National Lacrosse Championships Germany 2014 – Report
Shure, the Summer of 2014 would be ideal for Lacrosse Fans around the world with the FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championships in July but Germany was focused on the National Championships (Deutsche Meisterschaft – DM) on June 15th and 16th first. The event organized by the Bundeswehr Lacrosse Team (BWLax) and the German Lacrosse Association (DLaxV) on a venue well know from the German University Lacrosse Championships 2013 would truly be something special. Earlier in 2014 while teams were still playing league and playoff games BWLax put together an eventpackage involving fan packages and free live streaming of the games in HD (for the first time in German Lacrosse).
At the DM the four best teams of German Women’s and Men’s Lacrosse each participate in a semifinal and final series to determine the German Champion. The teams are all non-professional, club based. To determine the teams that participate in the DM the regular season consists of four leagues (north, south, east and west) in which the best two teams are allowed in the playoffs, the first postseason event that narrows an eight team field down to the final four for each women and men teams.
After the Playoffs which were held in Dresden and Leipzig for Women and Men, respectively the schedule for the Final Four DM weekend was set and fans were looking at the following matches:
Out of all participating teams Hamburg and Munich both were sending a women’s and men’s team into the final our which shows the great work these clubs are doing in developing both areas of lacrosse.
A look in the past – Last year’s Champions
Hannover was looking at defending the title on the women’s side. The team was performing strong during the season and earned a consecutive first place in the north league. With most of last year dominating players Hannover would be favourite for the title again in 2014.
Stuttgart, last year’s champion on the men’s side, fell to Köln in the playoffs. Thus not able to defend the title their playoff opponent Köln would be the underdog but also the big unknown with a first appearance in the final four
Semifinals women
Hannover vs. Hamburg – 23 : 14
München vs. Berlin – 11 : 4
Semifinal men
Berlin vs. München – 6 : 4
Hamburg vs. Köln – 10 : 12
Placement Games
- place women – Berlin Lacrosse vs. Hamburg 5 : 6
- place Men – München vs. Hamburg 9 : 10
Finals
Hannover vs. München 8 : 6
As expected Hannover made the final faceing a strong looking Munich team that would also play in front of a fired up home crowd. Both teams looked strong at both ends of the field and Munich was putting everything they had against an experienced Hannover offense in a great first half. In the beginning of the second half Munch were having a few weak minutes which Hannover used to gain the lead in a game on the highest level. In the end Munich was closer than ever to taking home the victory over a strong and concentrated performing Hannover team. Especially the fast and powerful transition of Hannover made the big difference. Congratulations to both teams for showing women’s lacrosse at the highest level in one of the best championship games of DM history.
Berlin HC vs. Köln 14 : 4
Would the big surprise in 2014 Köln be able to show off their best defensive performance and keep a solid looking BHC off the scoreboard was the main question in the men’s DM final. Surely Köln was able to put pure offensive power on the field but possession would be a key issue for them as well. Both teams looked nervous in the first minutes but BHC seemed to be able to control the game in the first half. With several good opportunities BHC scored first and never really let go the rest of the game. Key player Pavel Dosly and Graham Bergsma seem to have the Köln defense under control and although Köln fought back in the first half the game was decided in the beginning of the fourth quarter with several strikes in transition and a solid 14-4 lead at the end of the game. With a constant performance all season long BHC would take home their first ever DM title in club history. Smart and disciplined play on both ends of the field by Berlin would just be too good for a Köln team that will surely have some impact on next year’s season. BHC, who finally took the trophy after four consecutive appearances in the final four also got Midfielder Graham Bergsma named MVP and were looking at a great ride back home to the capital.
Beat bloodcancer – grow lacrosse
For the first time the DLaxV decided to partner up with LimeGreen Lacrosse at the Final Four weekend and support our cause. All games were played on green nets and all Officiating Crews were wearing LimeGreen uniforms. For everyone not present at the field but watching the live stream we were able to show a 50s clip about LimeGreen Lacrosse and our fight against blood cancer during the halftimes.
(Watch the video HERE)
To show our support towards those affected by blood cancer we registered 10 players of participating teams in the partnership between LimeGreen Lacrosse and the DKMS (German bone marrow database) to become members in the bone marrow database and maybe donator at some point. The registration was financed by LimeGreen Lacrosse and we will continue towards raising awareness and registrations among the German and European Lacrosse community.
Last but not least – Check out some great pictures from the weekend by FotoRoland from Köln:
We are looking forward to the DLaxV Events in 2015 and hope to get involved there as well.
LimeGreen Lacrosse - Dedicated to European lacrosse and the fight against blood cancer