8 Knights on the Bison Brawl All Star team and update!

Attack

Oliver Loveland

Billy Kershaw

Midfield

James Pomfret

Sam Wilks

Defence

Matt Tatton

Dan Walker

Jack Peacock

Goalie

Hal Dwobeng

Congratulations to all players and to the team that got them there!

Unfortunately we did not play our final game against Brawlers or the All Star Game as we had a huge storm and a tornado warning! 

We had decided not to play the final game and keep our seeding at 3 in the playoffs tomorrow morning at 8am on field B. The All Star game was meant to still be held but the bad weather never passed.

We want to win this tournament badly, the lads deserve it and we want to get on the bus with a trophy! It's a big day for Knights Lacrosse!

It is Foxys Birthday tomorrow we will try and make it a special one for him!

Day 8 - Won 8-5 Vs Webster Schroeder

Webster Schroeder are from the same town as Webster Thomas and we wanted to make a statement we know their coaches from 2013 

Everyone had now been cleared to play after the mornings excitement! 

Every short stick player except two had scored and no LSM's or Long Poles had scored at all, I guess that means we knew our roles but wanted Jake and Cam to get one and today was going to be their day. 

I'd love to see Sam Chopper Harris score or Jack Peacock, the team would go crazy!

The game started with Jake Parker scoring his first two goals of the tour his second was a hard shot to the top left hand corner! He has played really well and I think it's taken time for him to get back into the swing of things after his shoulder injury! But I think he's back!

Cammie Syme also scored two and was now level with his twin brother on points, except Cam doesn't have the bruises to match Chas's right arm! I'm glad neither have the bragging rights to take back home although tomorrow is another day!

I used Ben Page Laycock as an example to the team at half time as he had missed two shots earlier in the game but had again worked so hard on the ride to win the ball back for us and he never gives up, he got his reward later receiving the ball on the left post and finishing with his left hand, I think the team could see my point, we didn't want to let up and let them back in and we kept persevering, our passing was crisp and we played with patience and managed the game well! 

Hal played a great game and has become more active out of goal as the tournament has progressed.

TJ and Wilky play great defense and make us stronger as a unit, with our poles also playing at a high level.

Will Cornwell finished well and also had a goal disallowed later in the game his second goal was his best, face dodging and diving to finish top right.

Elliott Leonard has been a constant threat in both tournaments and was one of our better players, he weighed in with another nice goal.

We had learnt how to win and had been   taught a valuable lesson the day before by W-Thomas, it has helped us to improve and get ready for our final game at 7:30 vs Brawlers and the playoffs tomorrow.

The All-Star team would be announced for a game at 8:45. the lads where excited to play and prove what we could do!

Goals

Jake Parker 2

Cam Syme 2

Will Cornwell 2

Oli Liveland 

Elliott Leonard

Billy Kershaw

Ben Page-Laycock

Day 8 - Won 8-5 vs Freedom

Our Morning game was delayed because of rain and storms, we waited around in the halls to hear when the game would begin. I think because we have spent so much time together and have such a relaxed attitude before games having a laugh with each other and chatting we didn't find this hard. 

The game began at 11am against Freedom and we knew that we had another game at 1pm and had to find time to eat in the cafeteria, sometimes it's a logistical nightmare for the Coaches ensuring the lads can eat and hydrate. 

We began the game a little slow and went 2 down so we called a timeout to regroup. A few of the players could not play this morning because of an admin error at the tournament and we used it for motivation doing it for Chopper!

We stormed back and Joe Cheetham got us going, dodging from behind and shooting back into the goal. 

There wasn't much to stop us after that, we made it hard for Freedom to move the ball in offense and clearing, the boys are exciting to watch creating more opportunities for themselves and we didn't want to let up after learning our lesson in the Webster Thomas game the day before. We played well and scored in bunches and Freedom didn't have any answers!

Chas Syme won the face off and raced down the field, he ran behind the goal and drove to the goal and scored! 

Billy Kershaw finished it off with a great question mark move.

A great start to the day, time for a light dinner and to get back to the stadium for our second game of the day!

Joe Cheetham 2

TJ Burgess

Ben Page-Laycock

James Pomfret

Chas Syme

Will Cornwell

Billy Kershaw

Day 7 - Lost 16-4 vs Bucknell Futures

What a fantastic opportunity for our players and program to play a group of incoming Bucknell recruits (called Futures) in Bucknells main stadium. We arrived with plenty of time so we could take it all in. 

We looked great in the warm up and as this game does not count towards the tournament (they are playing every team but will not compete in the playoffs) we were relaxed and having fun Our players always relish this challenge and will be something they talk about for a long time. 

The whistle blew for the first face off and Chas hadn't moved and their face off guy had already won it and was at the 40'yard line, he was from State Campion high school New Canaan in Conneticut and had very quick hands. 

We played solid defence again and slid and recovered well, Matt Tatton, Dan Walker and especially Adam Fox played great one on one Def and we played as a unit. Peacock and Chopper do a great job in every game and share the LSM position. Matt Tatton loves to cover the oppositions best guy and did a great job again. Dan Walker plays his angles very well and doesn't get beaten often.

We did go 1-0 up from a great Goal from Matt Smith, the lads obviously went crazy and so they should, Futures scored a few goals after that, Hal made some great saves and was up to the challenge and as the Bucknell Head Coach said afterwards looked he very comfortable out there. 

We play some great offence when we are patient with Oli Loveland always being at X to find the open man. It's great to watch for me after 2 years of planning to see it in front of my own eyes is very satisfying! Ben Page came close to scoring at GLE however the ball bounced of the goalies ankle and was very unfortuante. 

Again as many times before our ride was great and Billy ended up with the ball from a pass from Ollie Billing finished low and away on the goalie.

Elliott Leonard inverted his man and we have a play to open up a wing shot or otherwise not allow the dodger to be double teamed easily, no one could slide and he rolled his man at GLE to finish near side top corner.

The final goal for us came from a great wing dodge and fed again by Ollie to the crease to Will Cornwell, his defender was all over him and he still caught the ball to fake and finish.

The game finished 16-4 but doesn't tell the tale we played good defence and made small mistakes to let the high calibre of players on Futures to capitalise. Burkey played great in the second half and the whole team made plays to tell everyone when they return this Saturday. We had learnt a lot and played in an amazing venue, this was an opportunity that not many people have and I hope they enjoyed it, they did us proud and Bucknells coaches praised us after the game. Their players loved having a picture with us, some of these guys will be stars in the NCAA in a years time.

It's now 00:42 and the lads have been in bed since 11:30, with a 9am game we need to be at Breakfast at 7:30am and up at 7am. Night night and thanks for all the support. We have our best to come from this tournament and still think we can do very well.

Goals 

Matt Smith

Billy Kershaw

Will Cornwell

Elliott Leonard

Assists

Oliver Loveland 2

Day 7 - Lost 6-4 to Webster Thomas

We knew that we had a 3 O'clock game vs our old friends Webster Thomas and got ready to play, we knew we could continue where we left off at the Gait Cup - defensive players Adam Fox, Matt Tatton, Jack Peacock and Dan Walker had finished the tournament really very well and Suggy and Chopper are doing an amazing job, together with the middies they have really played as unit and I've been very impressed. 

Both our Goalies have been fantastic and get behind each other and share halves - SIVO!!!!!

I can't say how far the whole team has come and we are very good in most departments from Chas at face off to the attackers ball movement and relentless riding! We really felt good about our level of play. 

I've wanted to win a tournament for a while and put Knights on the map and this and past teams have done everything in their power to do that. I put everything in to this program and it feels like every player is too.

We took the long walk from Vedder Halls down Moore St , under the underpass and past the monkey cages to the west grass fields to play Webster. They have some great talent and send players to play at Division 1 schools.

We started exactly how we wanted too and explained to the players the adjustments to maximise our potential and opportunities. The lads have taken to Coach Guy and he is doing a great job with them, we played offence exactly how we wanted to and started the game with 2 goals from James Pomfret and Oliver Loveland. Oliver has always been a smart player, it doesn't matter if he is marked by a big, fast or position defender he gets the job done, scores or finds the open guy, he makes people around him better.

Unfortunately we had other chances from Joe Baythorpe, Jake Parker and Matt Smith but didn't convert, we got sloppy with passing and didn't manage the game well at all it was maybe down to over confidence. We had a goal disallowed and some calls didn't go our way, it really seemed stacked against us. Webster Thomas have great coaches and they made the right adjustments and we struggled to make our own. They scored with a minute to go and added another late goal to make it 6-4.

We had cleaned up our clearing and where making better decisions, Foxy giving a nice outlet to Cheetham and it looked slick. Hal played amazingly well and we made a few uncharacteristic mistakes in def to give him no chance.

The players looked down at the end of the game, we knew we had blown the lead, we asked the players to sit in the shade after the game to talk to them, we didn't want to get down on them at all, we had been great at supporting each other in victory and I wanted to see the same in defeat, we had to be able to deal with situations that don't go our way. This wasn't anything to panic about, it was our first game of the tournament and we wanted to see improvement each game so that we where ready for the playoffs later this week. We needed an arm around our shoulder, we have come along way and this is a team that plays great lacrosse to watch, in a style I love and all have a very high Lacrosse IQ.

We are having a great time, love spending time together and nothing will change that off or on the field.

We went for dinner in the cafeteria, there is a girls tournament on at the same time so this gave time for  a bit of snurging and took the lads minds off the game for a second or two, it's all in good jest and are always polite. They even use our defensive calls to communicate if they are good looking or not. 

After more food and always ice cream - Suggy and Hal love an ice cream we went back to prepare to play Bucknells own future recruits at 7 in the main stadium.

Goals:

James Pomfret 2

Oli Loveland 2

Day 6 - Travel Day Bucknell

We finished up our shopping at the king of Prussia Mall in the morning and checked out of our Hotel  The boys kit bags are getting larger and there where a few empty boxes of Nike's left in the hotel bin.

We had all enjoyed a few days off Lacrosse, a comfy hotel bed and some retail therapy. 

The lads refuelled on Five Guys and Chipotle (some had both). We had had a great laugh and some R&R. 

The weather had been terrible, it was a good job we had had the Mall to visit. 

We had an hour and a half bus Journey to Bucknell and a few of the lads got another kip in on the way and some listened to music. The bags where pilled up high on the front seats bursting with their new purchases. 

We arrived at Bucknell in good time and where met by one of our hosts Laurel, she handed out keys and meal cards an allocated us our rooms, she even gave me my own room with its own private bathroom, not exactly a penthouse suite and I could only dream of having a bath and the time to enjoy it.

Again we walked into the local town of Lewisburg and the lads ate again, we grabbed a Burrito or Pizza (yes again) and returned to Vedder Hall, a beautiful location on the Bucknell Campus. We discovered an amazing common room in the basement and chilled and watched movies on the 60" TV.

It was good to be getting back to playing Lacrosse tomorrow and myself and coach Guy reviewed the last tournament and the adjustments we needed to make. We called in the Captains for a meeting an spoke about the changes and took on their opinions.

Today I learnt that Peng means good and Leng is just as good, I'm getting an education.

Day 5 - Check out and King of Prussia!

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2015 Gait Cup All-Star game

 Joe Baythorpe was selected to play in the 2015 All-Star game!

The lads where so happy for him and we packed the stadium, chanting and singing. 

He came close to scoring twice and did us proud!

Joe Baythorpe reprisenting Knights in the Gait Cup All-Star game 2015! Proud of you mate!

Pizza after the game!

Day 4 - Lost 8-2 vs Alcatraz Outlaws

We found out at 3pm that we would play Alcatraz Outlaws at 4pm in the quarter finals. We knew that they where a good team and I had watched them win the Gait Cup in 2011. We had earned the right to play them and had nothing to lose, we had the talent and where playing at a very high level. 

We spoke to the players before the game and told them that we believed in them and we would play the two halves supporting and encouraging each other to the end, no matter what and we would leave it all on the field.

We made an impressive start with Elliott Leonard scoring, however it was disallowed for entering the crease, we thought it was still a goal as he had hit the net before he stepped in. Ben then scored from nice ball movement to go one up. A man-up play then gave us an easy shot from James Pomfret but the goalie made a great save. James scored not long after to make it 2. The game could have been different if James's shot had not been saved and Elliott's goal had not been waved off. 

Alcatraz came back with 3 goals - one from and incorrect midfield change and another from the middies not getting back in quickly enough and unfortunately we never recovered. Although the score does not tell the tale, it was not like the game against NJLC the day before, we controlled the game in parts with both Hal and Jack Burke making key saves and the defence playing very well as a unit, this was probably the best defensive performance I have seen from a Knights team against American elite competition.

The game got away from us but we never gave up and supported each other until the end. 

We went back to having a team picture with them, the team, coaches and parents where very respectful and made some very nice comments to the boys after the game.

It just so happened that our friends Shamrocks where playing Venom in the other quarter final on the same field after our game, so we stuck around and enjoyed seeing Shamrocks come away with a heavy victory, our boy Luke scoring some amazing goals along the way! Much chanting and banter was flying during the game and we all had a great time.

Zac Guy has done an amazing job coaching the lads and helping me.

Goals:

Ben Page Laycock

James Pomfret

Day 4 - Win 6-2 vs Venom

No Team Picture!

We had had a great morning now it was time to play our last game before hopefully making the playoffs. It was hard to say what to expect from Venom as we hadn't seem them play before. The players looked a little tired and we asked them to push through this and put in a good performance, we where trying to find a way to motivate them and get through this game unscathed ready for the 3rd game of the day later at 4. We had to eat at 11am again before the game at 1pm after only eating Breakfast at 9, I had trouble eating a salad! 

We made our way to pitch 7 which was now scattered with puddles and looked more like Mellor than Gettysburg, we got our motivation from the other squad, as we walked to the field to warm up they began to to chant USA! We don't get involved in countries or carry flags and if they chose this to this to motivate their team then we would do the same, I wasn't happy and this wasn't about getting through the game any longer, we wanted to smash them all over the field and not let them score a goal.

The game was very physical, they where trash talking which I asked our players not to get involved with and let our game do our talking on the field. The opposition coach got into talking to Coach Guy, I politely asked him to go away!!!! The players took this to heart and really started to put their players on the ground and score goals to quiet them down. Players like Sam Wilks, Matt Tatton, Jack Peacock and James Pomfret took out players and stripped the ball over the field! Chopper goes about his business like a surgeon and makes knock downs and stops the ball.

As I said on Facebook they didn't like us and we didn't like them and we made them pay.

We got Elliott Leonard, Jake Parker and Cam Syme in the game a lot to try and get them going and Elliott scored his first goal from a great wing dodge. Cam also came close with a step down shot but the keeper made a save.

We only have team pictures with teams we like.

Goals:

Oli Loveland

James Pomfret

Elliott Leonard

Ben Page Laycock

Will Cornwell

The players are a credit to this program and we where looking forward to playing our next opponents.

The lads have become friends with Cape Fear Shamrocks and as they play in green they love Burkeys Cheadle chant, they came down to watch our game and we did the same later in the day. They love spending time with our lads and have become pretty tight, playing FIFA in the dorms.

Day 4 Win 6-4 vs Excell

The day began with an early wake up at 6:45 am, we knew it would be hard to raise professional sleepers Hal, Suggy and Sam Harris (insert one of his many knicknames here), Hal was surprisingly chipper and awake and the other two wher more of a challenge, Suggy was made to put his head under a cold shower by his team mates and Sam was convinced with some gental persuasion from myself, all in good fun. 

James Pomfret was not happy when I told them that they couldn't eat breakfast, as apparently he needs his cereal. The game was too close to breakfast to eat and we could only go into the cafeteria once so we decided to eat after the game!

We stretched and got ready for the game and met at our usual time 20 past the hour. The lads seemed tired but happy to be playing another day and getting another two wins under our belt. Coach Guy and Knarr met us at the field. It's was a misty morning and a boggy pitch after a night of rain and reminded me of coaching under 16's at home. Writing this blog now the game seems like three days ago and as you will see we had a very busy and successful day. We have been playing some great stuff and really improved and learnt valuable lessons over the last few days. The way we are playing defence is to a very high standard and they really have leaning to time their slides a lot better and are recovering very well. The U.S. brand of Lacrosse is second nature now and from the goalies to attack we are really starting to get it.

We warmed up well and did the traditional wake up drill, past knights players will tell you what this entails, but I don't want to spoil it for future players. It's really not as bad as it seems but gets their heart pumping a little.

Chas Syme has been amazing on this tour and if we had a man of the match he'd probably win it in most games and the Knights fam would tell you he is our All-Star. Coach Knarrs tutoring has really helped and it was a shame he was leaving after this game to go back to D.C. Anyway back to the game we started well with Chas winning face offs and us moving the ball very well, we look slick out there and the way they move the ball and move their feet off ball is very impressive. The attack and middies ride very well and win back possession if we lose it. 

Again we had players that scored their first goal of the tournament in this game and it was great to see them being patted on the head and swarmed by their team mates when coming off the field. We went four up early, with goals from Cheetham who is growing in confidence, Sam Wilks with a nice alley dodge and tight finish and Air Loveland (trademarked) from a great feed to the back post which Oli caught in the air and finished into the top corner, one of our goals of the tournament without doubt. Dan Aspin got his first goal of the tournament before halftime and Chas Syme won the face off and placed a nice shot to the off stick side. We got a little sloppy in the second half but we managed the game well and Matt Smith split a double team to put a nail in their coffin, as we say "Are they dead yet"

Hal played his best game yet making save after save until Tatton screened him on a shot and they scored a softy! Hal reminded him later on!!! Tats has marked the best player on the opposition team in every game and has handled the assignment really well.

I can't say enough about Jack Peacock, his leadership and athleticism is amazing and he is all over the field playing LSM or straight Def. Suggy also played very well and has really improved in every game.

We where willing Cammie, Elliott and Jake Parker to score as they do everything for the team and deserve their name on the score sheet.

We celebrated after and had a picture with the opposition and gott a picture with Coach Guy and Knarr for the album.

Another win and on to the next one.

After the game we had breakfast and walked to the 7/11 to stock up on Gatorade and snacks.

After games they have busied themselves with doing laundry, yes you read that right, they help each other splitting whites and colours and spending time with each other!

Goals:

Joe Cheetham

Sam Wilks

Oli Loveland

Dan Aspin

Matt Smith

Chas Syme

Thank and farewell to Coach Knarr

Day 3 lost to NJLC 14-4.

We where on a high from this afternoons game and we wanted to keep taking steps to improve each game, we didn't know anything about NJLC and we started the game brilliantly with two quick goals by Oli and TJ, it even started to rain and we felt good about ourselves, the Jersey team looked shocked but I think we woke the giant, NJLC scored without reply and the lads held their own but after the two days of games they looked a little fatigued and the game got away from us, although we still had some great performances especially from Hal who made some great saves in the first half, he is coming back from injury and has still played well in every game. NJLC overpowered us a little and where a very good team, but we'd like to see them again later in the tournament. 

We battled until the end and the guys never stopped encouraging and supporting each other. 

We are getting more people supporting us and watching our games everyday from friends from Maryland, to Mr Tate from Newcastle whose son is playing for Dallas and the gentleman from Yorkshire that manages the cafe. We have also had college coaches to interested parties. 

We always get a great reception here and it makes the lads feel special.

Goals;

TJ Burgess

Cian Conway

Will Cornwell

Oli Loveland

Onwards and upwards, the sun will still come up tomorrow and we'll have these bonds and friendships forever. We are going to take another step up tomorrow and try to come away with two wins to get into the playoffs.

Thanks to Coaches Tyler and Zac for passing on their knowledge, Tyler was meant to go back to D.C but is enjoying spending time with the boys sonmuch that he's staying for the game tomorrow.

The lads came back to eat more pizza and spend time with their new American friends from other teams who love to spend time with them and trade, the hallway is always busy with the sounds of laughs and shouting. It's an early get up tomorrow at 6:45am. Time for bed.

A great day for Knights Lacrosse and I'd like to think these wins are for all the players that played in the past.

HOUSE EVERY WEEKEND!

Day 3 - Win 10-2 vs Progression Hurricanes.

It was is always difficult playing a game eating dinner and then trying to keep everyone awake for the afternoon game, the lads entertained themselves with a card school up to game time and we gathered on the grass outside the dorms to have our team talk. We wanted the guys to take small steps and for the coaches to make adjustments, we asked them to have confidence and cleanup our play a little. We wanted them to play better defence to start the game and not have to come from behind. It's great to know we can come back but you can't win every game like this. We wanted to come out firing and to finish our chances.

The team just did that and went 4 up within the first few minutes, it was a proud moment for me as I could see success in things offensively that we had practiced for a few years. We where putting itogether a great performance and where fantastic all over the field. It was a physical game and our players where putting their body on the line with heavy hits by Ben Page-Laycock, James Pomfret and Will Cornwell, we swarmed around their players and didn't let them clear, we scored two goals from our ride alone. It was great to see James Pomfret, Cian Conway and the youngster of the team Joe Cheetam "bag" as the lads call it, Joe scored off a great inside finish. oli Loveland received a great feed from TJ and scored from GLE.  Ben then scored his first goal of the tournament, he has improved greatly since starting with Knights and the players made a fuss of him as well as every other player that made a good play or scored for the first time. The support in the team and encouragement has been amazing, the boys realise how much it means and if they see a player is a little down or concerned about their play we try to lift them and get behind them. Jake Parker and Elliott Leonard have played very well, they may not have scored but have created for others and both hit the bar in this game.

Will scored a header the ball missed his stick and he headed into the goal from a cross crease pass.

This was the best performance ever from a Knights team against an elite team and I was so proud, it made it all worth it and I think they surprised themselves.

Peacock had his best game yet and was up and down the field, making checks and clearing the ball, the whole defence played very well in this game, we slid well and communicated.

We once again have had some amazing feedback from people around campus mentioning how polite our kids are and have impeccable manners. players from other team come by to hang out with the boys and spend time with them , I hope it's been amazing experience for them and everything they dreamt it would be.

Goals for Will Cornwell, Joe Cheetham, James Pomfret, Oli Loveland 2, Joe Baythorpe, TJ Burgess,  Ben Page-Laycock and Cian Conway.

Day 3 - Win 5-4 Vs Florida/Carolina

I

The game was scheduled for 11am and we woke up and got some breakfast from the cafeteria. The lads are already used to the life here and are really growing very close, they are very different but have a common goal and always having fun together and no one is left out and always making the coaches laugh. From foxy chilling in his boxers in the hall way and doing his shopping trolly and lawn mower dance to Burkey.......well being Burkey!

Coach Zac Guy had arrived and brought his Georgetown team mate Tyler Knarr to help out with face offs, it was great to have some help and they bring with them w either of knowledge from NCAA DI Lacrosse. 

We where not satisfied with the performance from the night before although we knew that we had shown a lot of character to come back from behind to win. We where also under no illusion that we could play better but knew that we still getting used to the speed of the game and coming together as a team, we wanted to have the same relaxed attitude to take any pressure from the players and asked them to concentrate on shooting and cleaning up our passing that had been sloppy the day before.

The game started with Chas winning a ton of face offs and creating chances for us pushing the ball forward to create fast breaks. Although we went behind we looked dangerous and had a real driving force in TJ in midfield and Matt Smith. Dan Aspin and Ben Page-Laycock come close to scoring.

We seemed to have shot after shot although they punished us for our mistakes and just before halftime we found ourselves 2 down, TJ Scored just before halftime on a hard dodge and he shot around his defender to finish. The coaches tried to settle the team down and we tried to change our offence to make the passes shorter and to stop the defenders pushing out adjacent on us. We want back in and scored a scrappy goal from Matt Smith after clearing the ball the length of the field and then Joe Baythorpe off a pretty feed from Billy. Before we knew it the game was again tied and the we went ahead late in the game. Carolina/Florida had a late possession and Chopper made the clutch play of the game - knocking the ball down and clearing to secure the win.

Sam Harris is now known as "Chopper", "Tapper", Oli's fovorite "the tickler" and now "Clutch"

Again we returned to Stine halls happy with the win but not satisfied with the win, we knew we could play better and when we did we would do it in style!

Goals from TJ Burgess, Matt Smith, Billy Kershaw, Joe Baythorpe and Will Cornwell.   

Assists; Billy Kershaw 

Day 2 - Game vs Quiet Storm

Won 8-7

After a great day on campus the boys seemed very relaxed and happy, we decided to keep it that way and go out and see what we could do and then make adjustments throughout the tournament, we had our pre game team talks outside and talked about getting used to the speed of the games, playing to NCAA rules and to learn a little more about ourselves. We have prepared very well and as it our third trip we have used our experience to practice for the American game. We wanted to be intense and play from one offensive set and use certain defensive tactics. I felt good about the game and trusted every man on the team to play to a high standard, we wanted to start the game well but also finish the game just as strong, we will need every player over the next few days and wanted everyone to get a taste.

The game started very well with Chas Syme winning face offs to give us offensive possessions, I had said to chas before the game that if he wins the ball forward the defense probably won't slide and he had the green light to shoot, he did just that off the face off but the goalie made a nice save high. Matt Smith then got free for a step down shot but narrowly missed the post. Elliott Leonard also came close to scoring on a nice S dodge move. Dan Aspin then also shot high on a great feed from Oli. 

We rode well and Joe Baythorpe picked off a clearing pass to feed Oli Loveland who shot high, unfortunately the Goalie made the save again but it was a great start. 

Unfortunately Quiet storm then broke quickly up field and their star middle scored off a high shot on the run to make it 1-0 to the Americans. 

We drew a flag from the next face off and had a lengthy possession taking a few shots until the ball went out of bounds for the penalty to be called. Joe then scored from a low bouncer from the right wing spot on the man up. We still looked a little nervous out there and Quiet Storm scored again making the score 2-1, I called a time-out to calm the boys down a bit and gather themselves and reminded them that we had had most of the possesion and where creating great shots.  We where also winning face offs and the defence seemed to be on their game sliding well and recovering quickly, Matt Tatton is a great leader and organised and played well. We went back in after the timeout and after what seemed like 2 seconds Storm where up by 3, the ref blew for halftime and we made our adjustments changing our keeper, attack and defence around.

I told them at halftime that we could easily score three in a min and it would be great to come back to  win. Enter Wacs connection Billy Kershaw and Will Cornwell who looked excited to play and they both scored some amazing goals for us in the second half. Billy's second was a pretty goal on a toe drag and great finish and a jump shot off a beautiful fast break, the break was started by Jack Burke who made some amazing saves at key times for us, he made a save and instantly cleared to a breaking TJ Burgess who got the ball to the attack who did the rest. Will then scored when receiving the ball behind goal, the defense hadn't recovered and Will drove to score! Jake Parker was dodging and feeding well after literally getting off a plane this afternoon. Cammie Syme was drawing the double dodging down the alley which opened up the defense for Will to score again. Will could have scored two more one from a dive shot which ended up with him entering the crease and the goal was waved off by the refs as per NCAA rules and then a greet feed from Cam into the crease from an alley dodge that Will only just missed, he then got the ball inside again a made sure he finished this time, the bench went wild. 

Dan Walker played very well in the second half and created turnovers to allow us to fight back into the game. We where one up with 12 seconds to go and once again Chas won the face off to seal our victory.

The lads had done this by themselves and I was extremely proud of them. I have mentioned a lot of names above but this was a true team performance and one of the best I have seen from a Knights team in the USA. I don't want the lads to get too high from the victory, we enjoyed the rest of the night but have three games tomorrow. This is a great starting point but I know this tournament can be a rollercoaster, I also know the boys have a lot more to give and this is about making improvement through-out the tournament. 

Check back tomorrow for more!

Goals:

Will Cornwell 3 

Billy Kershaw 2

Oliver Loveland 2

Joe Baythorpe 1

Assists:

Jake Parker 2 

Oliver Loveland 1 

Day 2 - Early Birds!

A lot of the boys where up early, I think we where all still on UK time, most of the lads slept well despite the heat and we had breakfast together at the cafe over the way from Stine Halls where we are staying! It's a great place and they treat us well.

We had good laugh and I am enjoying being around the lads In a different setting than practice, Wilky we discovered hates people not wearing the same socks and is very concerned about Suggies sock game, we also put Tatton on a no moan rule which is now called "being put on a Tatton". He is allowed 5 moans a day and was on 2 already by 8 o'clock this morning! Hal loves a sleep and had saved 2 slices of pizza last night and treats himself to breakfast in bed. Sam Harris's new name is Tapper replacing Chopper!

The captains TJ, Tatts, Smithy and Peacock have been a great help.

We are going to run a team Hair leader board later with Ben, Aspin and Elliott running for the top spot and Burky and Wilks perm being favorite for the lower end of the board, check back later for details.

All the apparel was here last night but we didn't have the playing kit which was a concern to all the boys but as always, Graph Tex never let us down and it arrived this morning, que Tatts and Elliott getting the modelling job. Tom Hardy and graph tex did a fantastic job again and I think it's our best uniforms yet. I also had another surprise with new Helmet Decals from Lax Wraps in the UK, this was Top Secret and I think the lads loved the surprise.

After Breakfast we went for a walk around Historic Gettysburg town, Gatorade and Swedish fish was purchased as is tradition for all Knights tours. A walk around the rest of campus and to the town is something we have never done before and it was an enjoyable morning. We also discovered some new parts of campus like an air conditioned living room with pool table, I'm finding things I never knew existed.

It's been a great first day and we looking forward to the game tonight at 7 against Quiet storm on field 6 and the arrival of Cian and Jake and coch Zac Guy.

Knights 23/06/15 - day 1

We met at Manchester Airport Terminal 3 and had our traditional team photo and checked in!

The flight was amazing and very empty so the players had seats to themselves and spread out! Sam Wilks slept for most of the flight and was still tired and captain Matt Tatts Tatton spread out on 4 seats like a bed and got his head down, the stewards said how good they'd been in the flight and by the end of 7 hours I think everyone was ready to get back on to solid ground! 

We got through immigration without any hold ups and after a run around with the school bus we departed for Lax Unlimited in Ardmore PA where the lads pretty much cleared the shop (yes Chris Peacock I got you a present). Thanks to Joey Gwin for having us again, we'll be back! Mike Poppleton was also in store - he is an upstate legend that's played at Hopkins and also plays for Florida Launch in he MLL.  

We then Departed Ardmore for Gettysburg that was meant to be an hour and half drive but with a terrible lighting and rain storm it took a little bit longer than expected. 

We arrived in Gettysburg and where greeted by Coaches Jancyk and Speaks who gave us our rooms and boxes of gear! The Dorms are very warm and after much moaning and complaining we are starting   

To get used to it. 

I bought the lads a Pizza from the usual place and we ate, it went down well especially the hamburger pizza! 

After eating we went for a walk around campus! 

 

Meet the English Knights team (2015 Tour)

Goalie

Name: Jack Burke
Number: 2
Club: Cheadle

Name: Hal Dwobeng
Number: 1
Club: Brooklands

Defence

Name: Matt Tatton
Number: 23
Club: Brooklands
Captain

Name:Jack Peacock
Number: 21
Club: Poynton
Captain

Name: Adam Fox
Number: 32
Club: Manchester Wacs

Name: Dan Walker
Number: 8
Club: Timperley

Name: Patrick Sugden
Number: 93
Club: Timperley

Name: Sam Harris
Number: 18
Club: Timperley

Midfield

Name: Elliott Leonard
Number: 90
Club: Norbury

Name: Cam Symes
Number: 17
Club: Cheadle

Name:James Pomfrett
Number:10
Club:Stockport

Name:Sam Wilks
Number: 27
Club: Brooklands

Name: Dan Aspin
Number: 69
Club: Sheffield

Name:Charles Syme
Number: 34
Club: Cheadle

Name:Jake Parker
Number: 14
Club: Mellor

Name: TJ Burgess
Number: 25
Club: Timperley
Captain

Name: Cian Conway
Number: 12
Club: Manchester Wacs

Name: Matt Smith
Number: 00
Club: Wilmslow

Captain

Name: Joe Cheetham
Number: 4
Club: Poynton

Attack

Name: Joe Baythorpe
Number: 11
Club:Cheadle

Name: Oliver Loveland
Number: 3
Club: Timperley

Name: Ben Page Laycock
Number: 7
Club: Brooklands

Name: Will Cornwell
Number: 22
Club: Manchester Wacs

Name: Billy Kershaw
Number: 31
Club: Manchester Wacs

Head Coach
Name: Scott Weddell
Club: Manchester Wacs

Assistant Coach
Name: Zac Guy
Club: Manchester Wacs/Georgetown University

All photos above:Jake Weddell 

The Knights will tour the US from the 23rd June 2015 to 04th July 2015, we are attending the Gait Cup (Gettysburg, PA), The Bison Brawl (Bucknell, PA) and The Brine National (Richmond, VA).