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Blake has Tearse start to season

By Michael Murakami, Lax Hub staff, 04/19/11, 6:56AM CDT

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Senior midfielder scores four goals as Bears rally past Stillwater


Blake midfielder David Tearse, left, slips past Stillwater defenseman Patrick Corteau. Photo by Loren Nelson

With Blake finding itself with a two-goal deficit early in the first quarter the Bears were looking for someone, anyone to provide the team with a much needed boost.

But from who?

Many in Gordy Aamoth Stadium may have been looking towards NCAA-bound senior attackman George Ordway.

Enter David Tearse.

The senior midfielder scored three straight goals and ended with four on the night to lift Blake over Stillwater 10-6 on Tuesday, April 19.

“It was nice to see guys like David Tearse come out and do what we’ve asked him to do,” Blake coach Rob Horn said. “He knew his role. Everyone on our team has roles.”


Blake senior midfielder David Tearse scored four goals against Stillwater in the Bears' season opener. Photo by Loren Nelson

Tearse was proficient in dodging from the top of the box, getting his hands free and unloading a hard shot on the run.

“This is David’s third year with me and he’s grown and matured a lot since the kid that I had as a sophomore,” Horn said. “He’s got all the potential to be a great midfielder and he showed that tonight. He took the game on his back and he carried us.

“I couldn’t be happier for him to step up and get to be in the limelight for a little bit because we have a lot of great players but it’s nice to see everyone get the accolades they deserve.”

Even with Tearse’s strong offensive production, Horn noted his team’s performance was a little rusty.

“I thought overall, for the first game of the year, we did some things very well,” Horn said. “We made a lot of mistakes that a young team makes though.

“Some people may look at our roster and say we have a lot of seniors, but we have a lot of seniors that haven’t played a lot of minutes. We were asking a lot of guys who as juniors might have sat behind some of the seniors last year to step up. ”

Those players will need to step up sooner rather than later as Blake will play three more games (vs. Prior Lake on April 21, at Burnsville on April 23, at Break on April 26) within the next week.

“We’ve got a lot of things we need to work on, we know that from today,” Horn said. “But for the first game with the weather the way it’s been and not getting a whole lot of practice in, I’ll take it.”

Transfer of talents

If you’re an avid Blake athletics fan, there may have been something strangely familiar when looking at the Bears’ varsity lacrosse roster.

More than 10 of the players listed, mostly seniors, traded in rinks for fields and skates for cleats this spring following a tough loss to Orono in the Section 2A hockey playoffs in March.

It’s not odd for athletes to play multiple sports in high school, but for the Bears it seems as though the same players seem popping up in varsity athletics.

“Our grade is kind of different than a lot of grades here at Blake where the core group of us have been together since kindergarten,” Blake senior midfielder David Tearse said. “We’re best friends, we hang out, we do everything together, we don’t really hang out with kids from other schools very much. In the locker room we just have a fun time and that keeps the season going throughout the whole year.”


David Tearse is one of several Blake hockey players who also excel in lacrosse. Photo by Loren Nelson

That chemistry is apparent to Blake coach Rob Horn who also believes it makes a difference.

“I think it does,” Horn said. “Their hockey season didn’t end the way that they wanted it to and that leaves them hungry. We’ve been hungry for a couple years here now.”

Tearse, one of those hockey players who have now switched focus to lacrosse, showed that hunger scoring four goals in the Bears’ first game of the season.

The scoring output may have come as a surprise as Tearse was skating for Blake not as a goal-scoring forward, but a hard-hitting defenseman.

“I’m not really sure why,” Tearse said about the different positions. “I’ve always played midfield in lacrosse, I like to score goals.

“In hockey you don’t score as many goals so it’s fun to play defense. My dad is a big hockey guy too and he said, ‘You have to have a head for the game,’ so that’s why I play defense in hockey.”

The transition of skills has been an easy one for Tearse and his teammates.

“Definitely hitting because you have to hit some kids in hockey and you have to hit kids out here if you want to be effective,” Tearse said. “Hand-eye coordination is a big part, too.”

The similarities between hockey and lacrosse may give the athletically-experienced but lacrosse inexperienced Bears just what they need during the 2011 season.

“Sometimes we come out and have a bad game and things don’t go our way but this group of seniors have been together for a lot of athletics and they’re very close,” Horn said. “It’s only going to carry us later on.”

Q and A with Stillwater coach Travis Sanders


Stillwater coach Travis Sanders, left, and Blake coach Rob Horn share a laugh after their teams' matchup on Tuesday, April 19. Photo by Loren Nelson

Following the 10-6 loss to Blake, Stillwater coach Travis Sanders took some time to speak with the MN Lax Hub about the game and the Ponies' future.

Question:  Not too often an east-side/west-side Minnesota lacrosse game draws a lot of attention. What did you think about tonight’s game?
Answer:  I was pretty excited to come over here and play Blake for the first time. Obviously the tradition of this program and the history here, you have to respect that. I thought we had a good opportunity and we kind of blew it away by sitting in the penalty box for the whole second quarter. We couldn’t maintain possession and we couldn’t win a faceoff.

Q:  Not many people gave Stillwater a fighting chance in tonight’s game and predicted a blowout. What positives can you take from the game’s result?
A:  We hung with them tonight and were within four goals which I think is respectable but that’s about it. It’s a respectable finish but it’s not a win. I’m not going to say I’m happy because we got close to beating them. I’m not excited about that but I am excited about some of the things I saw tonight.

Q:  You have quite the player in Samuel Mathieu. What it’s like having him on your team?
A:  He’s a special player. Anytime you get one guy that can take over your offense like that is pretty unique. We know he can do that, now it’s a matter of getting other guys in and finding guys backdoor and having him become more of a complete player. Obviously he’s got the dodging down and shooting down fine but getting him a little more involved in the passing game like he did on man-ups.

Q:  Another fun player to watch must be you senior defenseman Carson Cannon who matched up tonight against fellow future NCAA-bound and current Blake senior attackman George Ordway. What was that matchup like to watch and what makes Carson such a great player?
A:  I thought (Cannon) played really well against George Ordway. Ordway is a special player and he’s super athletic and so is Carson. I’d rank Carson as one of the most athletic players in the state of Minnesota. He’s big and fast and he can run up field and score a goal. That’s an exciting thing for me when you get a long pole that’s a threat in the offensive end. We’ve been working with him a little more on that and distributing the ball. As he progresses and gets more confident you’ll see more of that this year from him.   

Q:  What will this game do for the future of Stillwater’s program?
A:  We had a real nice season last year but our problem was that we didn’t play like this throughout the season until we hit playoffs and all of a sudden we played Totino-Grace. Now we can get a game like this early in the season and it shows us a lot about where we’re at and what we need to work on. I think it really bodes well for the rest of our year to play competition like this is really excellent for us.


Stillwater freshman goaltender Turner Uppgren couldn't stop this second-half shot in the Ponies' loss to Blake. Photo by Loren Nelson

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Game Recap

Senior midfielder David Tearse scored four goals and senior attackman George Ordway contributed a goal and two assists as Blake defeated Stillwater 10-6 on Tuesday, April 19.

Tearse battled the Bears out of a two-goal deficit early in the first quarter with three straight goals to capture a lead that Stillwater could not retake.

Junior attackman Samuel Mathieu notched three goals and two assists and senior midfielder Ryan Aldridge netted two goals for the Ponies.

With the loss, Stillwater now holds a 2-1 record with its next game coming up quickly on Wednesday, April 20, at 6 p.m. when the Ponies battle Suburban East opponent East Ridge/Park.

Blake (1-0) hosts Prior Lake on Thursday, April 21, at 6 p.m.

Three Stars

1. David Tearse, Blake
The senior midfielder started off the season on the right foot with four goals. Three of Tearse’s four goals were the Bears’ first of the game which bounced Blake back from a two-goal deficit.

2. Samuel Mathieu, Stillwater
Mathieu played a great game and was one of the better players on the field Tuesday night earning five points (three goals, two assists). Two of the junior attackman’s goals came from spot-on inside rolls following impressive dodging from X.

3. George Ordway, Blake
Scoring once and adding two assists would be a good game for anyone. Add in being covered by Stillwater’s NCAA Division I Denver-bound senior defenseman Carson Cannon and those three points seem even more noteworthy. Ordway looked comfortable despite the tough matchup.

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