2007 Marshall Varsity Lacrosse 4/9 WT Woodson

STATESMEN
SCOREBOARD

   VARSITY, MON 4/9
WT WOODSON 15

MARSHALL 1

   JV, MON 4/9
WT WOODSON 10

MARSHALL 1

Ugly Betty

WT Woodson High School, 4/9/07 --
WOODSON SHOWS WHY THEY'RE IN LAXPOWER'S TOP TEN

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
Matt Stonehill scores tonight's lone goal
for our Varsity Statesmen!

Oh man, I thought the Groundhog didn't see his shadow this year. Winter was supposed to be over by now!

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the biggest problem facing our Statesmen LAX squads, or for our hearty band of loyal followers, as we traveled to WT Woodson. Nope. Tonight the real problem was a Cavaliers offense that played ball control, showed great stick handling, and kept pummeling goalkeeper Kevin Hia with shot after shot after shot. The 15-1 final score might not show it, but View From The Stands tells me that Kevin probably had about a million saves in this game. (OK, maybe VFTS misplaced a decimal point or two, but no doubt about it--Kevin stood in there and played a whale of a game in net.)

Despite the score, our Defense played quite well considering that most of the game was played on our side of the field. Ben Yazman, Taylor Delean and Eliot Gehley kept the Cavs attack out on the perimeter. Literally half of Woodson's goals came on those crank shots from about 25 yards out.

Oddly enough, the game never seemed like a runaway. Of course, they were scoring and we weren't, but it never turned into one of those scoring-in-bunches routs. And our Statesmen never seemed overwhelmed or discouraged. With just a minute to go in the 1st quarter, the score was still pretty tight at 3-0. But they scored as the clock was running out, and then followed up in a relentless 2nd quarter to put us down 9-0 at the half.

The 2nd half saw a fired-up Statesmen squad take the field and in the very first sequence, Eliot Gehley started a fast break up-field off a turnover. After a quick set of passes, Sophomore Matt Stonehill put the ball past the Cavs keeper and the opening goal of the 2nd half belonged to Marshall! Freshman Kayvon Nikbakhshian got the well-deserved assist. Unfortunately, Woodson bore down for the rest of the half and kept the pressure on our side of the field. They never regained their 1st half efficiency, but the Cavs offense wore down the Statesmen defense and the final was 15-1.

Kevin Hia had 19 saves in goal (not quite a million, but an important accomplishment against a withering attack).

Welcome to the buzz-saw that we call the Liberty District schedule! Once again, the Liberty is packing LAXpower's Northern Virginia Top Ten. And Hayfield (who we played a couple of weeks ago) is ranked #4. Tonight we saw again what the level of competition is like at the top of this Region.

Of course our Statesmen played with guts and determination throughout the game, and our defense was under constant pressure from the opening whistle. We showed a ton of spirit and pride out there tonight--especially against a tough opponent like Woodson, and especially on the Caveliers' home turf--and our Statesmen put just everything on the line.

The schedule gives us a short breather, but then we face Langley two Fridays from now - April 20. (Buckle up!) It's a home game so BE THERE Statesmen fans! Marshall Pride!

VARSITY GAME: WT WOODSON 15 - MARSHALL 1
These are pictures from the Varsity game. Pictures from the JV game are on the JV Pix page!

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
On the road against WT Woodson, Eliot Gehley and
Sam Newland take the field and our Statesmen huddle up ...
MARSHALL PRIDE!

Ball control and stick handling. Junior LSM Jonathan Chambers (#20) keeps the
Cavs attacker within reach, but Woodson played a patient ball control game
from the very start.

                             Either that, or it's a four-legged Cavalier :-)
Jonathan again - doubling up on a hit that takes out two attackers!

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
Oh yeah, it's another tough physical game in the Liberty District.
That's Senior Co-Captain Ben Yazman (#1) doin' the dirty work.
Long stick Taylor Delean (#30) tries to clear through the
back-checks.

Kayvon Nikbakhshian (#16) goes AIRBORNE to knock down a pass!

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
Notice that all the pictures are on our side of the field?
Not a coincidence. There's no quit in these Statesmen, though.
Ben Yazman knocks loose the ball!
Sam Newland (#17) marks the attacker who's hoping for a rebound.
But Senior Co-Captain Kevin Hia (#6) stand his ground!

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
Woodson got their chances on the perimeter a lot tonight, but traffic in front of the crease was rare.
Sam Newland joins up with Ben Coyle (#19) to take out the intruder,
while Kevin locks the corner!

Senior Chris Newcomb (#27) is WAY too busy as Woodson's
ball control game pressures the defense all night long. Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
Senior middie Dylan Smith (#18) stands tall against
the Cavs' relentless attack.

Most of our early chances came on
fast breaks. Ben Yazman takes
this clear into the offensive end!
But when we got the ball on offense, the Cavs defense swarmed. Attacker
Matt Stonehill (#10) finds himself surrounded!

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
#10 Matt and #16 Kayvon work our play in front of the crease.
Nice footwork by Kayvon to
open up for a quick pass.

View From The Stands says all the Statesmen fans jumped up
when Michael Born (#24) got this chance in front of the crease! Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
But oh man ... the goalie got the block and a
zillion defenders took away any chance for a rebound!

Tough halftime, but our spirits are still high. Determined and proud, we ain't no quitters.
(Yeah, that's a technical term :-)

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
It's a great time for some one-on-one instruction ...
(That's Coach Henry talking to Kayvon Nikbakhshian)
... while face-off middie Ben Coyle practices with face-off Coach
Goins (I guess they're practicing face-offs :-)

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
Tommy Miossi is a huge help out
here!

Mr. Chambers captures stats on the
sideline (while fighting off the weather :-)

Walking-cast wounded :-) Hey wait!
Wasn't Coach Goins practicing
face-offs a second ago? (Wow.)

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
A fired-up Statesmen squad takes the field in the second half and puts new life in this game!
Once again, we clamp down when anyone comes close to the crease!

Tough-minded defense like this led to the fast-break score by Matt Stonehill
to open the second half!

                             Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
Big hits from everyone ... Ben Coyle gets in the act to
slow a defender on a clear!

#18 Dylan Smith and #20 Jonathan Chambers take out the
Cavs' big middie.
But Woodson's patient attack pays off time after time. Eliot
Gehley gets his stick up, and Kevin Hia has good position, but
the Cavs are just getting too many shots on goal.

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
LOTS of shots on goal. Most of them from the perimeter, but here the attacker gets
in close. Ben, Eliot and Matt converge, but from that close ... Kevin can only block
one half of the net.
Even when shots come from the
perimeter, the balls that bounce at
your feet are deadly.

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
Long night. "He gets knocked down - He gets up again - You're never gonna keep him down!"

With the constant pressure, there are times when you get
caught zigging instead of zagging.
Ball control? Here's a perfect example! The shot from outside
isn't even close. But the back setter is right there to
make sure it stays Cavs ball.

Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
Attacker John Zettler (#7) just isn't getting enough work tonight
But from the opening whistle to the very last minute, we're
digging for every chance we can manufacture!

Matt Stonehill gets a pick-up, but he's
immediately surrounded by
bad guys. :-) Photo by Mrs. Newcomb
Tough night out here. As the ball bounces loose, the scoreboard takes on
an Ugly Betty look to it. Final favors the Cavs 15-1.