The Bearkats may not have brought “home the bacon”… but they certainly brought home a ton of playoff experience as well as “Championship” Sunday experience!  That’s right… the Kats beat St. Edward’s in a dog-fight of a game 8-7 and played against the reining Lone Star Alliance champions, Southwestern University.  Unfortunately we fell to the Pirates 14 – 7.

St. Edward’s Game:

We knew going in that the Hilltoppers would put heavy pressure on Michael Mann, Baron Copeland and Lance Mitchell.  The pressure and intensity of this game was reflected in score at the end of the first quarter… 0 – 0.  And again, at the end of the first half… tied up at 4 – 4.  The Kats outscored St. Ed’s 2-1 in the 3rd quarter and the teams traded two goals a piece in the fourth.  Baron Copeland’s goal on an assist from Mann with 9:39 left to play proved to be the game saver.

What they didn’t know or expect was Travis Cottle being moved to Midfield to help Mann out and a new offense to spread the field for the one on one isolations.  Mann took advantage of things and netted 4 goals and assisted on another.  Copeland finished the day with 2 goals/1 assist; Mitchell assisted on one of Copeland’s goals while Austin Atwood and Cottle added a goal each.  Chad Grubenman and Cottle also had one assist each.

They say the best Offense is a great defense… and they’re right!  Goalie Avery Flores was his usual “Brick Wall” but in the playoffs… every save is Big!  The Hilltoppers took 34 shots of which 20 were on goal… Flores save 12 of them!  The defense around Flores was just incredible!  Defensive Captain John Messer along with Danny Brown and Brian Eckhoff, kept the St. Ed’s attack in check.

Championship Sunday:

You win games by shooting the ball… simple as that.  The Pirates unleashed a first quarter barage of 17 shots hitting on 5 of them while Flores stopped 5.  The rest of the game was much the same as Southwestern out shot the Kats 59 -  29.  Avery came up big with 17 saves!

Michael Mann led Sam Houston with 3 goals and 2 assists while Lance Mitchell grabbed two goals while Baron Copeland and Travis Cottle each netted one a piece along with an assist each.   Mann dominated the faceoffs taking 10 of 15.  It was truly “Mann on Man” as fellow 1st Team Midfielder (Heath Thompson) and Michael went at it all day.

This was Sam Houston’s first trip back to the playoffs and Championship game in 23 years!  With this being only their second year of play in the MCLA, a Championship appearance is an incredible accomplishment!  Next year the Kats will almost double in team size with some top recruits already committed to the Fall.