CILA Summer League - Week 1 Results

After months of planning and weeks of cramming, the Central Iowa Lacrosse Association officially kicked off its summer season last night. Our brand new reversibles may not have arrived, but nearly everybody showed up ready to play. A few tweaks may be made here and there, but all-in-all, I would rate opening night as a success.

Game 1 - Wellspring Parable 13, Mi Casa Rustic Furniture 2

The opening game pit a fairly familiar group of young players against a team of older guys meeting for the first time. Organized by Valley coaches Zielonko and Nielsen, WP was warming up with line drills before the game while MC was getting to know each other (and I was fighting traffic). The results showed on the field.
The combination of warm ups, familiarity, fitness, and age worked in WP's favor. Scoring opportunities arose for many of their players and the next found the back of the goal nine times in the first half. MC had trouble maintaining possession and kept missing slides on defense. Complicating matters was my horrible face offs in the first half.
After hydrating at half time, we came back out with greater determination. My face offs improved and Paul "Utah" Miska grabbed a goal. Our defense was tighter and only allowed two, one of which was on a double man down situation (my fault on one - slash). The fourth quarter was similar to the third with MC grabbing another goal (Johnston, I think) and WP grabbing two.
Not a great start for my team, but there is definite potential. Another couple of games and a practice or two might make all the difference...

Game 2 - Clark Physical Therapy 4, Lightning Wear 7

Roughly half of the CPT team did not show up last night - literally. One player is in the process of moving and a few more had obligations out of town, so Zielonko and a few others from our game served as substitutes. LW showed up with a stacked roster.
Since both teams featured a core built around familiar teammates, the ball movement was strong and the communication great. Both warmed up and were ready by the time our game finished. In what started as a back-and-forth game, both teams played hard and had great possession.
Over the course of the game, LW began to build a slight lead. The final score does justice to the close game played by both teams. Although it was painfully obvious just how stacked the LW roster is. Considerations may be made to correct this...