Lacrosse team defeats Prep

On Saturday evening, the Northshore Lacrosse team was having a barbecue in the back yard of head coach Steve Wisman’s house, playing their favorite spring sport.

On any normal Saturday, this might not seem out of the realm of normalcy, but this Saturday was a little different than most. In fact, it was a Saturday the Northshore Lacrosse players will remember for the rest of their lives.

They had just won a state championship six hours earlier at Seattle’s Memorial Stadium.

Following a 9-1 regular season, Northshore — which is made up of students from Inglemoor, Bothell and Woodinville high schools — won all four playoff games, capped off by a 12-11 victory over previously unbeaten Seattle Prep to win the Division II state championship.

What makes the season even more special is that Northshore is only in its second year of existence after breaking off from Eastside Lacrosse, which has since changed its name to the Redmond Lacrosse Club.

Redmond and Northshore tied for the Cascade championship this year with a 9-1 record, but Redmond won the tiebreaker to claim the conference championship.

But Northshore won the championship that really matters, the state championship, after Redmond lost to Seattle Prep in the semifinals and Northshore ousted Prep in the title game.

“The players had a goal at the beginning of the year to go to the finals and win it, and we are only a second-year program, so that was a big dream,” Wisman said. “But they worked hard, they didn’t complain. (They) conditioned hard and pretty much did what was asked and they were successful at reaching their goal.”

Northshore had several standout players, including the head coach’s two sons, Taylor and Foster Wisman, who were the top two scorers on the Northshore team. Taylor, a sophomore at Inglemoor, ended up with 26 goals and 22 assists, while freshman Foster found the net 24 times in addition to dishing out 18 assists.

The top goal scorer was Bothell junior Bowen Hadley, who ended with 29 goals.

One of the key players to Steve Wisman was defensman Chris Lee, one of only four seniors on the roster and a vital member of Northshore’s run to the championship.

“The last three games, and this is sort of miracle for him, he didn’t get any penalties the last three games,” Steve Wisman said of Lee, who attends Inglemoor. “Yet he played as intense as he had all season, and he was the backbone of the defense.”

With just four seniors, Northshore could contend once again for a Division II championship next year — if it stays in Division II. Steve Wisman said the team may move up to Division I, and doesn’t know which one would be better for his team.

“I have mixed feelings,” the head coach said. “I think the kids will get better and the competition is better in Division I. There are definitely teams that would destroy us, but … in Division II, we were beating some teams 20-1, 18-2, which really isn’t great competition. I really have mixed feelings about it.”

But no matter what happens in the future, the 2008 Northshore players will always be able to claim that they were state champions.

And still wanted to play lacrosse that evening.

“They were exhausted after the game,” Steve Wisman said. “They were all sweaty and tired, and it was hot and they couldn’t run and then six hours later, they were out playing again.”

The other players on the team are: Scott Barclay, Kyle Barrett, Adam Blake, Alex Bus, Taylor Carruthers, J.D. Chapman, Robert DeLisle, Jake Dorsett, Jacob Drasfield, Stuart Dransfield, Jacob Field, Keaton House, Nick Hunter, Alex La, Mitch Langdon, Chris Lee, Jordan Murphy, Kyle Neal, Connor Olson, Tim Oxford, Tyler Paris, Brian Ricks, Britt Sanders, Bo Sellman, Willy Simpson, Austin Sleder, Miles Sokol, Kyle Terlaje, Matt Thomas, Michael Thompson, Zachary Verbeck, Alex Walker and Jonathan Wilson.