Henningsen win. Bernhardt zinger from the left alley against the zone. All tied with 2:34 left. Henningsen win. Timeout or not? With possession, Myers and his brother/assistant coach discussed the option and decided not to halt play. Canada was in man-to- man, and big brother didn’t want to risk giving it a chance to bump back to the pesky, packed-in zone. The Canadians, meanwhile, elected not to press out.
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Whatever would happen, it marked the end of a journey that began with a tryout of more than 100 players during a steamy three days in Baltimore in July 2015. Players were identified only by last- names scribbled in marker on masking tape on their helmet lids. “Toughness wanted,” was the message. A few players threw up during conditioning runs. An intrasquad scrimmage came a month later. Then in November, a 16-11 loss at the hands of The Hill Academy
U.S. midfielder Ryan Conrad (right) scored the game-winning goal with 8.5 seconds remaining, much to the dismay of Canadian goalie Kyle Hebert and absorbing some punishment from midfielder Clarke Petterson.
(Ontario) on Nick Myers’ home turf at Ohio State. And another scrimmage a few months after that in January, a disheartening overtime loss to the closest resemblance of their U19 counterparts from Canada that they faced for gold. (“I say we’re looking to go 2-2 against them,” Myers told the team once the gold medal matchup was set.) Several rounds or roster cuts occurred along the way to comprise the final 23-man roster. Finally, after a training camp in June, the weekend after NCAA championship weekend, did this group of the finest players in the country feel like a team. One that could start the wave together during a pre-tournament training camp in Seattle over Fourth of July weekend, a trip that included a visit to Safeco Field for a Mariners-Orioles game. One that, after sharing so much time and space across the border in Canada, could verbally jostle without fear of offending. “We were No. 1 in the country my junior year!” “You never won any state championships!” Roommates that could challenge each
other in Pokemon Go battles and the Settlers of Catan board game. Near the end, a spontaneous game of, “What’s the worst part of sharing a room with (fill in the blank)?” broke out. These hijinks offered levity during a finely-managed schedule throughout the 10 days that mostly included meals, meetings, recovery between games and nightly bed checks around 10 p.m. “From a fan side, people think we wake up, get on the bus and go to the game, but it’s not that at all,” Klan said. “We wake up, 8:30 breakfast, an hour meeting on the scout, talk about players’ hands, defenses, offenses, clears, then back to our room for an hour, then back over the scout and eat. Then an hour walkthrough.” Kelly, who logged big minutes for national champion North Carolina as a freshman, injured his ankle in the fourth quarter of the U.S.’s semifinal win over Australia and played in the final with an extra tape job on his foot. During the final team breakfast of a nearly two-week stay
24 LACROSSE MAGAZINE » September/october 2016
A Publication of US Lacrosse
©PAUL YATES
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