview discussion in earnest later today.

Game Recap: McIntosh @ Westminster

2011-03-17T11:27:00.007-04:00

Two traditional 4A contenders met at Westminster on a cool March evening, and both the McIntosh Chiefs and the Westminster Wildcats were looking to make a statement after getting off to uneven starts this season. Last year they split their two meetings, with Westminster prevailing 13-6 in the 2nd round of the playoffs. But the Wildcats, coming off of their Spring Break, were looking to right the ship after three tough losses to good teams the week before their vacation. McIntosh had troubles of their own in the early part of the season, and the Chiefs were looking to improve upon their 3-2 record.

As the game got underway, the Wildcats dominated possession, and it only took them a few minutes to get on the scoreboard. At the 8:16 mark, senior attackman Michael Thomas scooped a ball after a missed shot from the left side of the crease, and he buried it after a quick series of stick fakes. Just a few minutes later the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead when senior middie Jimbo Izlar dodged and fed junior attackman Shelton Collier on the right side for the score. Less than a minute later Wildcat senior middie Duncan McColl buried a hard shot from the left side that found the lower right corner of the net. In the final minute of the opening stanza, the Wildcats continued their impressive start as Shelton Collier fed senior attackman Charlie Sherman for a nice quick stick goal. And with just :14 left in the quarter, Shelton Collier looked unstoppable as he beat two defenders to give Westminster a 5-0 lead with his sidewinder shot.

Westminster continued their domination in the 2nd quarter when Shelton Collier made a pass to senior attackman Michael Thomas behind the cage, and Thomas rolled around the crease to bury a nice shot. Two minutes later the Wildcats' senior middie Trey Williams joined the scoring frenzy as he made a nice inside roll from top right for an unassisted goal to give Westminster a 7-0 lead. After McIntosh put a man in the penalty box for an illegal check, Westminster took advantage of the EMO just before the penalty expired at the 7:03 mark when Jimbo Izlar buried a bounce shot. The Chiefs finally got on the scoreboard with 4:12 remaining in the 2nd quarter, as senior middie Kevin Bennett made a nice inside roll from the top and buried a shot to the upper right corner for an unassisted goal. The halftime score showed the home team Wildcats up 8-1.

The halftime break didn't offer the Chiefs any real solutions to the potent Wildcat offense, and Westminster continued to dominate in the 3rd quarter. At the 8:46 mark, Jimbo Izlar beat his man from the right side and buried an unassisted goal to give the Cats a 9-1 lead. And just a few minutes later Westminster extended their lead when Shelton Collier fed Trey Williams, and the senior middie buried an underhand crank from 10 yards out to make it 10-1. McIntosh was able to stem the bleeding a bit with 4:01 remaining in the 3rd when junior attackman Tyler Price picked up a ground ball in front of the cage, turned and buried a shot to cut the lead to 2-10. But Westminster answered that goal a couple minutes later when Shelton Collier found Charlie Hill parked on the crease, and the senior middie found the back of the net to give the Cats an 11-2 lead to end the 3rd quarter scoring.
Less than a minute into the final quarter Shelton Collier continued his impressive performance as he dodged from behind the cage and buried a shot to the upper left corner. McIntosh won the ensuing faceoff and Kevin Bennett took it straight to the cage for a nice unassisted goal to make it 3-12. With the game seemingly in hand, Westminster began to make widespread substitutions, and the Chiefs were quick to capitalize as senior attackman Ian Parker fed Tyler Price to cut the lead to 4-12. But when McIntosh was flagged for an illegal check with 8:08 remaining, Westminster's offensive starters took the field for the EMO. The Wildcats wasted little time in taking advantage as Jimbo Izlar fed Michael Thomas, who was calling for the ball, and the crafty attackman must have liked his angle as he buried a hard crank from the left side to make it 13-4. McIntosh added 3 more goals through the final minutes, but the Wildcats had the game well in hand. The Chiefs' late scores came on unassisted goals by junior middie Danny Arnold, Ian Parker, and Kevin Bennett.

Westminster's offense looked to be clicking on all cylinders, and McIntosh didn't have a solution for Westminster's speed or quickness. For a team coming off a week long break, the Wildcats had a strong showing and their perimeter passing was crisp and effective. Shelton Collier led the scoring with 3 goals and 4 assists, Michael Thomas notched 3G, while Jimbo Izlar had 2G/2A. The Wildcat D was also strong, and they held the Chiefs in check for most of the game. Both starting goalies, Brandon Scott for McIntosh and Ned Zakas for Westy, had some impressive saves, but the Chiefs' defense didn't offer Scott much help. It will be interesting to see how these teams fare in Area play after playing challenging schedules.

Some Great Games Today!

2011-03-16T10:49:00.003-04:00

Finally, we have some really compelling games today in both classifications. In 5A, several of the top contenders will be battling to show who is for real, and in 4A several teams are looking to define the early part of their seasons.

Tomorrow we will take a look at the matchups in Saturday's AJO4 LaxFest, which should be an incredible day of lacrosse. Here are today's tilts:

-- Harrison (4-0) @ Lassiter (5-0) - This should be a great battle between 5A powers that made deep runs in last season's playoffs. Harrison has gotten off to a strong start with wins over Alpharetta, McEachern, E. Coweta, and a 9-8 thriller over Westminster. Lassiter has yet to be tested in wins over Woodstock, Kennesaw Mtn., Etowah, N. Cobb, and Newnan. This game's result will be watched by alot of curious 5A eyes to see which of these teams is strongest at this point in the season.

-- Roswell (3-2) @ Northview (4-0) - Another tilt between 5A playoff teams from last year will be interesting... Northview has looked like the team to beat early on. They have started strong with impressive wins over Milton, Lambert, Johns Creek and McIntosh. Although Roswell's best wins are over Etowah and Collins Hill, they had respectable scores in falling to Peachtree Ridge in OT and Walton. This 5A Area 3 tilt should be interesting.

-- McIntosh (3-2) @ Westminster (1-3) - This 4A battle is a re-match from the 2nd round of last year's playoffs, which the eventual champs from Westy won 13-6. But both teams have had an uneven start to this year, so it will be interesting to see this result. McIntosh has notched wins over Whitefield, BT, and Northgate, but has fallen to strong teams in SPX and Northview. After opening with a win over Alpharetta, Westy had a tough week leading up to their Spring Break, with losses to Lambert, SPX, and a heartbreaker to Harrison. The GLB will be covering this tilt with a full recap to follow.

-- Sprayberry (5-2) @ Riverwood (6-0) - Riverwood has created a stir with their strong start and what looks to be a much improved team. They have notched significant wins over Decatur and GAC, and they finally were tested in their last game as they prevailed 12-11 over Woodstock. Sprayberry has had mostly lopsided results, but apparently they looked competitive in their 9-13 loss to Pope. The GLB was told that their middie play is a strength, so it will be interesting to see how they stack up against Riverwood.

-- Pace (2-3) @ Wesleyan (5-1) - This 4A tilt features teams that are looking to determine where they stack up as playoff contenders. Pace has recorded wins over new programs, but their losses to GAC, Decatur and Darlington were all very close. Wesleyan is a bit of a mystery since their only significant win was over GAC, and they weren't tested in their other W's. They lost to Starr's Mill 5-9, so it will be interesting to see if they are capable of a playoff run like last year's team.

Some College Lax News

2011-03-14T12:05:00.002-04:00

We've updated/added some of the college lax links on the right hand side of the GLB... scroll down and check out what's going on when you have a chance.

Also, the GLB was recently contacted by the coaches from Centre College in Kentucky... yes, they follow the GLB. They sent along a nice message and the link to a highlight reel featuring some nice play from our Georgia laxer, Connor Stubbs, who played at Decatur. You can check it out by clicking HERE.

If you have any info about GA laxers playing at the next level let us know. We'll have some more college coverage on Sundays, since there is no HS action then.

Saturday's Games

2011-03-12T17:13:00.002-05:00

The GLB wasn't able to cover any games today, so let's get some info on these games if you have any:
Centennial 8 @Allatoona 5 Final
Newnan 3 @ Lassiter 15 Final
Northview @ McIntosh
Riverwood 12 @ Woodstock 11 Final
Decatur @ Wheeler

We'll have college lax news tomorrow, and we'll have some previews on AJO4 LaxFest as well.

Time Change For Milton @ Lambert

2011-03-11T11:27:00.003-05:00

Milton at Lambert has been moved to 7 pm due to the Basketball State Championship game later this evening.We'll have today's previews posted a bit later, so please check back. UPDATE: Could not do previews today, but great info in the comments tonight... check it out... and if you aren't following @georgialaxblog on Twitter, you are missing out.

Next Weekend's Big Event... AJO4 LaxFest!

2011-03-11T08:32:00.001-05:00

Recap: W. Forsyth @ Riverwood

2011-03-10T11:59:00.003-05:00

One of our roving GLB reporters sent in the following:

After a miserable day of rain causing multiple rainouts the weather broke, allowing the Riverwood Raiders and West Forsyth Wolverines to take the field. West Forsyth struck early as #4 slipped inside the Wood defense for a layup goal on the crease at 11:05. Neither team handled the ball well for the next several minutes until Riverwood's #21 scored a point-blank goal off an assist from #19, evening up the score. After that goal the rest of the 1st quarter was all Riverwood. With #37, #12, and #4 (#4 scored twice in under a minute) all scored towards the end of the quarter.

The start of the 2nd quarter had Riverwood's faceoff man #2 ripping through the defense and feeding #9 on the crease for a quick goal seven seconds into the quarter, putting the Raiders up by five. West Forsyth responded as #44 dodged through the entire Wood defense for a top-corner rip almost on top of the keeper, pulling West Forsyth to within four. More sloppy play from both offenses kept the ball on the ground for the middle of the second quarter. Eventually, #15 for West Forsyth scored another doorstep goal after a successful clear by the defense. However, Riverwood's #19 scored with 44 seconds remaining in the half after some lightning speed cruised him past three separate defenders for an outside shot. Score at end of half: Riverwood 7, West Forsyth 3.

Both teams broke the halftime huddle wanting to establish momentum for their team and West Forsyth won that battle with two goals. #30 scored after after a missed Riverwood shot and successful clear at 8:22, and then #7 scored during a West Forsyth man-up with a quick face dodge after his defender lunged. With the score back within two goals Riverwood needed the momentum back. Tough riding by their attack broke West Forsyth's clear and #12 wound up with the ball for a hard rip from the right side of the box, but #44 caught the entire Wood defense by surprise after a scoring on a tough skip pass with 1:11 left in the quarter. The last forty seconds of the third started with a West Forsyth non-releasable crosscheck that Riverwood's #4 capitalized on. He completed a hat trick, scoring with 24 seconds left on the clock putting Riverwood up three.

The fourth quarter was all Riverwood as their attack kept the ball mostly in their own offensive half with a tenacious riding game. #19, #12, and #9 would all score during man-up opportunities or after breaking West Forsyth clears. Score at the final horn: Riverwood 12, West Forsyth 6.

Overall Impressions: Despite the final score West Forsyth owned the second and third quarters with greater tenacity on loose-balls. Riverwood won the bookends in the first and fourth and found most of their goals scored in the last few minutes of each quarter.

Wet Wednesday's Games... Maybe

2011-03-09T14:40:00.003-05:00

It looks like there may be a break in the weather late this afternoon and evening, so today's games may get played. Hopefully, the lightning will stay away. Since the GLB Storm Center AccuLax3D system was down part of the day, we won't have much preview info. But here are some good games if you want to brave the weather:

-- Woodstock @ Kennesaw Mountain
-- Johns Creek@ Northview
-- Pope @ Roswell
-- W. Forsyth @ Riverwood
-- Decatur @ Wheeler

Game Recap: Alpharetta @ Walton

2011-03-09T09:03:00.012-05:00

It looked to be a good battle between 5A teams that made the playoffs last season as a fairly sparse crowd gathered at Walton on a chilly March evening. The visiting Alpharetta Raiders hoped to improve on their 2-2 record while the Walton Raiders had started their season with 2 wins. Both Raider squads lost in the 2nd round of last year's playoffs and are hoping to contend again this season. The relatively chilly weather scared away some fans, so the big stadium seemed a bit lonely with a smaller than normal Walton contingent on the home side and a gathering of the Alpharetta faithful huddled on the visitors' side.

As the game got underway, it was a defensive battle from the start. Neither offense seemed to be able to find a weakness in the opposing D. Walton's defense, anchored by senior goalie Michael Harper, featured aggressive stick checking by senior d-poles Clinton Sorrel, Jack Chase, and junior Elliot Lugo. The Alpharetta defense was equally stingy in the opening quarter with junior goalie Kyle Seebohm and senior defensemen Peter Dewispelaere, Andrew Carlton, and Vince Adams protecting their goal successfully. The first quarter ended with zeroes across the board as both teams tried to figure out how to notch a goal.

Walton finally broke the deadlock early in the 2nd quarter when junior James Moore scooped up a bouncing loose ball 10 yards in front of the goal, turned and buried it in the back of the net to give the home Raiders a 1-0 lead. At the 5:47 mark Walton struck again as freshman Michael Gernatt found junior Joseph Cherof camped on the crease, and Cherof made some great stick fakes before sliding the biscuit in the basket for a 2-0 lead. Walton further extended their lead just minutes later when junior Matt Morabito dodged and beat two defenders for an unassisted goal to give Walton a 3-0 halftime lead.

After the halftime break, Alpharetta came out and tried to get on the board early, but Walton goalie Michael Harper made a great save on a low shot to deny the visiting Raiders a goal in the first minute. Both defenses settled back in for a long stretch as neither team was able to put up a score. At the 4:34 mark, Alpharetta was flagged for a slash 1:00 penalty, and Walton took advantage of the man-up opportunity as senior Ned Kaish found Joseph Cherof on the doorstep for the goal to put Walton up 4-0.

The 4th quarter didn't provide much drama as Alpharetta was never able to mount a comeback. Mid-way through the final stanza, Walton capitalized on another man-up when senior Ryan Schwartz fed Matt Morabito for another turn and shoot goal. Two minutes later Schwartz was on the finishing end of the combo when Ned Kaish dished from the right side for a quick shot to the back of the net. And Kaish assisted on the last goal of the game as senior Adam Zalkin scored to seal the 7-0 win for the Walton Raiders.

The Walton defense and the play of goalie Michael Harper were the story of the night. Harper was flawless between the pipes, and his clears, especially in the first half, were impressive, as he hit his middies on the run with great passes several times. The Alpharetta offense was really unable to solve the tough Walton D, and they didn't have anyone who could dodge effectively enough to create space for shots. Alpharetta's perimeter defense was fairly strong all night, but they weren't able to adjust to passes into the crease, where the bulk of Walton's scorers struck. Both of these teams showed great stick skills and passing, so they will likely be contenders. But Walton seems poised to show that they may be a Top 4 team in 5A.

Photos Courtesy of Bob Kanzler and Dave Nuckolls.

Week 3 - Tuesday's Games To Watch

2011-03-08T11:04:00.003-05:00

There weren't any games yesterday that really jumped off the schedule, but today there are some interesting matchups. The GLB will be covering a good 5A game, and we're starting to get some good info from readers posting in the comments sections. Feel free to add info on any of today's games as always. Here are some games to follow:

-- Alpharetta (2-2) @ Walton (2-0) - This should be a good battle between teams that lost in the 2nd round of the 5A playoffs last year. Alpha opened with a win over Etowah, but fell to both Harrison and Westminster. They are coming off an exciting 8-7 OT win over Peachtree Ridge last week. Walton has gotten off to a good start with a 9-6 win over Roswell and a dominating shutout of North Cobb. The GLB will be there with Twitter score updates and a full recap tonight. The GLB usually doesn't make predictions, but I'm thinking the Raiders will win this one.

-- Sprayberry (3-1) @ Chattahoochee (1-2) - These are two programs who don't get a lot of ink here, so let's see if this might be a close game. Sprayberry's games have all been fairly lopsided, with wins over Allatoona, Campbell, and North Springs to go with their lone loss to Etowah. Hooch opened with a win over RMA, and has losses to Grayson and Wesleyan.

-- Blessed Trinity (1-1) @ Greater Atlanta Christian (3-2) - This should be a good tilt between 4A teams looking to make the playoffs. BT lost their opener 7-8 to McIntosh and rebounded with a 10-6 victory over Johns Creek. GAC has recorded wins over Pace, HIES, and RMA, but they had fairly lopsided losses to Riverwood and Lambert.

-- Starr's Mill (2-2) @ Wesleyan (3-0) - This looks to be a good matchup of teams looking to define their early seasons. Starr's Mill has losses against Bolles (FL) and E. Coweta and wins against Creekside and newcomer Whitefield Academy. Wesleyan wasn't challenged in their wins over RMA, South Forsyth, and Hooch, but they were trailing 10-13 against Decatur with 6:00 left when the game was suspended due to darkness. Apparently the game was played on a secondary field without lights, and it will most likely not be finished since it is not an Area game with standings implications.

We're Getting Interactive... Great Comments!

2011-03-06T20:52:00.002-05:00

Now that we are getting some conversations going by getting comments after each post... PLEASE take the next step... instead of a bunch of "Anonymous" posts... please use a tag name on your comments. Otherwise, it is a virtual conversation where nobody knows who said what... this can become a virtual lacrosse party... let's get to know each others' names.

GLB understands keeping your school/team affiliations anony, but post under a tag so we can get some REAL conversations going. GA lax is on the rise!

Best Games On A Soggy Saturday

2011-03-05T08:16:00.002-05:00

There were some interesting results from yesterday's highlighted games, and, as always, feel free to comment after each post if you have some thoughts/insight on a particular game. Today is already promising to be wet and messy... hopefully the thunder and lightning will stay away long enough to get in today's games.

We need more Twitter score reporters! We've got some folks from different schools tweeting score updates from games, but it would be great to get more info. If you want to follow our Twitter score feed simply follow @georgialaxblog to get the latest scores. If you want to send scores, then shoot me an email at crankitlax@yahoo.com so I can follow you and accept mobile updates.

Here are the highlighted games we'll be following today:

-- Etowah (4-2) @ Lassiter (2-0) - After losing to Alpharetta 6-11 in their opener, Etowah beat 4 weaker teams and lost to Roswell 6-13 earlier this week.With a third of their season completed already, they'll be looking to make a statement with an upset of Lassiter in these sloppy conditions. The Trojans are yet to be tested, with comfortable wins over Woodstock 17-9 and Kennesaw Mountain 18-6.

-- Harrison (2-0) @ Westminster (1-2) - Harrison won their opener against Alpha in a 3-1 defensive battle, and they won handily over McEachern. Westy also opened against Alpha with a 10-6 win, but they have had a rough week leading up to this tough game. The were dominated by Lambert 5-14 on Tuesday and lost to SPX 7-10 yesterday. They will need to re-group in a hurry to avoid getting shutout for the week.

-- Blessed Trinity (0-1) @ Johns Creek (2-0) - BT lost a close game 7-8 to McIntosh and Johns Creek has wins over Gainesville and Centennial. Since this is a 4A Area 3 battle, this could be a good one to watch.

-- Lambert (3-1) @ McCallie (TN 0-0) - Lambert is looking to close out a big week in style as they face the perrinneal power from Tennessee. Lambert has already notched big wins over Westy and GAC this week, so this would be the icing on the cake. McCallie is just getting their season started, so this may be an interesting inter-state battle. The Longhorn faithful are active in our Twitter score feed, so @georgialaxblog is the place to keep up with this game.

Friday's Games To Watch

2011-03-04T08:03:00.002-05:00

There are some great games on the slate this weekend, and Friday features a host of good matchups. There will be some heavy rain in the metro ATL area this weekend... let's hope it doesn't cause games to be postponed. Here are today's best tilts:

-- Peachtree Ridge (2-0) @ Alpharetta (1-2) - This should be a good battle between 5A teams that made the playoffs last season. P'tree Ridge has started strong with a 2OT win over Roswell and a decisive victory over Norcross. Alpha opened with a win over Etowah but has dropped its' last two to Harrison 1-3 and Westminster 6-10.

-- Pope (3-0) @ Milton (3-1) - These teams, who are now in different classifications, played two close games last season in which Milton prevailed. Pope has gotten off to a good start in 4A with fairly close wins over Decatur 10-7, SPX 7-6, and Kell 9-4. Defending 5A champ Milton opened with a loss to, what appears to be, a very strong Northview squad. They've won in decisive fashion over Centennial, W. Forsyth, and N. Forsyth. It will be interesting to see how these teams matchup today.

-- Mill Creek (3-0) @ Norcross (0-2) - First-year varsity program Mill Creek has gotten off to a strong start with wins over Grayson, S. Forsyth, and Parkview. Norcross is looking for its' first win after falling to Peachtree Ridge and W. Forsyth. Mill Creek may be an interesting team to watch this year in 5A.

-- Westminster (1-1) @ St. Pius X (2-1) - This will be an important weekend for Westminster since they face Harrison tomorrow. Westy was dominated by Lambert earlier in the week after beating Alpharetta in their opener. SPX opened with a lopsided win over N. Gwinnett, but lost to Pope 6-7. They are coming off a good 17-11 win over McIntosh. SPX will be looking for revenge after falling twice to last year's 4A champs.

-- Decatur (2-2) @ Wesleyan (3-0) - Decatur looks like a competitive team this year. They lost close games to Pope 7-10 and an improved Riverwood 9-10, and won convincingly over HIES and Pace. Wesleyan hasn't been challenged in their wins over RMA, S. Forsyth, and Hooch, so this may be a good test for both teams.

Thursday's Best Area Games

2011-03-03T16:35:00.002-05:00

There are a bunch of games between Area teams today. Here are some that will reveal a bit about how Area teams will stack up early in the season:

-- Lambert (2-1) @ GAC (3-1) - This 4A Area 3 matchup should be a good indicator for both teams. Lambert is coming off an impressive 14-5 dismantling of Westminster on Tues., and they face McCallie on Sat. But they had better not take GAC lightly... GAC has wins over Pace, HIES, and RMA... they've looked strong against everyone except Riverwood. A good showing against Lambert would give them some early season mo'.

-- Woodward (1-3) @ Lovett (1-1) - Woodward has lost to 3 pretty good 5A teams, so they will be looking for some signs of hope against Lovett in 4A Area 1. Lovett won a lopsided opener against Grady and fell to Kentucky's Louisville-Trinity last weekend. We'll see if they are poised to dominate in the Area.

-- North Springs (0-1) @ Sprayberry (1-1) - Although North Springs dropped a lopsided opener to Kell, they are hoping to build on last year's playoff experience. Sprayberry notched an Area 2 win over Allatoona and fell to 5A Etowah 3-14. It will be interesting to see the battle for playoff slots in this newly aligned Area.

-- Lassiter (1-0) @ Kennesaw Mountain (1-0) - There are some early season question marks about the Trojans after a coaching change and the loss of some key players to graduation. Kennesaw Mtn. beat newcomer Whitefield Academy in their opener, but they may have their hands full against the always strong Lassiter program. 5A Area 2 may be more balanced and competitive than in the past.

On The GLB You Need To Scroll... That's How We Roll!

2011-03-02T20:38:00.002-05:00

There will be a bunch of content as we get the season rolling... so make sure you scroll down and check it all out. There are updates to past articles and previews, pics added to recaps and other new info, so make sure you catch it all.

And, PLEASE, add your comments to any post at the bottom of each post. This is meant to be interactive... the entire GLB staff, beat writers, and cub reporters are just trying to give you info to get the conversation started... JUMP IN!

Game Recap: Westminster @ Lambert

2011-03-02T13:40:00.004-05:00

A showdown of 4A powers took place on Tuesday evening as the Westminster Wildcats visited the Lambert Longhorns in southern Forsyth County. These teams had not played before and were on opposite sides of the playoff brackets last season, so fans were anticipating a great tilt between the defending champ Wildcats and a Longhorn team that made a deep run in the playoffs.

This was the first trip to Lambert for the GLB, and this reporter was immediately impressed with the sprawling campus and the quality of facilities of the school in just its' second year. The Longhorns already have a strong and well-organized lax booster following, and a good crowd gathered for this early season showdown.

As the game got underway, the teams traded possessions early, but Lambert was flagged for a push with possession at the 10:30 mark. It took Westminster just :20 to take advantage of the man-up as junior attackman Shelton Collier cranked a hard bounce shot from the right side to give the Wildcats the early lead. But the Longhorns won the ensuing faceoff and wasted little time in tying it up as senior Captains teamed up with a Timmy Geran to Connor Butz goal. The defenses settled in for a long stretch as the offenses were a little tentative in the early going. At the 4:00 mark, Lambert got their first lead when a Wildcat turnover in their defensive end led to a quick goal. Connor Butz quickly found fellow senior attackman Adam Seal, who put the shot past the Cats defenseless goalie to give the Longhorns a 2-1 lead. Less than 2:00 later another Westminster turnover at midfield resulted in another Adam Seal goal to give Lambert a 3-1 lead at the end of the quarter.

Adam Seal continued his rampage a few minutes into the 2nd, when the talented attackman dodged from the left with a nice inside roll and buried a shot lower right to extend the lead to 4-1. Westminster answered at the 3:41 mark when Trey Williams fed fellow senior middie Jimbo Izlar, and Izlar buried a hard crank from the left side to close to 2-4. With about 3:00 left in the half, it looked like we would have a close battle, but Lambert made a statement to close the half, scoring 5 goals in just 3 minutes. Lambert's Zack Price got things started when he fed fellow junior middie Kyle O'Donnell for a goal. Then junior middie Cory Phillips scored unassisted from the right side, and senior Captain and middie Nick Croft duplicated with his own unassisted goal from top right. Zack Price put an exclamation point on the scoring frenzy with a pair of unassisted goals in the last :16 of the half. That gave the Longhorns an impressive 9-2 lead which left the Wildcats' players and fans scratching their heads at halftime.

In the 3rd quarter, Lambert was quick to pick up where they left off, and the Longhorns' Connor Butz cut across the middle and buried an unassisted goal less than a minute into the quarter. Two minutes later Westminster was able to stem the bleeding with a nice goal by Shelton Collier, who faked an outside shot, face-dodged his man and shot low from the doorstep to make it 3-10. But this was Lambert's night, and they were in control for the remainder of the game. Longhorn Timmy Geran added another unassisted goal from 8 yards out, and later fed junior attackman Brady Wilson on the doorstep to give Lambert a 12-3 lead at the end of the 3rd.

The 4th quarter saw substitutions by both teams as the Longhorns clearly had the game in hand. Lambert added two more goals as Connor Butz and Matt Geran both found the back of the net. Westminster also added a pair of scores as Shelton Collier got his 3rd goal and senior middie Duncan McColl cranked a high bounce shot. Lambert finished on top 14-5 in very impressive fashion.

This was a very dominant showing by the Longhorns, and they have speed, athleticism, and talent all over the field. They were able to repeatedly beat their man on the the offensive end, and they kept a usually dangerous Westminster offense in check at the other end. Lambert definitely made a statement that they are a favorite in 4A. Westminster learned that they have a good deal of work to do to get to the form that won it all last year. With returning talent at either end, the Wildcats' inexperienced midfield will need to greatly improve through the season. Both of these teams have two more tough games this week, and it will be very interesting to follow these teams through the rest of the season.

Tuesday's Games Of Note...

2011-03-01T09:35:00.002-05:00

Although yesterday was a fairly light day for interesting games, today there are a number of good matchups featuring 4A teams. The GLB will be catching up today after a hectic opening week, so be sure to check back and scroll down to see some content on the opening weekend. Here are today's tilts to watch:

-- Westminster (1-0) @ Lambert (1-1) - The marquee matchup of the day features 4A defending champ Wildcats against a Longhorn team that reached the 4A semis in their inaugural varsity season. Westy beat Alpharetta 10-6 in their season opener. Lambert split their first 2 games with a lopsided win over S. Forsyth and a 5-11 loss to 5A contender Northview. Westy also faced Northview with a poor showing in their pre-season scrimmage, so this looks to be a great tilt. Both teams face a tough week of competition with Westy facing SPX and Harrison, and Lambert faces GAC and McCallie. The GLB will be covering this battle, so look for a full recap tomorrow.

-- Pace Academy (1-1) @ Decatur (1-1) - Pace lost a close 10-11 game to GAC and evened their record with a lopsided win over 1st year North Atlanta. Decatur split games as they hosted their mini-tourney this past weekend with a 9-10 loss to Riverwood and a 6-1 win over HIES. This should be a good matchup between second-tier teams looking to make the playoffs.

-- Starr's Mill (1-1) @ East Coweta (3-0) - A battle of geographic rivals takes place on the southside and should be a good game. Starr's dropped their opener to Bolles (FL) 4-17 and edged out Creekside 13-12. E. Coweta had a big weekend with wins over Northgate, Woodward, and 1st year team Whitefield.

-- St. Pius (1-1) @ McIntosh (2-0) - SPX won their opener convincingly against N. Gwinnett 16-2, but lost a close game to Pope 6-7. McIntosh got off to a good start with a lopsided win over Whitefield and a more meaningful 8-7 win over Blessed Trinity. This should be a good tilt between teams that made noise in last season's playoffs: SPX lost to Westy in the semifinals while McIntosh also fell to the eventual champs in the second round.

Preview: AAAA Area 2

2011-03-01T09:24:00.004-05:00

This Area was definitely shaken up in re-alignment, with HIES, Pace and Hillgrove moving out and former 5A teams Kell and Pope dropping down. They are joined by first-year varsity program Mt. Paran Christian Academy. Five teams in this year’s alignment got playoff experience last season, and they will be battling for the four Area slots this year:

-- Allatoona Buccaneers (6-10 last year) – According to Coach Jonathan Wishon the team returns some depth: “Fortunately, we did not lose very many key players to graduation. We will have a really strong junior class coupled with a few key seniors and one sophomore. Our first line of attack is leading scorer Tyler DeFine(junior) along with Casey Harris (junior) and Ryan Tesler (soph.). Our key players in the midfield are Adrian Lyons (senior), Patrick Davis (senior) and Cody Friedrich (junior, ground ball leader).Our key defensive leader is Bryce Derriso (senior). We are a third year school and third year program. We are playing in the really tough Area 2 A-AAAA, but expect to be playoff contenders for the first time.”

-- Darlington Tigers (9-6) – Although we didn’t receive info on Darlington, they did get some playoff experience last year, losing to Decatur in the 1st round.

-- Kell Longhorns (9-6) – The Longhorns return only 8 players from last season's team, but Coach John McLaughlin is optimistic: “Kell midfield and defense will be strong this year. Realignment of areas has not affected Kell too much. Our schedule may be a bit easier than last year, but we lost Lassiter and Walton from the schedule and gained Westminster, which will be a challenge. Key Players this season are midfielders Nemeck, Wright, defense Barry and attack Marshall. Kell lost top LSM and team leader, Joey Lanier, and attack men Bryce Mazor and Kyle Van Kauwenberg (75 goals scored between them last season). Kell Longhorns were 9-6 last year. We hope to surpass that this season and make the playoffs. A loss to Woodstock, in a game we were winning, cost us the playoffs in 2010.”

-- Mt. Paran Christian Academy Eagles (1st yr. Varsity) – We didn’t receive info on MPCA, but they did field a JV team last year.

-- North Springs Spartans (8-10) – North Springs moves over from Area 3 where they got some playoff experience in their loss to Lovett in the 1st round. Community Coach Chad Plumly provided the following: “We're coming off our first playoff season in school history. We have a limited number of seniors and juniors, but thanks to our MS feeder program led by North Springs alum, Rob Smith, our 9th and 10th grade #'s are growing. This year we'll be led by our senior captains, Danny Hargrett and Sean Smith. Hargrett is already the all-time school leader in assists and was last year's 2nd leading scorer. Smith is a long pole. Other senior contributors will be middies Maurice Jones, and Rayvon Thomas. Other players to watch are Mick Baker in goal, middie Eric Fancher, and attackmen Ben Turner, and Barak Zitron.

-- Pope Greyhounds (9-8) – Pope drops down from 5A after last season’s playoff run ended in a 2nd round loss to eventual champ Milton. Coach Carl Pfaff is feeling good about his chances in 4A this year: “The Pope lacrosse team is feeling both eager and confident about the upcoming season. Many players made some good progress in the weight room during the off season, and the first few weeks have been very productive at shaking off the cobwebs. We are returning all of our starting attack as well as 4 players from last years 5A all state selections; and we have young guns ready to step in to fill the holes left by the departure of two senior defensemen. Our goalie is returning for what could be a stellar senior year, and we have several midfielders returning as well. With the move to 4A we expect the same stiff level of competition within our new area that we had in 5A, as there are traditional lacrosse powerhouses to be found in both brackets as well as some relatively new varsity programs that have made gains quickly. Despite our relative youth, we are expecting to improve upon last year's success by really concentrating on fundamental things early so that we have a strong foundation to build upon as the season progresses.”

-- Riverwood Raiders (8-10) – Since we have first week results from the season in hand, it looks like the Raiders will be an improved team this year. Their key returning players, according to Coach Lou Corsetti, are: (G) Mike Hashimoto, middies Jake Griffith and CJ McCabe, (LSM) Evan Ward, (A) Vance Woodcox, and d-poles Lewis Schendowich, Thompson Rose, Josh White and Mason Totri. They will look to fill some attack slots with newcomers. According to Coach Lou, “We are a senior laden team with tremendous leadership from Captains Woodcox, Hashimoto, Griffith and Schendowich, and we look to advance to the playoffs for the first time in school history.”

-- Sprayberry Yellowjackets (10-8) – Coach John Morson is also feeling upbeat about his team: “Our outlook for the season is good… we expect to be in the playoffs again. Our region is tough, but we have been in the playoffs for the last two years and this year we hope to go deeper. Last year we had many injuries that hurt us by playoffs… hopefully we will stay healthy and go further.” Key players will be soph attackman Collier Stone, senior Captain Brian Pieklik (A), senior Captain Chayce Chamber, and senior (D) Captain Connor Porter.

-- Westminster Wildcats (18-4) – Coach Tony Souza’s Wildcats are returning their core at both attack and defense, but they lost a number of midfielders to graduation, so they will need some underclassmen to step up. The attack is anchored by senior Michael Thomas, a shifty “point-guard” who can both score and dish. He is joined by junior Shelton Collier, a dangerous lefty who has both moves and a strong shot. The midfield was depleted by graduation last year, but former attackman, senior Jimbo Izlar, will shift to middie, where he and senior Trey Williams will be leaders. The Wildcats will look to returning middies Duncan McColl, Graham Hill, Blake Ashley and Charlie Hill, and newcomers Kevin Doran and Andrew Steuer to try to fill the shoes of departed seniors… junior Julian Houk and Doran will handle FO duties. The defense returns all of their d-poles, led by seniors Chris Reagan and Patrick Howard, along with juniors Danny Catan (D) and Wilson Powell (LSM). Junior goalie Ned Zakas will be between the pipes full-time this year, but he got some valuable experience last year in spots as a starter.

Week 2 Starts With... Not So Much

2011-02-28T08:15:00.002-05:00

As the second week of the season gets underway, there is a very light schedule today and no really compelling games. With some rough weather headed our way this afternoon it's probably a good thing. And this will help your GLB reporter to catch up on content... due to some computer issues (no worries... the entire GLB IT dept. is scrambling to get it fixed) and the load of covering 5 games in 4 days... there will be a bunch of new posts by tomorrow. So check back to catch up with us.

Also, we are hitting the ground running with the Twitter feed @georgialaxblog. We hope to keep adding folks who can tweet live scores from the various games they are watching. If you follow @georgialaxblog and intend to send us info, please shoot a message to the GLB so that we know to follow you and allow your tweets to mobile device.

Saturday's Games To Watch...

2011-02-26T08:14:00.003-05:00

As the opening week of the season winds down, there are still some great games to catch today. There are two different mini-tourneys with multiple 4A games and a great matchup between strong 4A/5A teams. Here you go:

-- Alpharetta @ Westminster - This is the marquee matchup of the day, and it pits the defending 4A champion Westminster Wildcats against a strong 5A Alpharetta Raiders squad. The Wildcats didn't play well against a very strong Northview team in their pre-season scrimmage, but look for them to come out strong in this season opener at home. The Raiders dropped a close defensive battle to Harrison on Thursday, so they will be looking to right the ship with a road win.

-- Decatur ITP Tourney - The winners of last night's games, Riverwood and GAC, will faceoff at 3pm. And Decatur and Holy Innocents will play the consolation game at 11am.

-- Woodward Tournament - Another mini-tourney takes place today at Woodward. Teams involved include East Coweta, Etowah, Northgate, Whitefield Academy, and Woodward.

-- McIntosh @ Blessed Trinity - This should be a good matchup of 4A teams that made the playoffs last year. Especially since BT fell to McIntosh in the opening round.

Game Recaps: Decatur ITP Tourney

2011-02-26T07:58:00.009-05:00

It was a great night of games at the ITP Tournament at Decatur. In the opener, Holy Innocents' Golden Bears faced off against the Spartans of Greater Atlanta Christian.

The 1st quarter was mostly a defensive battle as both teams yielded only one goal. But GAC got rolling with goals from seniors Scotty Smith and Jake Neill early in the 2nd quarter. GAC attackmen Eric Reynolds and Peter Whiteneck added nice unassisted goals. After HIES' junior middie Ryan Brenningmeijer scored an unassisted goal on an unsettled play, soph attackman Whit Anderson added to the GAC barrage with a nice unassisted goal as he dodged from behind the cage to beat 2 defenders. Jake Neil gave the Spartans a 7-2 halftime lead as he beat his man from top left to find the back of the net.

GAC's lead was never in jeopardy as they dominated play in the 3rd quarter to take an 11-2 stranglehold. And the Spartans finished the drill in the 4th to gain a 12-4 victory over the Bears. Scoring leaders for the game were the Spartans' Scotty Smith with 3 goals, young Whit Anderson with 3 goals, and Jake Neill, who dominated at the faceoff X, finished with 2 goals and 3 assists.

Riverwood took the second game in an exciting 10-9 win over Decatur. Decatur and HIES will tilt at 11am today, and Riverwood faces GAC at 3 pm.

Photos courtesy of and copyrights reserved by John Reynolds.

Some Great Games Today!

2011-02-25T13:17:00.003-05:00

There are some great games all over the metro area today and tonight. Your GLB reporter will be at Decatur's ITP mini-tourney and will have re-caps of both games. Here are all of the highlighted games today:

-- ITP Tournament @ Decatur - This is the 3rd year that Decatur has hosted this mini-tournament... a great format that is being used by some other teams during the season. The first game features HIES vs. GAC and the second game has Riverwood vs. Decatur. The winners will square off tomorrow as will the... uh... non-winners. This is a great scene to catch some very good 4A action... the GLB will be there!

-- Louisville Trinity @ Lovett - The GLB always takes note when GA teams play teams from other areas. It will be interesting to follow Louisville Trinity 's (KY) schedule later in the season since they play teams from 6 different states.

-- Lambert @ Northview - This should be a great game between 4A/5A contenders. The Lambert Longhorns are looking to make a statement after their impressive debut last year, losing to Lovett in the 4A semis. The Northview Titans served notice earlier in the week with their comeback win against last year's 5A champs Milton. If you missed the recap of that great game you can read it below. There should be score updates on the GLB Twitter feed.

-- Pope @ St. Pius X - This should be a great battle of 4A contenders. Pope lost a close game to Milton in the 2nd round of 5A playoffs last season, and they will be looking to make their mark in 4A this year. SPX fell to Westminster in the 4A semis last year, and they'd like to get farther than that this season. This game should be an early season indicator in 4A.

-- Roswell @ Walton - Similar to the above game, this will be an interesting tilt between teams that lost in the 2nd round of 5A playoffs last year.

Game Re-Cap: Alpharetta @ Harrison

2011-02-24T21:44:00.007-05:00

The opening week of the 2011 season continued at Harrison where the Hoyas played host to the Alpharetta Raiders. This 5A clash featured two strong programs who made serious playoff runs last year. Alpharetta made into the 2nd round where they lost a 3OT thriller to Northview. And Harrison reached the semis where they fell to eventual 5A champ Milton. Both teams have hopes of contending for this year's 5A crown.

This game proved to be a defensive battle, and neither team was able to consistently penetrate on the offensive end. Both defenses played extremely well, as did both goalies. The Harrison defense was led by Chris Daley, a senior d-pole who was solid in coverage and outstanding in the clearing game. The Hoyas' senior goalie Reid Bass also had a great game with several acrobatic saves and stops on point-blank shots. Their Alpharetta counterparts were equally impressive: Raiders senior d-pole Peter Dewispelaere had a strong showing, and Alpha's junior goalie Kyle Seebohm had his share of great saves and clears. A low-scoring game like this doesn't make for the most exciting re-cap, and this GLB reporter is guilty of usually noting offensive performances... so hats off to the collective defenses of both schools.

The lone goal of the opening quarter came at the 3:40 mark, when the Hoyas' senior middie Jake Goodman found senior attackman Brian Koterski on the crease for the goal. Alpharetta was finally able to answer at the 8:27 mark of the 2nd quarter after a Hoya turnover, at the top of their box, led to a fastbreak at the other end. On the break, Raiders junior attackman Tyler Vining took a pass and and fed soph attackman Connor Johnson for the goal to knot the score 1-1. The 3rd quarter was owned by the defenses, as neither offense could put the ball in the back of the net.

The bulk of the 4th quarter was more of the same defensive battle. Not only were the offenses stifled in all-even situations, but neither team was able to capitalize on man-up scenarios through the first 3 quarters... Alpha was denied on 3 MU's and Harrison on 2 MU's. But that would change late in the 4th quarter. With just 5:57 left in the game, flags flew and both teams were penalized. There was some confusion in the press-box about the calls and length of box-time, but I was able to clarify with the refs after the game. The net result: Harrison was penalized :30 and a Raider player was charged a 2:00 non-releasable penalty for unnecessary roughness and an illegal check to the head. At 4:14 Harrison was finally able to capitalize on the MU advantage as senior attackman scored on a dodge and shoot from the right crease to give the Hoyas a 2-1 lead. The Hoyas sealed the game with 1:17 showing as senior attackman Nick Green dodged from behind the cage for an unassisted goal. Final score Harrison 3 Alpharetta 1.

Although there were some spots of sloppy play, this was a pretty well played game. The defenses just played solid lacrosse, and neither offense could solve the puzzle with any consistency. While both teams will certainly compete for playoff slots, we'll need a larger body of work to see how far these teams might go.

Thursday's Games To Catch...

2011-02-24T06:04:00.002-05:00

There aren't too many compelling games today, so let's focus on the one game most fans will be followingYour GLB reportercaught the Lovett @ Grady game last night and had been planning to do a brief re-cap, but Lovett dominated so clearly that a re-telling of that game wouldn't have been to interesting. Today's highlighted game should prove to be more exciting:

-- Alpharetta @ Harrison - This 5A clash features two strong programs who made serious playoff runs last year. Alpharetta made into the 2nd round where they lost a 3OT thriller to Northview. And Harrison reached the semis where they fell to eventual 5A champ Milton. Both of these teams seem poised to make another run for the title, so this early matchup will be key to setting the tone for each team. We'll have a full re-cap and live Twitter feed of the scoring... so stay tuned!

Wednesday's Games To Watch...

2011-02-23T12:51:00.002-05:00

While none of the games today have quite the luster of last night's Northview/Milton thriller, there are some interesting games amongst geographic rivals and a couple other games of note:

-- Parkview @ Brookwood - These big-time football rivals are surely going to have the same fire in lacrosse as these programs get more established. This 5A Area 4 battle may not provide the most elegant lax action, but it promises to be hard-hitting and fierce.

-- Grayson @ Mill Creek - Another 5A Area 4 contest between neighboring rivals will feature young programs. While Mill Creek is a first-year varsity program, many of their players have been together for a couple years. 2nd year program Grayson will be anxious to show the "new guys" how much difference one year of varsity competition can make.

-- Roswell @ Peachtree Ridge - This could be a good battle between 5A teams that made the playoffs last season. Roswell made it to the 2nd round before losing to Lassiter, while P'tree Ridge lost a tough 1st round OT game to Pope. These teams will be battling to create some early season buzz.

-- Lovett @ Grady - This might not be the most competitive matchup on paper, but last year Lovett had some early season stumbles. It will be interesting to see if an athletic Grady team can show significant improvement in their 2nd varsity season. Since this game is being played close to the GLB World Headquarters, I'll check this one out and have a brief re-cap.

Game Recap: Northview @ Milton

2011-02-23T11:06:00.004-05:00

There's nothing like starting the season with a playoff game... and that is, essentially, what happened as the Northview Titans faced the Milton Eagles last night. The Eagles are the defending champs in 5A, while the Titans lost in the semis on the other side of the bracket. While Milton lost some key players from last year's team, they usually have a strong pipeline of talent to step up. And Northview is fielding a senior-laden squad with high hopes for the season. So, going into this tilt both squads were considered contenders for this year's title.

It was a very comfortable late winter night at Milton stadium, and these neighboring rivals' players and fans know each other well... there was definitely a "playoff vibe" pre-game. From the opening faceoff it looked to be a fierce matchup and both teams traded possessions early. Northview got on the board first at 10:40 as middie Captain Brandon Colton picked up a bouncing ball in front of the cage and snuck a low shot past Milton goalie Mike Nugent. Just a minute later the Titans struck again as attackman Michael Trainer dodged from behind the cage for an unassisted goal. It wasn't until the 5:05 mark in the opening quarter that Milton was able to answer, as senior middie Aswan Bland, from the top of the box, fed senior attackman Matt Cummings coming from behind the goal. Cummings dove across the crease and buried an acrobatic shot to cut the Titan lead to 1-2. At the 2:20 mark, senior middie and Captain AJ Canara tied the game, roll dodging through 3 defenders for a nice unassisted goal... the quarter ended at 2-2.

As the first quarter ended Milton was flagged for a 1:00 unnecessary roughness penalty. And Northview converted the man-up opportunity as Michael Trainer scored again on an assist from middie Spencer Benfield. The defenses hunkered down for the middle part of the 2nd, but with 5:04 showing the Eagles tied it 3-3 as senior Harrison Cassada fed AJ Canara on a nice bang-bang play. Moments later Milton got their first lead as senior middie Ed Thorne fed Aswan Bland for the goal after a nice passing combo, and Northview was flagged for roughness on the play. Milton was able to convert the MU at 4:18 when Aswan Bland fed junior attackman Ben Jackson for a nice goal to increase Milton's lead to 5-3. Milton seemed poised to carry the momentum of a two goal lead into halftime, but the Titans scored with just :04 showing on the clock, when Brandon Colton assisted senior attackman Preston Lovingood on a much needed goal to make it 5-4 for the Eagles at halftime.

Your GLB reporter almost missed the start of 3rd quarter action while schmoozing with the nice folks from both schools... that 10:00 halftime sure goes fast. But I strapped myself into the pressbox (figuratively) for what promised to be a great finish.

The Milton halftime talk must have been inspiring, because the Eagles seized control early in the 3rd quarter. At 9:55 AJ Canara struck again on a nice unassisted goal. After winning the ensuing faceoff the Eagles scored again when middie Jake Manger scored to give Milton a 7-4 lead. And just a minute later Aswan Bland made it 8-4 with a highlight reel dodge and offhand shot to upper left. At the 6:37 mark, Milton seemed poised to run away with this one when Ben Jackson scored again on a feed from junior attackman Ben Aycock, giving Milton a hefty 9-4 lead. But Northview answered on the next possession, as middie Michael Rettker fed Preston Lovingood, who ripped net with a hard underhand crank, cutting the lead to 5-9. And at the 3:37 mark the Titans chipped away again when middie Evan Sather scored unassisted to make it 6-9 at the end of the 3rd.

As the final quarter got underway, Northview wasted little time in continuing their comeback. The Titans took the first possession and capitalized when Michael Rettker buried a low bounce shot to lower left corner. And, less than a minute later, Northview struck again as middie Alex Keen fed Evan Sather for a quick shot to upper right, making it a one-goal lead at 8-9. At the 7:19 mark the Titans tied it 9-9 when Michael Rettker fed Brandon Colton for a low crank. With 6:34 showing, Milton's Harrison Cassada scored an unassisted goal to retake the lead 10-9. But the Titans quickly battled back when middie Spencer Benfield dodged from the right and buried an unassisted goal to make it 10-10.With a tense back-and-forth battle the crowd was on their feet the remainder of the game. With just 3:56 left in the game Milton took possession, and, before they lost control of the ball, there was soon yellow laundry all over the field. The result... Northview was flagged for multiple penalties... a :30 offsides and 1:00 slashing call put the Titans two men down. Shortly after killing the :30 penalty, Northview found themselves facing the Eagles shooters a man down. But a Milton shot hit pipe and bounced toward midfield, where a Titan player scooped the GB and started a fastbreak. Northview capitalized on the unsettled situation as middie Justin Jackson fed Michael Trainer who was camped on the crease. Milton goalie Mike Nugent charged the point-blank shot well, but Trainer slid a quick-stick shot just beyond the talented goalie and into the net. This man-down score ignited the Titan fans, and they tensely watched as Northview held on for an important 11-10 victory.

What a great game to kick-off GLB coverage! This was great lacrosse... especially this early in the season... and both of these teams are sure to contend in 5A. Northview is the real deal, and they have talent across the field. At times, Milton didn't seem to move the ball well on the offensive end, and they didn't have the crisp passing of last year's champs. But it is very early... so look for that to improve. It should be a wild ride in 5A!

Join The GLB Twitter Feed For Live Score Updates!

2011-02-22T13:26:00.002-05:00

We will definitely need your help in making this work! We got this started late last season. Since several people have been sending live scoring updates to the GLB email, I thought it would be cool to set-up a Twitter page so that people can send and view info in real time. You can follow the GLB on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Send any game schedule changes, injury reports, scores, and results @georgialaxblog on Twitter. This will be a great way for folks to know about games well before the results are posted on LaxPower.