With the Hawaii Lacrosse tournament complete, and all of the Lacrosse games beneath Diamond Head a memory, there is a new winner in the Elite division of the Hawaii Invitational held last weekend- Wimmer Solutions.  Wimmer, led by Matt Sauri, had more than 10 professional players on the team, including Lacrosse superstars Casey Powell and Ryan Boyle.   Other locals included Marc Bissell as the team rolled over two Japanese teams in the initial rounds before destroying Marin 13-6 in the Semi-final game.  The final game drew the perennial finalist Crease Monkeys, albeit a little shorter on the bench than normal.  Wimmer beat the Monkeys with some great shots, including a nasty between the legs shot from none other than Casey Powell.  Wimmer came with tons of talent, though drawing some concern about the sanctity of the Hawaii Tournament if teams come with a full roster of paid professionals.  The Hawaii Tourney has long been regarded as "All that is good in Club Lacrosse", offering rejuvination with old friends, and new and the excitement of good competition.  Some offer more professional players increases the value of the tourney by bringing more great players to play against.  Wimmer definitely brought the competition, and then took home the trophy.  Congratulations to Matt Sauri for putting together the Wimmer Team.

Also in appearance, another local team- Bushwood C.C. shed the Monkey Red for Bushwood Orange this year.  Orange seemed to be the color, with Wimmer, Bushwood and one of the Japanese teams all wearing Orange. 

Bushwood, a mixture of current and Northwest friends and Monkeys alike, played tough finishing with a 3-1 record, defeating a Japanese team in the opening round, and losing to Olympic Club in the next.  Finishing strong, Brian Pratt and Adam Messick put on a goalie clinic in the next two games, having fun and laying down the law in some cases.  Some of the Bushwood players also played on the Monkeys against Wimmer: Ian O'hearn, Todd Thorpe and Matt Spies all stepped in to help out. 

The Silver Monkeys, filled with Northwest players, repeated as the Masters team to beat in Hawaii. Defeating the Hawaii Masters 10-4, the Monkeys renewed the lease on the trophy.  Marc Bissell, Steve Wisman and Anthony Spinelli all led the Master Monkeys to another victory.  Great Job guys!

Representing Northwest Girls Lax, came Team Northwest with talent from all over the Northwest, with a heavy Seattle contingent.  These girls blasted through the first two rounds facing two strong opponents.  In the semi-finals, they ran up against the Brand Elite.  Northwest lost to Brand Elite who eventually won the tourney demonstrating the power of the Northwest.  I don't know if I heard any "Stewey" yelled across the bars this year though.  Congratulations on a great tourney.

Though the games are why players travel to Hawaii to play, they are part of the whole experience.  Dancing, partying, relaxing and taking in all that is great about Lacrosse- is really what the experience is about.  As the sun sets across the Waikiki beach, the 15th annual Hawaii Lacrosse tourney draws to a close.

Stay Tuned for more Pictures...

Hawaii Tourney Site