Cougars lacrosse team takes second place at Jamboree
Midfielder, No. 20, Ben Naylor, runs toward the goal attempting to score against the Parker Hawks during the boys’ second grade “blue” championship game during the Jamboree Lacrosse tournament on June 5.
Article and photo by Elean Gersack
The second grade boys Cougars “Blue” lacrosse team, lead by head coach Andrew Paredes, played hard, played fair, and simply had a blast during the 2011 Rocky Mountain Jamboree on Saturday and Sunday, June 4th and 5th, at Stenger fields in Arvada.
The team, consisting of local boys from American Academy, Buffalo Ridge and Timber Trail, as well as schools located outside of the area, practiced and played regular season games each week throughout the spring. As an optional end of season finale, most of the players opted to take part in the Jamboree tournament.
Seeded third in the event, the team enjoyed back-to-back wins on Saturday afternoon, beating the sixth seeded team and the second seeded Fort Collins Vipers. The boys returned for a second day of play but were defeated by first seeded Parker Hawks in the early match-up on Sunday morning.
Down, but definitely not out, the Cougars still had hopes of getting to the championship game on Sunday afternoon. The way to get there was via another round with the Fort Collins Vipers at noon. After a close game, Cougars came out on top with a 4-3 victory.
With four games played in 24 hours of heat and sun, the team was visibly worn down but full of enthusiasm. Entering the fifth and final game of the weekend, the boys had a tough match-up against the one team who had defeated them in the tournament, the Parker Hawks. Cougars played with determination and passion, but it was the Hawks who came out on top.
Number 20, Ben Naylor, who played midfielder (middie) during the tournament, recounted, “The best part of playing in the Jamboree championship game was playing our hardest and being with my friends!”
“In the games they didn’t win, they tried their best and left it all on the field,” noted Paredes. “In the end, they are second graders and they were ecstatic about having a Pepsi after the game,” he added with a grin.
