BARBARY COAST 2015 CALIFORNIA STATE CHAMPIONS
After wrestling the California trophy away from Olympic Club in a tight Northern California Championship game played in Sausalito, Barbary Coast had to best a final opponent before the trophy was wholly ours. BC headed down to face the talented Beverly Hills Bucks in the CA State Championship held at Culver City High School in greater Los Angeles.
BC started out with a bang, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and keeping the Bucks well away from contention all the way to an 8-2 halftime score.
BC played excellent defense with massive saves by Tyler Page, Matt Levy, and Mark Bloomquist. How those three shared, for an entire season, even playing time while managing to play top-tier lax is beyond me. Scott Atkinson, Joe Vila, Connor “Big Cat” Handy, Tyler Kreitz, and Frank Cuneo kept the ball on the ground and cleared nearly perfect throughout the game. Rounding off an offensive showcase were top-notch goals by Kevin Nguyen, Kevin Busch, Logan Quinn, Kyle Jordan, Terrance Kennedy, and Nick Richards. The Bucks continued to hang tough, capitalizing on opportunities late in the game to add to their tally. The final whistle found Barbary Coast with 15 goals and the Bucks at 6.
It is worth extending a shout-out to the semi-reluctant film crew who streamed the entire game via Periscope for those BCers who could not be in Southern California for the game. However the biggest shout-out of the Championship goes to the Beverly Hills Bucks and Coach Gary Greenbaum who graciously hosted Barbary Coast like fellow teammates. Both teams gathered at Joxer Daly’s after the game, clinking glasses, forming new connections, and reuniting with past teammates – many Bucks and BC players used to play on the same teams in college. Thank you to the SCLAX SoCal Champs for welcoming us.
BC held true to form throughout the entire 2015 season earning consistent, big-game wins that were the product of selfless team play, team sacrifice, positive encouragement from all angles, and a group of gents that are friends both on and off the field. Barbary plans to continue to play top-tier lacrosse while sustaining a culture of good-people and friendship, one practice and one game at a time.
Up next, Barbary Coast heads to Lake Tahoe for the 25th Annual Lake Tahoe High Sierra Lacrosse Tournament the weekend of July 17-19. Keep an eye on the blue and grey!
