Knowing that a win was essential to get to the Championship game the Bucks took the field against Team Eire at 11:15. After beating them 10-4 and shutting them out in the second half the Hills squad didn’t expect much of a game but you never know. One thing the Hills squad had going for them was that their “Team Octagon contingent” had just finished beating their opponent and would be available at the start of this semi-final game. Joe Casalino started off the scoring less than a minute into the game with a solo shot past the Team Eire keeper giving the Bucks a lead they would never surrender Brock Livingston followed just two minutes later going solo off a question mark dodge off the right post. At the 12:48 mark Scott Prestridge saw Brock’s Delaware University teammate Chris Mach sneaking around the crease and it was now a 3-0 game. The teams traded possessions for the next two and a half minutes until Brett Tietjen fed Brock for his second goal of the day. Team Eire          answered twice edging within two goals of Beverly Hills but Michael Delabar went solo and Chris Mach fed Brett Tietjen with just forty one seconds left on the clock to close out the first half with the Bucks up 6-2. Team Eire had a slight advantage at the faceoff “X” but exceptional play in the cage by first half goalie Derrek Ostrzyzek who had three saves and takeaways by Scott Prestridge and Kraig Hamady anchored a strong close defense along with Octagon madman Jim Brasi and Terry Moreland. Alex Jessup, Jon Bang, Michal Delabar and Michael Clayton held down the fort in the transition game

          The Hills squad planned to slow it down in the second half as they felt they were on their way to the Championship game and needed to conserve their energy. The Octagon contingent also had a second game coming up as they would play for the 50+ championship right after this game. But the Bucks couldn’t stop themselves from scoring as Dave Taylor fed Brett Tietjen at the 17:30 mark of half number two. Brock fed Dave Taylor for a score less than two minutes later. Brock then went solo and it was an 8-2 Beverly Hills lead. John “Banger” Bang then picked up a hockey assist off a clear finding Brock up top who fed Brett Tietjen cutting from “X” at the 11:10 mark. Michael Delabar followed with 9:20 remaining swinging left ant putting the rock to right past the Team Eire keeper. Jim Blasi then went solo off a clear at the 7:40 mark but Team Eire answered 1:40 later. Joe Casalino closed out the scoring with a feed to Brock Livingston as the game ended with a13-3 score. Second half keeper Al Man garnered three saves and Jon Bang, Mike Wheat and Jim Blasi each had a takeaway giving the Hills squad extended possession time.

          As the clock rolled on to 2:45 it was now time for “big boy” lacrosse. The Octagon contingents had already claimed one Championship in the 50+ division and were now ready to roll with the Hills squad to see if they could help the Bucks claim one in the 40+ division. The Dub C squad scored first 3:40 into the game when keeper Derrek Ostrzyzek chased a ground ball to the sideline. Unfortunately Dub C came up with it and put it into the empty net. But the Bucks got right back on the horse as Michael Clayton went to Jon Bang for the tying score. Dub C rattled off two unanswered goals to close out the half with Dub C holding a two goal advantage. The Bucks first half keeper Derrek Ostrzyzek garnered seven saves in the half. I heard one of the Bucks sideline player say that long pole Jim Blasi played a half’s worth of lacrosse in the first two minutes as he was everywhere picking up two ground balls and two takeaways in that span. Beverly Hills was competitive at the faceoff “X” claiming two out of the five first half draws.

          Down 3-1 Beverly Hills made some adjustments during halftime and came out on fire scoring the next two goals to tie the score at three’s. Brock Livingston rolled off the right pipe for the first one and Scott Prestridge dodged left and right for the second goal. Michael Delabar came off the pipe again at the 14:40 mark and all of a sudden the Hills squad held a 4-3 advantage. But Dub C answered with two quick goals of their own and retook the lead with 10:20 left on the clock. Michael Clayton went solo at the 7:35 mark to tie the score but that was it for the Beverly Hills scoring as Dub C answered with three goals of their own to walk away with an 8-5 win and the 40+ Championship trophy. Second half goalie Al Man matched Derrek Ostrzyzek’s first half stats with seven saves of his own.

          It was the first time that Eric Baker and I entered Beverly Hills into a Masters Tournament. Blending the core Bucks of Alex Jessup, Kevin Berlandi, Brock Livingston, Michael Delabar, Brett Tietjen, Sean Kane and Seth Cohen with fourteen players from all over the country would take a little time but mixing in the Octagon crew and players from the East Coast went well as our team game improved every game. More importantly it was a great group of guys many of which will see each other in the upcoming Lake Placid tournament and Florida tournament next January. It was like a Woodstock for lacrosse and the connections that remain and the new connections that were made make our sport truly unique. Thanks for everyone who came and see you all in Lake Placid.

Gary Greenbaum, AKA “you’re at the end”

  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.