TUKWILA, Wash. – Led by Stony Brook commit McLean Chicquen and Eddie Smith, Victoria B.C.’s Claremont Secondary School powered past Issaquah 10-4 for the U-18 title at the 10^th annual Space Needle Shootout, Sunday at Tukwila’s Starfire Sports Complex. Claremont joined British Columbia’s Coquitlam Adanacs, which won the U-16 and U-12 titles along with the Honey Badgers, a youth club from Bellevue’s eastside, which won the U-14 title game as 2013 champions at the Northwest’s largest lacrosse tournament.

In the U-18 championship, Chicquen, a senior midfielder, contributed three goals and an assist while Smith, a junior attackman, had two goals and two assists, as Claremont dominated Issaquah 5-1 at the half before adding another five in the second to cruise to the win of the fall-ball lacrosse tournament presented by WALAX.com.

“That was a great game. Issaquah competed hard, but we were just better today,” said Claremont head coach Daren Reisig, whose Spartans squad advanced to the U-18 title game out of the Group 4 with a 3-0 record. “Our pace at midfield and offense made the difference all weekend.”

Playing in mid-season form, Claremont used a snappy transition game to put consistent pressure on an Issaquah squad that returns 16 from last season’s Washington state high school quarterfinal team and is expected to advance to the state title game this spring.

Earlier this year Claremont, which graduated 13 players to NCAA lacrosse programs last spring, went undefeated at the NW Invitational on Mercer Island while advancing to the championship games of both the British Columbia provincial tournament in Vancouver and last June’s Denver Shootout in Colorado.

Despite applying strong pressure of its own with All-State faceoff specialist and Georgetown commit Mikey Giannopulos winning 90 percent of his draws and two of four Issaquah goals coming on transition, the Eagles had trouble containing a powerful Claremont squad that was in top form at the midpoint of its field lacrosse season.

“Claremont is a very well-rounded team. They dodge and dump to the crease all day,” said Issaquah team coach Mason Smith, an assistant under high school head coach Brandon Fortier during the spring.

Despite its possessions, Issaquah was unable to test Claremont senior goaltender Mitch Gurney who had just five saves playing in a starting role for the first time of his career.

Issaquah, which advance to the title game out of Group 2 with a 3-0 record, was led in scoring by attackman Ryan Egland whose two goals in the title game, hat trick in Saturday’s matchup with Oregon’s Rhino squad and the semifinal game winner against the Oregon Outlaws, gave him 11 for the tournament.

Along with the man-up success of sophomore attackman Cody Klansnic, the two were among 11 Eagles to find the net during the three-day tournament.

“This was a very unselfish performance from all the guys on the squad,” Smith said. “We really spread it around.”

In other Space Needle Shootout championship action on Sunday, British Columbia’s Coquitlam Adanacs defeated the Poco Saints of Port Coquitlam, B.C. 7-6 in overtime in the U-16 title game, while the Honey Badgers, a club from Bellevue’s eastside, recorded a 10-6 win over the Coquitlam Adanacs in the U-14 championship game. In the U-12 title game the Coquitlam Adanacs defeated the Honey Badgers 9-1.

More than 1,400 youth, middle and high school-aged lacrosse players from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia competed in the 10^th annual Space Needle Shootout over the weekend at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash.

LAX SHORTS

Over 130 games were played on seven Starfire Sports Complex fields over three days in what has grown to become the largest lacrosse tournament in the Northwest.

British Columbia clubs dominated the tournament winning 65 games and playing to ties in 2 contests. Washington clubs had 38 wins and 7 ties followed by Oregon with 20 wins and 5 ties. Idaho clubs recorded 2 wins.

Among the attendees at the Space Needle Shootout was respected talent guru Jake Reed whose Nike Blue Chip Lacrosse Camp is considered as the most exclusive showcase of prospective lacrosse talent for nearly every NCAA Division I lacrosse coach in the country. Reed flew cross-country from Baltimore to evaluate local lacrosse talent for potential invitation to his camps.

Others in attendance included legendary University of Denver men’s lacrosse coach Bill Tierney who conducted coaching clinics for over 80 youth and high school coaches from around the Northwest.

13 clubs from British Columbia, Canada made the cross-border trip to compete in the 2013 Space Needle Shootout including Kamloops/Okanagan clubs: Kamloops Rattlers, Penticton Heat, Okanagan Sun Devils. Vancouver area clubs: Coquitlam Adanacs, Delta Footmen, Ridge Meadows, Poco Saints, Langely Thunder, Surrey Warriors and Victoria clubs: Pacific Rim, Victoria Field Lacrosse, Seaspray, Claremont Spartans

Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013 Results

U-12

Championship Game: Honey Badgers (Wash.) 1, Adanacs (B.C.) 9

Adanacs (B.C.) 7, Victoria Field Lacrosse (B.C.) 5

Honey Badgers (Wash.) 7, Delta Footmen (B.C.) 6

Lake Oswego Select (Ore.) 7, South Sound Starz (Wash.) 4

Mercer Island (Wash.) 10, Valhalla (Wash.) 1

Ridge Meadows (B.C.) 11, Oregon Outlaws (Ore.) 5

Bridge City Lacrosse (Ore.) 2, Valhalla (Wash.) 5

Bellevue (Wash.) 9, Rhino (Ore.) 2

Surrey Warriors (B.C.) 5, Pacific Rim 1 (B.C.) 4

U-14

Championship Game: Adanacs (B.C.) 6, Honey Badgers (Wash.) 10

Bellevue (Wash.) 11, East Maniax (Wash.) 0

Issaquah 7/8 (Wash.) 7, Penticton Heat (B.C.) 0

Honey Badgers (Wash.) 13, Ridge Meadows Burrards (B.C.) 2

Mercer Island (Wash.) 2, Victoria Field Lacrosse (B.C.) 12

U-16

Championship Game: Poco Saints (B.C.) 6, Adanacs (B.C.) 7

Rhino (Ore.) 4, Honey Badgers (Wash.) 8

South Sound Starz (Wash.) 1, Poco Saints Tier 1 (B.C.) 10

Okanagan Sun Devils (B.C.) 0, Surrey Warriors (B.C.) 7

Seaspray (B.C.) 2, Lakeridge Abby’s Army (B.C.) 9

Oregon Outlaws (Ore.) 12, Kamloops Rattlers (B.C.) 1

Lax NW Rippers Select (Ore.) 1, Mercer Island (Wash.) 5

Seatown Kings (Wash.) 4, Issaquah JV (Wash.) 2

Bellevue (Wash.) 3, Adanacs (B.C.) 16

U-18

Championship Game: Claremont Spartans (B.C.) 10, Issaquah (Wash.) 4

Mercer Island (Wash.) 6, Rhino Elite (Ore.) 8

Valhalla (Wash.) 3, LaxNW Rippers (Ore.) 2

Claremont Spartans (B.C.) 13, Bellevue 4

Issaquah Varsity (Wash.) 5, Oregon Outlaws (Ore.) 4

Delta Footmen (B.C.) 6, Lake Oswego, (Ore.) 4

Honey Badgers (Wash.) 4, Adanacs (B.C.) 8

Langley Thunder (B.C.) 7, Seaspray (B.C.) 11

Sawtooth Lacrosse (Idaho) 4, South Sound Starz (Wash.) 8

For Complete Results visit: 2013 Space Needle Shootout Schedule & Results

About the Space Needle Shootout

The annual Space Needle Shootout presented by WALAX.com is the Northwest’s largest and most prestigious youth lacrosse tournament. Attracting over 1,400 players and 72 teams from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia, the Space Needle Shootout takes place the first weekend of December in Tukwila, Wash. For more information visit WALAX.com.

About Tukwila, Washington

The City of Tukwila is home to over 19,000 residents representing a broad range of ethnic diversity. In 2009 the New York Times reported that the Tukwila School District was the most diverse district in the nation. Tukwila’s warm community spirit is reflected everywhere, especially in its celebrations such as the Fourth of July or Backyard Wildlife Fair. Since its founding in 1908, Tukwila has also grown into a bustling business engine that is central to the Puget Sound economy. The City hosts over 2,200 businesses with 42,000 employees in a wide variety of sectors such as retail, aircraft components, health care, food manufacturing, datacenters, and information services. Tukwila is proud to be home to the Museum of Flight, Starfire Sports Complex, the Seattle Sounders FC, and Westfield Southcenter, the largest mall in the Pacific Northwest.

About Starfire Sports and Starfire Sports Stadium

Starfire Sports is the premiere soccer, lacrosse and field sports athletic campus in the nation located just south of Seattle in Tukwila, Washington. Built in 2004 and operated as a non-profit community sports resource, Starfire is home to the Seattle Sounders FC MLS team and the Seattle Sounders Women soccer team and annually hosts select games in the 4,500 capacity Starfire Stadium. Over one million competitors, spectators and community groups visit the facility annually and its community outreach program provides financial assistance and athletic opportunities to some 3,700 underserved youth in the Tukwila and South Seattle communities each year. To learn more about Starfire Sports please visit www.StarfireSports.com or visit us on facebook.