It was the last regular season game of the 2022 SCLAX season. The Beverly Hills squad is fighting for second place with The Westside Express who will have to travel down to San Diego next week to play league leading 40 Thieves while the Bucks have a bye. Venice is just playing for the sport of it. There was never any doubt who was going to walk away with the victory.

     The flow of the game was irrelevant….it was all Bucks all the time. The Bucks led 4-0 after one, 10-0 at the half, 16-0- after three and finished the game outscoring Venice 20-1. Individual stats were:

• Alex Dixon the four goals and four uncharacteristic assist
• Mike Delabar had a goal and an assist scoring on the former Thousand Oaks goalie who he mentored to greatness
• George Pertessis went for two scores and two assists scoring both goals solo and from way downtown
• John Jossi had two goals
• Slamming Sammy Edwards, with the bleachers packed with his supporters scored five goals…one quickstick, two golf shots and two from outside
• Sean Kane, giving up his body to ground ball after ground ball managed to put three into the net and assisted Dixon with another
• Alex Jessup, showing off for Jemma, his soon to be a better scorer than her dad had a goal and an assist
• Grant Firestone had two assists, one off a clearing outlet from Bucks keeper Mark Bell to Sean Kane for a tally
• New Buck Mike Reale, after blowing two shots on the doorstep found his footing and beat the Venice keeper for two goals and an assist.
• Old Buck Johnny Brasko, playing in his seventeenth season with the Hills squad did what he does best and feed from Mike Deale, cranked up his pole and rocketed the shot into the net

     Other things to note….. Legend in his own mind face off specialist Jared Jacobs went 18/25 at the “X”…John Brasko, Curran Sullivan, Sean Kane, John Jossi, JD Johnson, Alex Jessup, Kevin Berlandi and Grant Firestone each had at least one takeaway. Buck keeper Mark Bell filled in for absent keepers Ron Fernando & Brad Brandenburg giving up only one goal for the afternoon on nine shots. And my personal “game highlight” was Kevin Berlandi sprinting after a ground ball along the sideline on a clear and goosing the ball around his Venice counterpart, recontrolling it and pushing it up to a waiting Hills player to initiate the offence….well done Kevin!

     Next week the Bucks will be off but will stay focused on the prize and have a scrimmage to stay sharp. The following week the league shuts down for Memorial Day and the following weekend, June 4^th & 5^th the league will host its Final Four Weekend. Right now the Bucks sit in third place with a loss to both Westside Express and 40 Thieves Westside Express sits in second with only one loss to Beverly Hills but will have to travel next week to play the one loss Thieves. It’s going to be one hell of an end to the season.

  Traveling to San Diego for a game is always a crap shoot. A few weeks ago we traveled down to San Diego with a “light” squad and beat a strong Beachcomber squad in one of our best games of the year. Yesterday’s squad was even lighter as we took the field with thirteen guys without our stud FOGO and without several strong players at multiple positions. Eric and I considered what would be the first forfeit in the Buck’s 16 year existence. But the thirteen led by Alex Jessup, Dustin Doty and Brett Tietjen cried NO so let the game begin!

     The Buck’s took the field with Ron Fernando in the goal and second half goalie Brad Brandenburg graciously offering to play out of position at midfield to give some of our middies a break. Both teams moved the ball around for in the fast paced turnover free first five minutes of the game but the Thieves finally struck at the 14:40 mark giving them a 1-0 lead. But at the 12:50 mark Alex Dixon at “X” found Brett Tietjen off the left pipe and Brett sent a worm burner to the back of the net. Three minutes later Sean Kane found Brett free again and the Hills squad took their first lead of the game. Thieves answered at the 5:10 mark to tie the score but Joe Woody would have none of it and fed Steve Brandenburg to put the Bucks back up 3-2. But the Thieves had a clean win on the ensuing faceoff and tied the score to end the quarter. Bucks keeper Ron Fernando collected five saves in the quarter while Sean Kane had a takeaway and the Bucks only has two turnovers enabling the game to stay close.

     The Thieves led off quarter number two with an outside shot at the 17:06 mark to take the lead but once again the Bucks answered with a man up goal by Alex Dixon on a feed from Bret Tietjen tying the score at 4-4. 40 Thieves took a two goal lead at the 7:10 mark with an inside curl off the right pipe and an outside rocket but Alex Dixon brought the Bucks within one goal on his own crease curl off the left pipe. The Thieves answered with 4:20 remaining and took a 7-5 lead into halftime. The Thieves took six out of the seven faceoffs but Ron Fernando continued his outstanding play in the net garnering eight saves in the quarter. Once again the Bucks were careful with the ball with only two turnovers in the quarter. The Thieves were getting their shots from outside but the Buck netminder kept the Bucks in the game.

     Both teams slowed down in the third quarter with the Thieves scoring at the 14:47 mark and again with 12:31 remaining. Mike Delabar found Joe Woody cutting to the crease at the 7:10 mark and Joe didn’t disappoint closing out the quarter with the Bucks trailing 9-6. Ron Fernando had six more saves in the quarter and the Bucks cut their turnovers down to one keeping them very much in the game.

     But the physical toll on the Bucks was noticeable. After yielding the net to Ron Fernando so he could help out with middy relief Brad Brandenburg was physically done….not from his many runs at the midfield but from a couple questionable helmet to helmet hits that were missed by the officials. But the Hills squad played on. They made the trip to win a game and they were still playing hard. Once again the Thieves jumped out to two quick goals but at the 11:30 mark Mike Delabar drove from the midfield towards the goal and put one by the Thieves keeper to bring the deficit down to four. But the Thieves scored two quick ones to take a 13-7 lead. Delabar went solo for another score with 6:10 left but the Thieves answered walking away with a 14-8 victory keeping them undefeated while the Bucks were alone in third place for another week.

     Every single guy played his heart out. Mark Bell took most of the faceoffs trying to turn them into ground ball contests. Curran Sullivan followed around his Thieves matchup like he was his next meal. Brett Tietjen ran the offence making sure to keep the pace at a winnable level and Alex Jessup and Dustin Doty were fearless on both ends of the field. And I can’t leave out a play that happened right in front of me by the box. Sean Kane was chasing an errant Buck pass that was headed to the sideline. He dove under the Thieves player that had a step on him and “raked” the ball forward to a Bucks player. He saved the possession and the Hills squad rewarded him with a score. That was just one example how everyone played and why I was so proud of this team yesterday.

     The league shuts down next Sunday for Easter. The Bucks will host the San Diego Lacrosse Club the following week at Culver City High School at 3:330. It should be a great game as the Bucks will be looking for revenge after the San Diego squad took them down in the SCLAX 2021 Championship.

     Looking for their second consecutive win against a South Division team the Bucks took to the field hosting the San Diego Rays. The Rays had already beaten the Beachcomber squad and played the Westside Express very close so the Hills squad knew they were going to be in for a very competitive game. But as the teams took the field for the opening faceoff you could see that the visiting Rays were low on numbers while the Beverly Hills squad was present in full force.

     The game plan for the Bucks was to repeat last week’s performance when they played a very deliberate offensive set, kept their spacing and balanced the scoring….and the Bucks did just that. The teams traded possessions and turnovers for the first four minutes until Steve Brandenburg went behind the back with a cross crease feed to Will McCance who wasted no time putting the ball in the back of the net at the 15:23 mark. Joe followed three minutes later with an unassisted goal and the Bucks were up 2-0. At the 12:03 mark Slamm’n Sammy Edwards, the Buck’s speedy middy took a ground ball off the ensuing faceoff and fed Steve Brandenburg for the score. With less than three to play in the quarter Steve Brandenburg fed a cutting Eli Lasda from “X” and the Bucks held a 4-0 lead at the end of one. As usual Jared Jacobs was dominant going 4/5 at the “X” and Steve Brandenburg was involved in three out of the four scoring plays. Keeper Ron Fernando garnered five saves and the Hills squad went 8/10 clearing the ball. J D Johnson and Riley Lasda each had a takeaway. On the other side, with only one extra player on the sidelines you could see that the Rays were wearing down.

     Halfway through the second quarter former Harvard middy Nick Smith returned to his dodging form as he cut and spun through three Ray’s defenders and uncorked a monster shot from about 15 yards out to make it a 5-0 game. George Pertessis followed with a solo rocket at the 9:10 mark and Slamm’n Sammy Edwards went lefty from outside to push the score up to 7-0 in favor of the home team. Nick Smith ended the first half scoring with a cross field feed to LSM Dustin Doty who didn’t waste the opportunity and gave the Bucks an 8-0 lead going into the half. Once again Jared dominated the faceoffs and netminder Ron Fernando closed the door on the Rays with three more saves. The Buck’s defense starting with the close poles and extending out to the middy defenders like Alex Jessup was sting staying on the Rays players hands throughout the quarter. Mark Bell, A J Hoffman and Johnny Brasko each had a takeaway during the quarter.But the big halftime story was not the score. You had a Buck team with 12 guys on the sidelines and a Ray’s team that had quality players on the field but no reserves. Both teams wanted a more competitive game so they decided to even up the numbers as the Bucks sent six players to play with the Rays.

     Brad Brandenburg went into the cage for the Hill’s squad. Joe Woody started off the second half scoring with a feed to Nick Smith. Will McCance then found George Pertessis curling off the crease and the Bucks were up 10-0. The next two scores came from the Rays but both were by Buck starters…..Sean Kane and Sammy Edwards. The quarter ended with a Beverly Hills 10-2 lead. Buck keeper had four saves in the quarter and for the first time this season Buck faceoff specialist Jared Jacobs was held under 50% at the “X”. Grant Firestone, the voice of LAX had a takeaway while fellow defender A J Hoffman garnered two as the stingy Buck’s defense refused to fold.

     With the game in hand the Beverly Hills squad slowed down the game. Eli Lasda put one in from outside and George Pertessis finished up the scoring going solo after a takeaway on the other end. The final score was 12-2 in favor of the Bucks. The Bucks will host the Venice Lacrosse Club next Sunday at 3:30 before they travel back down to San Diego the following week to take on the league leading 40 Thieves Lacrosse Club.

           I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect in this game. In our first three games we blew out two teams and were beaten decisively in the other. It’s always a tough haul down to San Diego and we were facing a strong young Navy team in Beachcomber who beat defending SCLAX Champion San Diego L C in the season opener. But there was a good omen right before the start of the game when longtime Buck Johnny Brasko was recognized by one of the referees Mike Stromberg…….they played together at Loyola and something good happens when you are reunited with an old contemporary and it sure happened today.

     In the first quarter we were going to find out a lot about the first year Bucks as John Jossi opened up the scoring with a feeds from James “Shaba” Shabinsky just forty seconds into the game. With four minutes left in the first quarter the Hills squad had jumped out to a 4-0 lead on a Jesse Cuccia solo drive, a second John Jossi tally and a Brett Tietjen cross crease feed to Will McCance who was stationed just off the right pipe. Jesse scored again with just ten seconds remaining in the quarter on a feed from Alex Dixon and the Bucks were up 5-0. Buck faceoff specialist Jared Jacobs went 6/6 at the “X”, netminder Ron Fernando garnered two brilliant saves and the defense was intense with Grant Firestone collecting a takeaway as Mark Bell, John Brasko, A.J. Hoffman and LSM Dustin Doty stayed on the hands of every ‘Comber shooter that got past the restraining line.

     Beverly Hills pushed their lead up to 6-0 at the 19:14 mark of the second quarter when Andrew White found the back of the net off a broken clear. The teams traded possessions until the 11:15 mark when Beachcomber finally got on the scoreboard but at the 7:20 mark the Bucks answered when Alex Dixon found Andrew White with a behind the back pass and the lead was back up to six goals. But at the 4:20 mark ‘Comber scored the final shot of the quarter and the Bucks took a 7-2 lead into halftime. Once again Jared Jacobs dominated at the “X” going 4/5 while keeper Ron Fernando garnered six saves. A J Hoffman and Riley Lasda each had a takeaway and the hills squad cut their turnovers down from six in quarter number one to just one unforced error. Beverly Hills had learned from their only loss of the season and was playing with a high lax IQ. They were patient, kept their spacing and were much more precise in their passing while avoiding greedy feeds to the crease. It was all paying off but could they keep it going?

     Quarter number three started on a bad note for Beverly Hills as Beachcomber found their footing and scored the next three goals and at the 10:40 mark the Hill’s lead had shrunk to just two goals with a 7-5 score. But at the 9:07 mark Alex Jessup righted the ship as he got his own rebound off the right pipe and put it past the Beachcomber netminder putting the Bucks back up by three. One minute later Jesse Cuccia slammed one off the pipe but George Pertessis was right there to gobble the rebound up at the midfield and put it into the back of the net. Beachcomber scored next off a clean faceoff win but Alex Dixon countered with a solo drive to the crease and the score stood at 10-6. George Pertessis closed out the quarter with a solo drive and the Bucks were up 11-7. Once again Jacobs was dominant going 7/10 at the “X”. A.J. Hoffman and Johnny Brasko each had a takeaway the Buck’s defense held strong with just twenty minutes left to play.

     The final quarter was a defensive struggle with both goal keepers putting on a show. James Shabinsky had his second assist of the afternoon as he fed John Jossi on a crease curl at the 15:32 mark. And with 3:05 left to play in the game Alex Dixon fed Steve Brandenburg for the final goal of the afternoon as the Beverly Hills squad put together an impressive 13-7 win. Jared Jacobs went 3/3 and Buck goalie Ron Fernando garnered eight saves in the quarter. The Bucks had four takeaways in the quarter, two by Dustin Doty and one each for Grant Firestone and Alex Dixon.

     Next week the Bucks will host the Rays, a new San Diego team that has gotten off to an impressive start. They will faceoff at Culver City High School at 4:30.