My apologies for not updating the site more often. When last season ended, so did the blogging. And for a while there was not a lot of news to keep you faithful readers caught up on, but now is the time to get all of you caught up on all of the events of Johnnie Lax!
Denver, Colo. - May 2009
First off to recap where the last blog left off (last May in 2009), the Johnnies won their game against Northern Colorado and moved on to the MCLA Division II National Championship Final Four. They were scheduled to face off against the top ranked Dayton Flyers at the MLS Stadium at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
The Johnnies arrived to the stadium that day and watched their archrivals, the University of Saint Thomas beat Davenport University (MI) in the first semifinal matchup.
The Johnnies were excited about the potential for an all-UMLL/all-Minnesota National Championship as they took the field. The Johnnies, who had been self proclaimed a "second-half team" came out firing in the first half and at halftime the score was tied 5-5.
Goalie Stu Van Ess (then Jr., now Sr.) played a great game stopping a majority of Dayton's attempts to take the game under control. However the game seemed to be controlled by the Johnnies. Dayton was not ready to give up and rallied back to tie the game and send it into overtime.
In overtime, shots rang off the post for the Johnnies and several opportunities were missed. About halfway into overtime, Dayton regained possession of the ball and brought it into the Johnnie zone. Midfielder Sam Gondeck (then So., now Jr.) was called for what seemed to be a questionable 30 sec. holding penalty. Although angered by the call, head coach Derek Daehn and the rest of the Johnnies focused on killing the penalty, determined to play smart defense and potentially set up a game winning play.
Unfortunately, their focus was to no avail. Play resumed, Dayton passed the ball up top and midfield Ryan Arling found the top corner to send Dayton to the finals.
Overall a great season for the Johnnies. Tough way to end it, but a great season nonetheless. A special thank you goes out to everyone who came out to Denver to cheer on the Johnnies and those who followed from Minnesota.
Also in Denver, the captains for the 2010 season were announced. They are:
Ryan Bailey (Sr., Midfield)
Brandon Brinkman (Sr., Midfield/FOGO)
Brennan Harrington (Sr., Defense/LSM)
Brian Kubovec (Sr., Defense)
These captains are eager to lead the Johnnies and return them to Denver for another shot at the National Championship.
Collegeville, Minn. - September 2009
The Johnnies hosted their first ever fall tournament. Among the teams that played were St. Cloud State, Minnesota State University - Moorhead, Minnesota State University - Mankato, Bethel, St. Olaf and Bethel. The Saint John's team was split up into two squads - SJU Red and SJU White. The SJU White team struggled with the early morning game and was unable to advance to the championship bracket. The SJU Red team was able to defeat Iowa State and moved on to play St. Olaf the next day. After a win against St. Olaf, SJU Red advanced to play MSU-Mankato for the championship. A strong showing by MSU-Mankato led to a victory for the Maverick's.
A special thanks to all the teams (players and coaches) that traveled to play in Collegeville, the officials, parents and fans that came to watch, parents and fans that helped volunteer with the concession stand and the other parts of the tournament and Saint John's University for their support and letting us use the IM Fields and Clemens Stadium.
Collegeville, Minn. - January 2010
After a semi-disappointing fall season, Practices have been high intense so far this year. The Johnnies have been conditioning and keeping the intensity up during practices. The team has been impressed with the attendance along with the talent that new and returning players are bringing to the 2010 team.
The team is also in the process of introducing a new website. You can see the new website here:
Once our free trial is over, we will be changing it to www.sjulacrosse.com. Stay tuned for the release of the official website!
Also, the team has joined the "Twitter Revolution" and will be tweeting quite often throughout the year. This will include score updates during games, any news updates and also random updates too. Check the team out on Twitter here:
------------------------------------------------------------------
The Road to Denver starts now...
The Johnnies are getting set to faceoff against Minnesota State University - Mankato for a scrimmage on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Augsburg Dome on the campus of Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minn.
Check out the game details here:
http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams/default.asp?u=SJULACROSSE&t=c&s=lacrosse&p=preview&gameID=30377
We hope to see some Johnnie Red fans there!!
Our first official game of the season will be on Friday, Feb. 12 at 9:30 p.m. against Wheaton College (IL). The game will be played at the Shattuck St. Mary's Dome in Faribault, Minn.
Check out the game details for that game here:
http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams/default.asp?u=SJULACROSSE&t=c&s=lacrosse&p=preview&gameID=30378
------------------------------------------------------------------
I will attempt to post on here as much as possible. Please continue to check the Twitter page as well!
I hope to see all you faithful Johnnie Red fans at as many games as possible and help cheer the Johnnies towards their fifth UMLL Division II Championship Title in seven years, their fifth straight MCLA Division II National Championship Tournament appearance and their pursuit of their first MCLA Division II National Championship!
Johnnie Red You Know!
- Mike Murakami
SJU Class of 2010
Webmaster and Communications Officer
- Mike Murakami
SJU Class of 2010
Webmaster and Communications Officer
Posts
