|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
June
8, 2008
Defense
wins championships. It might be one of the
most well worn phrases in sports and with
good reasonThe Upper Arlington Mens Lacrosse
team put the clamps on rival Worthington
Kilbourne Saturday, stifling the Wolves
prolific offense en route to their fifth
straight Division I Ohio High School Lacrosse
Assocation title. The UA victory was its
third over
Kilbourne this season.
The Bears led 3-0 early thanks to goals
from Cal Case, Alex Drake and Eric Hanover.
The score was 4-2 at halftime but Kilbourne's
talented senior attackman Nick Beattie scored
his second and final goal in the third quarter
to cut the lead to 4-3. Drake, who has a
knack for scoring timely goals, gave the
Bears a 5-3 lead with 1:52 left in the three
quarter and started a run of four unanswered
UA goals to end the game. Senior captain
Adam Donahue had two in the spurt, Nolan
Kleinhenz the other as UA won 8-3 to finish
its championship season 19-3.
Ohio Player of the Year Grant Oliver was
matched up with Beattie while fellow senior
captain Alex Benedick was a wall in goal,
finishing with 11 saves. "It's hard
to beat a team twice and a third team is
even harder so we had to make the right
adjustments and we got it done," said
Benedick, who was named the Defensive MVP
of the game.
Wolford agrees with the axiom of defense
wins championships. "There's no doubt
about that and that's really how we have
lived all of our years," said the 17-year
UA Head Coach who captured his 11th state
title. "Guys like Grant and Alex really
stepped up big, doing the right thing and
playing hard. It was a hot sticky day and
we were constantly under the gun but we
kept coming back and shining the whole time."
Kilbourne Head Coach Mike Riffee credited
the Bears defensive scheme for limiting
his team to its lowest goal output of the
season. Oliver and Beattie offered mutual
respect post-game. "They're a great
team," Oliver said. "We came and
played real hard today and came out with
a win." Beattie tipped his cap to UA
"It's a really big game every year...Upper
Arlington is a great team. They deserve
all the credit. They did a really great
job playing against us and played a flawless
game."
Amid the post-game jubilation there were
hugs and team pictures with the championship
trophy and former players congratulating
the caretaker of the program. "It's
not about me or the coaches," Wolford
said. "It's new for a lot of our guys.
It's all about them anyways. You get rewarded
as we say every year with smiles. To see
them smile and jump up and down that's the
payoff right there."
|
 |
|
June
3, 2008
The
Golden Bears wil get a chance to win their
fifth straight state title thanks to a convincing
14-6 win over visiting Cincinnati St. Xavier.
The Golden Bears jumped to a 9-2 halftime
lead en route to their fourth straight win.
UA was led in scoring by a pair of senior
attackman. Adam Donahue and Eric Hanover
each scored three goals against the Bombers.
"We had a quick start," Wolford
said. "We jumped out quick and got
some good looks and then put it on cruise
control and forgot what had gotten us there."
The Bears took a 13-5 lead after three quarters.
The final goal of the period came off the
stick of freshman Luke Treece thanks to
an assist by senior captain and close defenseman
Grant Oliver. Senior Trip Taylor scored
the Bears' final goal with 4:33 left. UA
senior captain Alex Benedick played the
first three quarters. Junior Teddy Dugger
played all but the final minute and half
of the fourth quarter before giving way
to sophomore Daniel Kloos.
"We got everybody in the game,"
according to Wolford. "That's good
since those guys practice all season and
I was
glad we got them a chance in a big ballgame."
|
 |
|
June
2, 2008
The
Upper Arlington Mens Lacrosse team will
host Cincinnati St. Xavier Tuesday night
at 7 with a berth in the Div. I State Final
on the line.
The Golden Bears defeated the Bombers 11-5
May 9th during a two-game road trip to Cincinnati.
"We know their personnel well and that's
the big thing," UA Head Coach Ted Wolford
said. "They have good athletes and
we have to be prepared to make adjustments
on the fly."
Wolford was asked about the mentality of
his team during the stretch run of the playoffs.
"Our seniors are out of school and
energy wise they are very high," said
the 17-year head coach of the Golden Bears.
"We are anxious to get after it."
|
 |
 |
| Left
to right: Freshmen Scott Lathrop and T.J.
Powell with junior Cory Bentine. Photo courtesy
of Ohio State. |
|
May
6, 2008
The
Upper Arlington lacrosse tradition carries
on in this week's NCAA Division I and III
tournaments. The Golden Bear program will
send ten former players into the Div. I
tournament this weekend with four playing
for Ohio State in
continued in next column >>>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| From
top to bottom, Adam Donahue, Keith Olson,
Grant Oliver and Alex Benedick. |
|
| |
|
(continued)
its
first tourney appearance since 2004. Senior
midfielder Peter Schell leads the quartet
with junior Cory Bentine and freshmen Scott
Lathrop and T.J. Powell giving the Buckeyes
a strong UA presence.
Cornell
is the Bucks opponent Saturday at 5 pm in
Ithaca, New York and there might be a small
reunion post-game as Big Red goalie Kyle
Harer will suit up for the home team. Harer
transferred to the Ivy League school after
Butler shut down its program with little
notice last year.
"Kyle
Harer is a story that jumps out at you,"
UA Head Coach Ted Wolford said. "After
his program folded he finds himself in an
Ivy League school and a chance to play Ohio
State from his hometown." Harer did
play at Jesse Owens Stadium against OSU
as the Butler goalie in 2006.
The
rest of the D-1 UA grads are spread throughout
the field with Maryland represented by sophomore
Chris Rhine and freshman Max Schmidt, who
was last year's Player of the Year in Ohio.
Schmidt was also chosen to play in the International
Lacrosse Federation U-19 World Championships
this summer in Canada.
Sean
Hecker is a junior defenseman for Loyola
who plays its first round game at Duke,
last year's national runner-up. 2005 Golden
Bear graduate Joe Dewey has already won
a National Championship ring at Virginia
and is back in the tournament for the Cavaliers.
Dewey has won 11 of 20 faceoffs in limited
duty for UVA due to injury. 12th-ranked
Colgate will take a former Bear to 6th-ranked
Notre Dame for its first-round game Sunday.
Senior midfielder Brian Lombardo will be
playing in the program's first ever post-season
game. The Red Raiders are the Patriot League
champs.
Wolford
was disappointed for Clayton Hall and Eric
Reinhardt who play at 4th-ranked Georgetown.
The Hoyas finished the regular season 9-4
with an overtime loss at Penn State but
claim the only victory this season over
top-ranked Duke. "I feel horrible for
those two, especially Clayton who is a senior.
They deserved to be in."
The Div. III tournament begins Wednesday
with North Coast Athletic Conference champ
Denison hosting Widener. The Big Red have
made great use of junior Nate Hall who has
started all 15 games and is the team's fourth
leading scorer
with 34 points.
Ohio
Wesleyan has a trio from UA in sophomore
defenseman Lee Catt and freshman goalie
Jud Hall and freshman midfielder Kyle Smith.
The Battling Bishops travel to Kenyon in
a rematch of a regular season game won by
the Lords.
"I'm awfully proud of these kids,"
said Wolford. "The goals that they
have set on the field, some as starters
andothers in back-up roles, and the commitment
they have made proves they are quality individuals."
|
 |
|
April
28, 2008
Head
Coach Ted Wolford reached another career
milestone in his Upper Arlington tenure
by winning his 300th career game Saturday,
15-2 over visiting Westerville North.
The Bears led 6-0 after a quarter but only
6-1 at the break. Wolford credited the "young
kids" for making a big contribution
in the second half. Nine players scored
goals and 15 had a goal or an assist.
As for the impressive win total, an average
of nearly 18 wins a year, Wolford says he's
not counting. "It's behind me already.
You're always looking at the next game and
not really setting sights on those kind
of goals. It just happened.
There's been a lot of great people who have
been a big part of making that happen."
|
| |
|
|
|