Category: GPBLL
STL Missouri Mastodons battle back to win the 2021 Harvest Classic Championship!
The St. Louis Missouri Mastodons didn’t make it easy on themselves this past weekend taking the long route to the finals. The Dons lost their first game on Saturday to the Chicago Outlaws 7-5, but they didn’t give up hope. After beating the Madison Milkmen 17-2, Kansas City Smoke 11-3, and the Milwaukee Muskies 6-3 they battled back to find themselves in the Harvest Classic Championship game! Their long time rivals, the Chicago Outlaws, stamped their ticket to the championship after defeating both the Missouri Mastodons 7-5 and Milwaukie Muskies 11-4 on Saturday. The stage was set for a great final, but this was no easy task for the Mastodons who were 0-2 against the Outlaws this regular season and 0-1 in the playoffs.
In the championship game, the Outlaws were lead by Jack Moran who posted 8 goals and 1 assist, and Geoff Harty (1 goal, 1 assist). The red hot Playoff MVP Sam Heaton could not be contained as he posted 10 goals and 5 assists to lead the Mastodons. With Mastodon goals from Kevin Eskridge (4), Tim Fisher (3), Max Troha (2) Sean Derroch (1), Connor Hill (1), Brandon Singleton (1), and Dan Funk (1), the Dons put forth a well rounded team victory. In the end the Outlaws were unable to stop the momentum of the Mastodons, falling 24-9 to the Mastodons in a Harvest Classic comeback story for the record books!
Full game details at: https://www.boxlacrosseleague.com/event/2021-harvest-classic-championship/
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The GPBLL’s expansion of box lacrosse in the Midwest!
There’s a new top tier box lacrosse league in the Midwest! The Great Plains Box Lacrosse League or GPBLL provides players in the upper Midwestern states an opportunity to compete at a high level each season with a guarantee that every team will compete for the championship. The GPBLL has taken the Midwest by storm by offering a league that allows their teams to dictate the leagues direction and structure both on and off the floor, while making it sustainable for teams to play year after year with continued success and growth.
The GPBLL’s 2021 strategic partnership with the National Lacrosse League, provides top college and post collegiate players an avenue to work towards their goal to play in the NLL. The NLL’s prospect development program that highlights and supports GPBLL players successes could include direct invitations to NLL player combines. Also, the GPBLL officials receive direct training and guidance from the NLL to ensure a uniform rulebook, enhanced rules IQ, and officiating consistency across the league, which can lead to career opportunities for officials within the NLL.
The Great Plains is currently wrapping up what is technically their second regular season, after a shortened first season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Six teams, from five different states, representing their respective cities competed throughout the 2021 season, consisting of the Chicago Outlaws, Kansas City Smoke, Milwaukee Muskies, Madison Milkmen, Sioux Falls Stealth, and St. Louis Missouri Mastodons. The GPBLL playoffs and season championship, also known as the Harvest Classic, will take place October 23rd and 24th in St. Louis Missouri at the Centene Community Ice Center and it’s anyone’s game!
Thus far, it appears that the detailed organization, structure, and dedication by the league’s ownership and their team’s management groups have contributed to their great success and the GPBLL looks to continue to correlate into further expansion across the Midwest!
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