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).