Sisters hosts big lacrosse tournament

Fifteen teams showed up to play lacrosse in the first annual Sisters Jam on Saturday, April 29.

According to Coach Bill Rexford the sidelines were packed with close to 400 people.

“It was a fantastic day,” said Rexford. “Everyone that came had a great day and all the boys (Sisters lacrosse players) had the best time and got so much better. It was just a day for the kids to play lacrosse against a lot of new faces and we didn’t worry about keeping any kind of scores.”

All 15 teams that participated were from 4A schools, except for Sisters. Lakeridge, Sunset, Southridge, West Salem, Grant and Redmond were in attendance and Lincoln, Sheldon, Summit and Bend all brought two teams.

After the Jam was over Rexford said, “This was a glimpse of the future. We’re just a step behind them (the 4A teams). They’ve all been playing lacrosse for four or five years. They were highly skilled and you could see our kids figuring it out as the day went on.”

Rexford told The Nugget the event wouldn’t have possible without the help of Gary Pepperling, Matt Macauley and Rob Bell.

“Gary lent his expertise in lining the fields and managed the game day operations. Matt set up the concessions and put a professional polish on the event. Rob organized all of the officiating, not only for today but for all the Central Oregon games and without him the entire season wouldn’t have been possible. There’s no way I could have organized all that. He just appeared. He’s an angel.”

Rexford told The Nugget that his players did all the set up and take down for the event and estimated that involved at least 40 man hours.

“That’s the thing about lacrosse,” said Rexford. “Everybody participates and the kids know if it’s going to be good they’ve got to make it good.”

The Outlaws are dominating the fledgling lacrosse program in Central Oregon.

Rexford said, “I’m hoping we’re getting better faster than everybody else. We’ve set the standard in Central Oregon and now all the other teams are comparing themselves to Sisters.”

In league action earlier in the week, the Outlaws improved their record to 3-0 with their 12-2 victory over Redmond at home on Wednesday, April 26.

The young Redmond Panther team scored the first goal of the game but Sisters quickly responded with a nice goal by Gaelan Deleone across the middle assisted by Nick Pepperling.

Deleone’s goal was followed by goals from Pepperling, John Liming and Tyson Edmunson.

The Panthers scored their second and final goal of the game before the end of the first quarter. From there, the Outlaws took control and dominated the remainder of the game. At halftime Sisters held a 10-2 lead.

Edmunson, Deleone, Pepperling and Liming each scored two goals in the contest. The Outlaw defense kept Redmond’s offense to 10 shots.

“Tyson’s (Edmunson) second goal, assisted by Jeremy Evans, was one of the more beautiful we have had this year,” said Coach Rexford. “Jeremy scooped up the ball on the side and fired the ball cross field to Tyson right in front of the cage. The Panther goalie had no chance because of Tyson’s quick release.”

Rexford noted that although Lucas Reitmen did not score, he led the team with 12 ground balls and helped keep the ball in the Outlaws’ offensive half of the field. Todd Bell had 10 ground balls and Pepperling had nine in the game. Rexford stated that Emory Myer, Caleb Maier, Trevor Summers, Darin Mueller and Mike Hernandez all played well and were backed up by solid goal keeping by Thad Anderson and Daniel Schleufler.

Liming is playing lacrosse for the first time this year and loves the game.

“This is the most fun sport I’ve ever played,” said Liming. “I like the contact, the cardio and the camaraderie, and our team seems to have bonded well.”