US Indoor Lacrosse and the Chicago Outlaws put on an exhibition this weekend in Chicago pitting The USA developmental sqaud against The Chicago Outlaws Saturday night and versus the MILA All Stars Sunday afternoon. I have been fortunate enough to play on the developmental squad this summer and got to play in both games.
The event was a top quality production put on by the Outlaws organization at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, IL and Graham D’Alvia and US Indoor Lacrosse. From the introductions of the team, to the in-game entertainment, to the product on the floor, the teams involved and the fans at the game seemed ecstatic just to be a part of it.
Saturdays nights game was the highlight of the trip. The game featured a lot of talent on both sides, and that showed with how close the game was all night. After a 4th quarter comeback by USA, the Outlaws made a comeback of their own and ended up pulling out the victory on a game winning goal with just 12 seconds to go. For my team, it was a bitter pill to swallow after working so hard to come back, as an athlete you think to yourself, I would rather lose by a handful of goals than just one in dramatic fashion. That sentiment didn’t last long, as Sundays game with a quick turn around woulnd up being too much for us to overcome. We took the loss to the MILA All Stars by more than a handful and it turns out that loss felt much worse. We thought we should have given a better showing Sunday, and provided a better challenge to the MILA guys. Not to take anything away from them, there were a few truly outstanding plays made in Sundays game that showed this league has some up and coming talent.
Unfortunately, you can’t win em all and as a group still developing and learning the indoor game, our USA group all came away with a bunch of lessons to build on and quite an experience from the trip. I have to thank the Chicago Outlaws for their hospitatlity all weekend and Graham and Tom with US Indoor for giving me the chance to wear the USA jersey this summer and get the experiences I never would have gotten otherwise.
Our PLL season gets under way in September, until then!!
