The Scoop Summer 2015 | Page 22

A Recap of the Select Championships

By Joey Picard,

Co-Director: MBYLL Select

While MBYLL Classic is the "flagship of our fleet," a lot of time and effort goes into the planning of MBYLL Select League, in which MBYLL town programs enter advanced teams to compete on Friday and Saturdays with records and standings and a single-elimination playoff tournament.

The 2015 tournament came to its exhilarating conclusion on Saturday June 13th during the Mass Bay Jamboree at Fort Devens. The eight final teams (two from each level and division) met on Field 11 to hash out the details on who was going to be ultimately named MBYLL Select Champions. In glorious weather, the Select Championships lasted from 9 o'clock in the morning until after 5 o'clock in the evening and included four spectacular games: competitive, clean, and well-coached.

Leading up to Championship Saturday, all teams were placed into brackets based on their regular season standings and their power ranking: a status derived from a formula created by MBYLL Select co-director Peter Soule which incorporated win-loss records, strength of schedule, and a cross-divisional adjustment into the calculation.

In a span of two short but action-packed weeks, teams were thrown into a frenzy of postseason games with enormous stakes every other day. It was win or go home. And on Saturday June 13th, eight final teams had done an awful lot of winning and had yet to "go home." Arriving at Field 11 before their final game of 2015, one could feel the virtually tangible nervous energy surrounding the warm-ups. But as athletes trickled in and the routine settled in, it became just another game for these very serious and professional youth athletes.

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKETS

The first game was the U13 Division I Championship which pitted the undefeated 2-seed Franklin Select against the 5-seeded Hamilton-Wenham Select from Essex County. To reach the championship, Franklin had delivered decisive victories against some tremendous foes including Grafton, King Philip, and Newton in the semi-finals. Hamilton-

Wenham had defeated North Andover and Tribal with slight ease. Their toughest test came in the quarterfinals where they upset 4-seeded Marblehead with a narrow one-goal victory.

In the U13 D1 Championship, Hamilton-Wenham began the scoring and took an early one-goal lead. But for every goal they scored, the relentless and resilient Franklin team answered back. Hamilton-Wenham lead 2-1 after the first quarter, 5-4 after the half, and 6-5 after the third quarter of a dizzying game in which no lead felt safe enough. The fourth quarter was nothing short of masterful as Hamilton-Wenham maintained possession for practically the duration. Even a few stall warnings couldn't deter Hamilton-Wenham from crisp passing, precise ball movement, and well-timed and well-placed shots on net.

After four grueling quarters, Hamilton-Wenham held on to defeat the juggernaut Franklin team with an 8-6 victory and the first crowned Championship of the day.

At noontime, MBYLL welcomed in the athletes from Nantucket Youth Lacrosse, who for the second consecutive weekend made the trek from their island home to the pastures of Fort Devens. The 3-seeded Nantucket Select took on top-seeded North Reading Select for the U15 Division II Championship. After a terrific regular season earning them a first-round bye, North Reading defeated Northwest rival Wilmington and Northeast rival Danvers en route to their title appearance. Nantucket also earned one of three byes, hosted and defeated Tantasqua and visited and upset the 2-seed Franklin for their appearance in MBYLL Championship Saturday.

Nantucket poses obvious logistical challenges (albeit welcomed ones) for both Classic and Select. But in 2015, both league and town program were stunned to discover that all previously participating South Shore, Cape, and Islands region select programs had decided not to play select for MBYLL. This left Nantucket

22 The Scoop / Summer '15