Lacrosse: More than just a game

PABLO — The 10Sticks Lacrosse Club played two tough games last week and fell twice, but proved that sometimes just playing the game matters more than the score.

PABLO — The 10Sticks Lacrosse Club played two tough games last week and fell twice, but proved that sometimes just playing the game matters more than the score.

On Thursday, 10Sticks traveled north to play Flathead-Whitefish, a team they had defeated at home in a nail biter the week before, but this time, they took to the field without star forward Dan LaFranier.

Both newly-formed squads came out with a lot of energy, working the field – and one another – in an attempt to overcome their opponent. Before the end of the night, several 10Sticks players would end up sidelined with injuries and goalie Zach Daniels had to be carted off the field in an ambulance after receiving a cross-check to the back of his neck while fending off an attack near the edge of the goalie crease.

“The newer the club teams playing each other are, the more time the ball spends on the ground,” 10Sticks coach Alex Alviar said. “When the ball is on the ground, scrums happen — and lots of body contact.”

Nevertheless, the 10Sticks boys battled on, scoring five goals to Whitefish’s 11. Xavier Matt put away one goal, while Zach Schmidt and Al Plant added two apiece. Daniels had six saves before back-up goalie Tim Johnson came into the game, stopping one shot.

Suiting up for Friday’s game against the Nadzitsaga Lacrosse Club, a Native American team from the Paiute Tribe in Burns, Ore., was a challenge in and of itself.

“We almost had to forfeit, but we wanted to honor this team for coming all the way from Burns, Ore. to meet us and play us, so we put out 10 guys for the official start, then immediately had all injured players hobble off the field,” Alviar said. “We played eight versus eight. Other teams, more bent on winning, would have taken advantage of the situation and played us 10 versus eight, but it was a show of respect and honoring of the spirit of the Creator’s Game.”

The game opened with more ceremony than most local sporting events, each team sharing its traditional ways with the other. First, Nadzitsaga coach Rick Roy asked the 10Sticks players and coaches to kneel together with his team in a circle before having one of his players recite a prayer.

“It was amazing to circle up, take a knee together, mix our guys with theirs, place our hands on the shoulder of the person next to us and do this prayer to honor the Creator and this game — total strangers brought together in the spirit and honor of the game,” Alviar said. “To me, what happened before and after the games was more important than the final score.”

10Sticks followed with a solo of the Flathead team’s traditional Native American pregame song before the teams took the field and the competition commenced. Even though the lopsided score could indicate a disappointing outing for the 10Sticks club, none of the players hung their heads and the energy remained high throughout the game. In the end, 10Sticks fell, 18-4.

“It was an honor to host and play a club with similar core values and a mission like our own,” Alviar said. “Nadzitsaga was amazing and played incredibly clean and skilled lacrosse the whole game. We played a friendly game and got to see what a higher caliber, out of state, level of play looked like.”

Several players stepped up to fill the voids left by injury and absences in the 10Sticks roster.

“It was great to see goals come from Ambrose Brown (two) and Zach Schmidt, and it was especially great to see Xavier Matt come alive on the field, driving the ball, cutting, passing and shooting,” Alviar said.

Plant added one goal as well and Daniels had 12 saves in the game.

“I had a feeling that they would be a great force out there,” Alviar said of the visiting team. “They’re a small rural and reservation-based team that has been able to take down big city teams in Portland and the surrounding areas. They travel a lot and therefore get to play some really high level teams.”

After the game, both teams sat down for dinner, players from each mixing it up together and having a good time. 10Sticks players presented a gift of a double ball set — the sister stick and ball game to lacrosse played by tribes in this area — to the Nadzitsaga player that best exemplified good character and sportsmanship.

“After a brief lesson on the history and culture around the game, an impromptu double-ball game broke out and there were kids from both teams running around outside with sticks playing,” Alviar said. “That right there is the power of Native games — they bring people together, total strangers, into a community, and they help us make friends. That’s the real goal of 10Sticks Lacrosse.”