Tournament draws thousands to Sisters

The SALI tournament (Sisters Annual Lacrosse Invitational) has grown by leaps and bounds over the past several years, and this year the tourney drew 63 teams from around the state to Sisters, which added up to over 1,200 players in attendance. Teams brought players as young as first grade all the way through high school.

The tourney was held on Saturday, May 12, with every available field in Sisters in use.

Coach Bill Rexford told The Nugget that the tournament included a master's game for the first time ever.

"It's a game for old men like me," said Rexford. "All the coaches got together and we played against each other."

Coach Andrew Gorayeb did Sisters proud and scored two goals in the game.

Sisters fifth- through eighth-grade boys teams had their best showing yet.

Clay Warburton, who coaches the fifth- and sixth-grade teams, is coaching boys who are in their third year of lacrosse.

The young Outlaws lost by one goal, 6-5, in their first game of the day against Canby. As the buzzer sounded, Sisters shot and scored, but missed the tie by mere seconds.

Warburton said that Jude Carhart moved aggressively toward the goal and scored twice in the game.

Sisters then faced Kingsway, a strong program from the Valley, and again lost by one in a final score of 4-5.

Warburton noted the fine play of Keaton Green.

"Keaton demonstrated Outlaws hustle to the ball and won us two balls that would have otherwise gone to the other team," said Warburton.

"Bill (Rexford) told me that Kingsway is a legitimate program and for us to lose by one can be considered a good showing."

The Outlaws finished with a convincing 12-1 win over Skyll A of Salem Kaiser in their final game of the day. Sisters had a balanced offensive assault in the decisive win.

"Seven different players scored, and for a number of them it was their first goal of the season," said Warburton.

Brad Eagen's two jumping goals highlighted the game.

Jack Berg and Brigham Ford demonstrated good teamwork and did a great job in the middle of the field.

Warburton gave special kudos to Boaz Johnson, who played even though it was evident he was sick.

"Boaz demonstrated one of our Outlaws pillars, 'Put yourself on the shelf and let us know the team means more.'"

Of his team, Warburton said, "Our strength is that we have very good stick skills, we pass the ball well, move well down the field and have good team chemistry. We stay with other teams because of our hustle, speed and stick skills."

Warburton added, "The SALI tournament lets us see how we stack up against high-quality teams from the city. And the officiating this year was excellent. The referees were instructive throughout the match. They helped the kids understand the rules and proper techniques of lacrosse. One of the big highlights of the tournament was looking back and seeing the varsity kids on the sidelines cheering for us. It meant a lot to the boys."

The Outlaws' seventh- and eight-grade team won all three of their games. Sisters' first two games were against Corvallis No. 1 and Corvallis No. 2, and it doesn't mean that one team is better than the other.

Against the Corvallis No. 1 team the Outlaws prevailed with a 10-8 victory. Sisters got ahead early but Corvallis evened the game, and it went back and forth until the end with the Outlaws on top.

Coach Paul Patton gave credit to his eighth-grade captains, who have provided good leadership throughout the season. Chance Halley plays middie and attack, Mark Fish plays attack and Peter Lund plays goalie, and Patton stated that all three lead by example.

Patton told The Nugget that Lund did a great job in the goal for the Outlaws.

In their second game against Corvallis No. 2 the Outlaws won contest 5-3.

Sam Patton only gave up three goals and did a great job in the goal for Sisters. Gary Jacques was the Outlaws' defensive leader and he did a great job stealing the ball and transitioning to the offense.

"This game we had a lot of penalties and fouls called against us," said Patton. "We learned from our mistakes and didn't let the penalties and fouls frustrate us. We just kept playing hard."

In their final game, the Outlaws beat Skyll's of Salem Kaiser 10-2. Middies Austin Cantwell, Tanner and Tyler Head, and Dustin Brigham all played well on both ends of the field and scored goals off transition for the

Outlaws.

"The entire team played well from top to bottom the entire tournament," said Patton. "They all improved individually and as a team. They had fun and worked hard at the same time.

"It's so good to have the SALI tournament in our home town," added Patton. "It generates so much excitement to see teams come from all over that are doing the same things we are doing. It motivates our boys to keep working at it."