The 12-game Treasure Valley Lacrosse League season debuts for the Wood River Warriors lacrosse club Saturday, April 4 with a game against Mountain View of Meridian on the former Bellevue Farms polo field south of town.
Home opener is Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Wood River's temporary field on Equus Loop in Bellevue Farms. Turn east from S.H. 75 at the Glendale Rd. crossing and arrive at the field.
Club organizer Jay Bailet said plans call for the rest of Warriors home games to be played on the soccer field at Wood River High School, Hailey. The Warriors have eight home games and four road games scheduled during the TVLL regular season that ends with a tournament May 12-16.
Head Warriors coach for 2009 is Dave Hennessy assisted by Bill Baybutt, Tad Barker, Bob Jost and Bailet.
Bailet said, "We are looking for big numbers from our senior attack of Tracy Bailet, Luke McNees and Reed Stokes. Seniors David Dredge, Robbie Jost, Kyle Rose and Gus Engelhardt along with junior Nick Chase and sophomore Neils McMahon should provide two good lines of midfielders.
"Chauncey McGraw and Cody Chandler return on defense. Our goalie position is still up in the air and will be a game time decision. Having a rookie goalie will put a lot of pressure on the offense to control the tempo of the game and take advantage of scoring opportunities."
Rounding out the squad are Anders Ard, Kasey Barker, Dillon Begley, Connor Bennett, Brian Boyle, Eric Boyle, Riley Heneghan, Taylor Lecrone, Tanner Marcoulier, Cal McCarthy, Cooper Rogers, Nate Seamons, Dash Stetham and Jimmie Williams.
Lacrosse is a relatively new sport in Idaho, one not currently sanctioned by the Idaho High School Activities Association, governing board of Gem State athletics. In addition Wood River is disadvantaged because of its location in the central mountains, which delays early-season practices.
Bailet said, "We had our first practice on our field Monday (Boise teams started the first of the year) and the team is excited to start league play. Our goal this year is to make it to the TVLL tournament in May which will include the top eight teams."
He added, "Our mission is to increase the popularity of lacrosse in the Wood River Valley so that when lacrosse is sanctioned as a high school sport we will be light years ahead of the other schools in our district. Later this year we hope to start a men's league as well as a junior program."
Warriors games will be played Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through spring:
Tuesday, April 7 at 6 p.m., WR hosts Centennial. Thursday, April 9 at 6 p.m., WR hosts Bishop Kelly of Boise. Saturday, April 11 at 11 a.m., WR hosts Borah of Boise.
Tuesday, April 14 at 6 p.m., Vallivue hosts WR in Caldwell. Thursday, April 16 at 6 p.m., WR hosts Eagle. Saturday, April 18 at 11 a.m., Skyview hosts WR in Nampa.
Tuesday, April 21 at 6 p.m., WR hosts Meridian. Saturday, April 25 at 2 p.m., WR hosts Capital of Boise.
Tuesday, April 28 at 6 p.m., Boise hosts WR. Saturday, May 2 at 4:30 p.m., WR hosts Timberline of Boise. Saturday, May 9 at 11 a.m., Rocky Mountain hosts WR in Meridian. Tuesday, May 12 at 6 p.m., TVLL quarterfinals, four games.
