Luxembourg’s Blacksmith target top half finish 11-5 over under strength Griffins
The Luxembourg Blacksmiths men’s Lacrosse capitalized on the opportunity to move to three wins and two losses with a win over the Belgian team Griffins. This confirms the improvements of the first half of the season, where the Luxembourg side had secured the first two wins in the Belgian league and leaves the men’s team well positioned to achieve an upper tier ranking by June.
The Griffins brought a limited roster and received support from the Luxembourgish side to play with each team fielding ten players.
The full strength Blacksmiths side fielded several new recruits: # 50 Zac ‘Andy’ Mathews and # 37 Stuart Kennedy recently joined the team, midfielder and goalie coach #25 Clayton Reed joined the side in December and homegrown youth Lacrosse player # 47 Patrick Jesus Mato also suited up for his first game. Coach Schmidt commented on the roster: ‘We are excited about the new guys and what they bring to the team. They are super fun to train with and play with and are great additions to our side. We are even more happy that with #47 Patrick J. Mato we see a player who learned to play at the Lycee Guillaume Kroll in Esch-sur-Alzette join for his first game with Luxembourg.’
Coaches Schmidt and recent New Zealand arrival (and future attack player) Coach James could benefit from a deep roster even after losing three midfielders to injury (O. Griebel, A.Salvia and K. Giovagnoli) from the National Team camp in the three days leading up to this match. The game was a critical mile stone in shaping the season’s direction either towards a top tier finish or a mid table ranking.
The game began with physicality and speed, and saw Luxembourg take a blazing start. A bruising mix of dominant possession won at the face off by Zach ‘Andy’ Matthews and several high quality stops by an eventually very muddy K. ‘Kosta’ Grillen left Luxembourg up 5-0 after the first quarter and 8-1 at half time, with the Griffins getting on the scoring board nine seconds before the whistle.
The attack line proved potent, with top scorer #21 A. ‘ Zach’ Robillard finishing twice after game MVP and attack #41 D. ‘Scusi’ Seuchter had broken the ice after 83 seconds finishing a quality transition offense.
The strong first half was followed by a fight back from a now well clicking Griffins offense, scoring three unanswered goals in the first seventeen minutes of the second half (#16 Cos Proost first, then #9 Oliver Thomasson twice). During this time, the Luxembourg side displayed strong battle for every ground ball and every offense but came up short. Griffins keeper Kilian Vouckx recorded two of his 14 saves in this quarter underlining how the same mix of possession time and minimal individual mistakes that had helped the Blacksmiths before was now working against them.
The Blacksmiths eventually ended the third quarter on a positive note with #25 Clayton Reed who scored his first career goal. #7 P. Bingen and #48 helped the team stay afloat with some spirited display in attack and midfield, contributing not only goals but the much needed possession time to re-establish positive momentum for Luxembourg.
The fourth quarter saw both slow down on the very muddy field and battle with fatigue and subsequent errors. #52 H. Coelho finally rewarded himself with his first goal of the game for a 10-4 score and six goal margin. The Griffins retaliated once more followed by the final goal of the game, #21 A. Robillard scored to make it 11:5.
The win sees the Blacksmiths consolidating a mid table ranking and protecting the opportunity to rank as high as second in the league.
The remaining matches will prove challenging enough, in particular considering the tight win of no 1 ranked Opueye Foxes who squeezed past with one goal against a very strong Namur Knights who fell 9-8 in the final minutes of a great game of Lacrosse in a game played before the Blacksmiths’ fixture against Griffins.
Luxembourg Lacrosse now sets its sights on an international scrimmage weekend where the men’s national team will compete against the teams of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany from Friday, 20 March through to Sunday, 22 March. National team General Manager and Blaksmiths’ head coach Schmidt commented: ‘We have progressed, we get better in every aspect of the game. Competing against sides with a much much broader and deeper player pool at every level will show us exactly where we stand. That’s great news for our development and for our preparation for the European Championships in Wroclaw, Poland from 23 July onwards until 1 August this summer.’
The sport of Lacrosse arrived in 2016 in the Grand Duchy, since then, a small but determined group of volunteers and sports enthusiasts organises practices, games, events and school work for all those who want to try the fastest game on two feet. Players of all ages and experiences are welcome and can find all details on their homepage.
