Blue Jays and Polar Bears Champions of first DBLL Season

The first season of DBLL went well despite issues with playing surface at the rinks we play on.  It was encouraging and exciting to see the kids develop as the season went on and experience the benefits of box lacrosse for themselves.  It's clear to coaches and managers in Duluth that box lacrosse is a great way to develop young lacrosse players.

In the Middle School Division, the Blue Jays pulled out a 13-9 win over the Orange for the Championship.  The game was tied at 4 at halftime before the Blue Jays began hitting the net with more consistency.  Orange goalie Adam Veselsky was stellar in the net, keeping the Orange in the game with 19 saves on the day.  Max Berns led the Blue Jays with 4 goals and an assist while Jackson Hill and James Holak followed with 3 goals apiece and Hans Larson, Clay Simmons and Axel Aas chipped in with a goal apiece.  Larson also contributed 3 assists.  The Orange were led by Kyler Cooper and Cole Manahan each with 4 goals while Malcolm Hermans added a goal.  Blue Jay goalie John Hultman stopped 15 shots while Orange goalie Adam Veselsky made 19 saves.

James Holak led the league with 33 points (22 goals 11 assists).  Clay Simmons followed with 23 points and the Orange were led in points by Kyler Cooper with 19 and Landon Langenbrunner with 18.  In the net, John Hultman led the league in saves with 51 while Adam Veselsky finished second with 38 saves.

In the High School+ Division the Polar Bears pulled off the upset of the #1 seed Honey Badgers with a decisive 19-11 victory in the title game.  The Honey Badgers kept it close for much of the game before wearing down and giving up several goals late in the second half.  The Polar Bears were led by 2013 DBLL goal scoring leader Luke Hannan who put in 9 goals in the championship game.  Frank Rush added 3 goals and 4 assists while Bodin Nichols contributed 3 goals, Austin Grover added 2 goals and Jarod Trevena and Will Erickson each pitched in with 1 goal.  The Honey Badgers, who finished the regular season with one loss, were led by Dan O' Connell with 4 goals while Beau Holappa and Jesse Larson each contributed 2 goals.  Ian Mooers, Andy Rhinehardt and Andy Holak each chipped in with a goal in the championship game.  Colin Humphries and Pat O' Connell were both stellar in the nets.

Scott Wishart led the league with 40 points (including a league leading 20 assists) while Luke Hannan finished with 39 points (all goals).  Colin Humphries led the league with 90 saves while Pat O' Connell followed with 77 saves.

Final DBLL season standings and stats have been updated.

Playoffs This Sunday Moved to Portman

DBLL Playoffs are this weekend.  PLEASE NOTE that we are planning to move the games to the PORTMAN SQUARE PARK RINKS.  The address is - 4601 McCulloch St, Duluth, MN 55804 GOOGLE MAP  The boards are up at Portman and this will make for a much nicer playing surface than the small rink at Lower Chester.  The big rink at Lower Chester still has big puddles and it's just not drying out this time of year with the cold temperatures.  Please let everyone on your team know that games will be moved this Sunday to Portman.

Remember, this is the playoffs so you will not be able to use fill in players this weekend.  The teams without goalies will need to suit up a goalie for their game.  Here is this weekends schedule:

4:00 p.m. - Middle School Championship Game

High School Division:

5:00 p.m. - Polar Bears vs. Rhinos
6:00 p.m. - Honey Badgers vs. Wolverines
7:00 p.m. - Championship Game

See you Sunday!

Last Week of DBLL

The DBLL season ended with the Orange picking up their first win in the Middle School Division in week 4.  Playing with a full squad, the Orange picked up a solid 16-9 win over the Blue Jays.  The Blue Jays came back to win the final game of the season leading into the playoffs.

In the High School Division, the Honey Badgers picked up a couple of wins to end the season 5-1 with the top seed.  The Polar Bears lost their last game to drop to the 3rd seed.  The Anacondas won both of their doubleheader games the last week of the season playing with several fill in players.  They ended up with the 2nd best record in the league, but because they won't have enough players they will not be in the playoffs.  The Rhinos will be the 4th seed and the Wolverines the 5th seed.

Games Rescheduled for This Sunday October 27

Last Sunday's games that were canceled have been rescheduled for this Sunday October 27.  The game schedule for this Sunday is as follows:

Middle School Division:

4:00 p.m. - Orange vs. Blue Jays

High School Division:

5:00 p.m. - Honey Badgers vs. Anacondas
6:00 p.m. - Rhinos vs. Wolverines
7:00 p.m. - Polar Bears vs. Honey Badgers

Honey Badgers with the doubleheader.

Sunday October 20 Games Cancelled

Sunday October 20 games cancelled due to weather conditions. 

Beautiful Day for Box Lacrosse!

It was a gorgeous afternoon for some box lacrosse action last Sunday!  In the Middle School Division, the Orange, minus a few of their players due to hockey try-outs, hung with the Blue Jays before falling 17-8.  Clay Simmons led all scorers with 5 goals while James Holak added 3 goals and 3 assists, Hans Larson added 3 goals and an assist and Will Smyth contributed 2 goals and 2 assists.  Max Berns, Axel Aas, Jackson Hill, and Jack O' Connell all pitched in a goal for the Blue Jays.  The Orange were led by Kyler Cooper and Adam Veselsky with 3 goals apiece and Hunter Wisocki with 2 goals and an assist.

At the High School+ level, the Rhinos picked up their first win on the season splitting their

doubleheader with a win over the Anacondas and a loss to the Polar Bears.  The Honey Badgers remained unbeaten with a 9-7 win over the Wolverines.

All scores, standings and stats have been updated after last Sunday's games.  Games are back again this Sunday October 20 with the Honey Badgers playing the doubleheader.  This Sunday's schedule:

Middle School Division:

4:00 p.m. - Orange vs. Blue Jays

High School Division:

5:00 p.m. - Honey Badgers vs. Anacondas
6:00 p.m. - Rhinos vs. Wolverines
7:00 p.m. - Polar Bears vs. Honey Badgers

Games Go On Despite Weekend Rain!

The second week of DBLL was affected by the heavy weekend rains, but it didn't stop the games from happening.  Games were moved to the mini-rink and everything seemed to go pretty smoothly.  On the smaller rink, quick passing and off ball movement became even more important.

In the Middle School Division the Blue Jays picked up another win over the Orange 15-8 to move to

Playing Box on the "mini-rink"

2-0 on the season.  Short a few key players, the Wolverines dropped both games in their doubleheader while the Honey Badgers moved to 2-0 with a 16-14 win over the Rhinos.  The Anacondas picked up their first win of the season with a 15-12 win over the Wolverines and the Polar Bears moved to 2-1 with a 17-7 win over the Wolverines.

Games will be played next Sunday October 13 with the Rhinos having the doubleheader.  Scores, Standings and Stats have been updated.

First Week of Box a Blast!

The first week of box lacrosse went well.  Kids had fun and we had some exciting games!  In the

Middle School game, the Blue Jays pulled out a 2OT win in a final braveheart to eke out the first win of the season 14-13.  The kids played hard, had fun and they're starting to really "get" the concepts of box lacrosse.  These two teams should have some exciting games as the season progresses!

In the High School+ Division, the players had fun and really started to pick up the nuances of the box game as they progressed.  They're still sort of playing at a field lacrosse pace but as they figure things out, they'll start to move the ball more fluidly and pick up the two man game and off ball movement as well as a bit more controlled pace of play.  The Honey Badgers and Wolverines picked up wins while the Polar Bears split their doubleheader and the Rhinos and Anacondas each

dropped a game.

Stats and Standings have been updated.

Please remember that this is a no check league and we want to emphasize player safety.  Absolutely no boarding or take out checks!  Major penalties and possibly ejections will result if these two important rules aren't followed.  No games this coming Sunday.  Play will resume on Sunday October 6 with the Wolverines playing the doubleheader.  Get out and hit the wall!

Benefits of Box Lacrosse

College coaches across the country have identified box lacrosse as a great way to increase lacrosse skills and IQ.  Legendary college coach Bill Tierney (Princeton and University of Denver) has been quoted as saying, “If I was US Lacrosse, I wouldn’t let any kids play field until they were 10 or 12 years old.”  Canadian youth players start playing box lacrosse first and do not transition into field lacrosse until middle school or higher and have become some of the top players in the U.S college game. Canada is rapidly turning out some of the most dominant players on every collegiate level (i.e. DI/DII/DIII).  In 2010, ten of the top thirty point scorers in NCAA Division I lacrosse were Canadian, yet less than 5% of the Division I population are Canadian.

The benefits of box lacrosse are evident:

•    The ball is never out of play. Box lacrosse players touch the ball more often, no doubt about

it.  In a field lacrosse game with a 10 v 10 scenario, your player may never touch the ball.  In box lacrosse, your player is guaranteed to touch the ball a few times per game with only 5 players on the field per team and the boards to keep the ball in play.
•    The small nets in box lacrosse (4' x 4') encourage players to take higher percentage shots, work to find creative ways to get to the goal and improve their shooting accuracy.
•    The tighter confines of a box lacrosse rink improve a players stick handling skills and gets them used to passing and catching in traffic.
•    Box lacrosse emphasizes fundamental defensive footwork since no one is using a long pole.  Defenseman can work on their stick skills and even have some fun scoring goals!
•    Box lacrosse encourages the development of off ball movement and the 2 man game.  Players learn a higher level of reading the defense.

Sign up now for the DBLL!  The season is right around the corner and the benefits of box are boundless!

Welcome to the Duluth Box Lacrosse League!

The Duluth Box Lacrosse League (DBLL) is a Fall box lacrosse league whose primary goal is to provide a fun off-season lacrosse opportunity for Northern Minnesota high school lacrosse players. Games will be played at the Lower Chester Hockey Rink in Duluth, MN.  The league will have two divisions.  The High School+ Division is open to area high school players and adults (except current collegiate lacrosse players) and the Middle School Division is open to players in grades 6-8.  Play will begin in mid-September with most games played on Sunday afternoon and evening.  Schedules will be released once all players and teams are set.  Get signed up right away to assure your spot on a team!  Registration is available now!

Box lacrosse is a great way to increase lacrosse skills and is a lot of fun.  College coaches are actively recruiting Canadian lacrosse players who grew up playing the box lacrosse game.  In fact, some college coaches are saying that kids should only play box lacrosse up until high school because the benefits are so great.  Some of the benefits of box lacrosse include:

• The ball is never out of play. Box lacrosse players touch the ball more often. Period.  In a field lacrosse game with a 10 v 10 scenario, your player may never touch the ball.  In box lacrosse, your player is guaranteed to touch the ball a few times per game with only 5 players on the field per team and the boards to keep the ball in play.
• The small nets in box lacrosse (4 x 4) encourage players to take higher percentage shots, get to the goal and improve their shooting accuracy. 
• The tighter confines of a box lacrosse rink improve a players stick handling skills and gets them used to passing and catching in traffic.