Festival roundup part 2

THURSDAY saw the concluding finals of the FIL World Lacrosse Festival as the Masters divisions took to the field.

In yesterday’s newsletter I reported on what a success the Festival had been and the Masters’ finals were no different. Two of the games went down to the wire and one was won in sudden death as each team was eager for the division title.

This was a unique opportunity for many teams to play in a Masters’ division and the players did well to compete in five games in five days.

In the Masters division England Lions narrowly lost to Oakland’s Hospital Select by 5 goals to 6. The game was somewhat of a local derby as the teams are based around Cheadle and contained English players who played together for many years.

The Grand Masters division was won by the FROGS (Florida Real Old Guys) who beat the Onatrio Masters by 9 goals to 5.

The Super Grand Masters division final ended in sudden death as Cloud splitter, originating from the East Coast of the USA beat the England Lions by 9 goals to 8.

Although the festival was played alongside the main FIL World Championships, the teams didn’t hold back. Players were keen to represent their countries and their teams.

Lenny Saia played represented the South Charlotte Old Guys who narrowly missed playing in the final of the Master’s division but has undoubtedly enjoyed the experience.

He said: “I have loved every minute of everything, but probably mostly the people. The English team couldn’t have been friendlier and the festivities outstanding. We even got Indian food last night and it was delicious!”

English Lacrosse does have something in the pipeline for a yearly festival which should be very good news to all the teams that have enjoyed participating in this year’s festival so much.

FIL World Lacrosse Festival Finals - Masters: England Lions 8 Scog 4. Grand Masters: FROGS 9 Ontario Masters 5. Super Grand Masters: England Lions 8 Cloud Splitter 9.