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Friday, 04 August 2006 |
Slow lacrosse 101 - By Rasmus Bonde Stouby
After two scrimmages and 5 hard matches in just two weeks, Letvia was once again at the opposite end of the field from us.
It was a slow match (again) where none of the teams wanted to risk to much. Latvia was more dangerous and got ahead by a few goals. Their defense was strong and their goalie sponged up most of what we could throw at him.
Half way through the match the game was interrupted by thunder and rain. According to the rules the game can only be resumed 30 minutes after the last lightning has been detected. At 3.07 the match (it originally started 12.30) could continue with the last 30 minutes of the game. The score was 4-1, but after the involuntary break Denmark quickly reduced the score to 4-3.
The fast reduction made the Latvians resume their game plan from the last match, stalling the play on offence, forcing us to play pressure defense. We had our chance to catch up when coach Cone called for a stick check after a Letvian goal to 5-3. The stick was illegal so the goal was waived off and a three-minute penalty invoked. Unfortunately that didn't translate into a goal. To make matters worse Denmark dropped the ball on offense and the Latvians expanded their lead to 5-3 on a fast break. That was also the final score in a boring match where the coaches played a tight bench.
"It felt like I was running in gravy," midfielder Bo Bennekov said, describing how his legs were beginning to disobey orders.
A mixture of bad finishes, tough luck and a great goalie won the match for Latvia.
The team is increasingly disregarding common sense as the "camp-crazies" are taking hold of the players' minds. That night we entertained ourselves with a wet toiletpaper/pizza leftover/ice cubes fight. Later Dane Hansen found himself strawling the hallway in his sleep effectively locking himself out of his room in his boxers.
The world games are over in the minds of everybody. Tomorrows game against Czech Republic is a formality, as no one seriously believes that we can beat them. The spirit in the camp is generally good though. |
