NLL Insider

Welcome back Stealth fans to another installment of behind-the-scenes Stealth action live and direct from sunny, beautiful San Jose. Pretty busy weeks for both the Stealth and yours truly.

The boys in black n’ red are coming off a tough loss last week in pretty important divisional game. This week…last place Edmonton, but never the less, a win over the Rush puts the Stealth in a position to make a run in the playoffs…we’ll call this one a ‘must win’ game for sure.

On the flipside, I am approaching this week’s game flying high. I just found out that a photo shoot I did with a Disney figure skater just landed her an interview with the casting directors for the silly little show “America’s Next Top Model’…you might of heard of it. Too bad I don’t watch TV…

Driving down to the HP I’m trying to hide my good news as I a fear I’m walking into a pretty tension-filled atmosphere. A loss tonight puts the Stealth in tough spot…you know no one in that locker room wants that.

I park my car and enter the HP. I hit the floor as the first warm-up is ending and to my surprise spirits seem pretty high. I definitely take that as a good sign for the Stealth – sometimes in big games players can almost want it too much, and that’s a bad thing. You gotta just feel it, and the boys look loose tonight.

I notice some familiar faces on the floor that might be responsible for the team’s good attitude. Defenseman Steve Holmes is back in uniform after finally getting cleared to play after a terrible off-season hamsterball accident. I’m stoked for Holmes to be back. Not only is he a damn good laxer but solid dude and one of my best friends on the team.

We played together at Virginia and he was actually my roommate for one whole ridiculous summer…I have the scars to prove it.

Another key addition to the locker room is former team Captain, Shaydon Santos. A great defender and one of the best teammates you could have, Shaydo helped me out a lot last year both on and off the floor and is the perfect guy to have around in a high stakes game….He never gets too low, never too high. The dude always leads by example and is a great barometer for the rest of the guys to measure themselves off of…and he’s a pretty sweet photographer to boot!

I snap a few pics of the guys during the second warm up…Shaydon checking in with his defensive coaching staff and I catch D-guy Kyle Sorensen and defensive coach Art Webster sizing up the Edmonton goalie situation. As good as the action in the game is, I love to capture these moments prior to the game in which the last minute tweaks are made…games can be one in lost in these ‘action-less’ moments and you can get a pretty good read on how a team will perform based off of their official warm-up…the Stealth are keyed in.

I head to the locker room and catch the players heading down to get introduced. Player introductions are by far my favorite time to shoot. For the players, it’s the last time to collect their thoughts and settle themselves. For me, it’s a like a fun house for photography. First off, you have the fog machine which makes any situation cooler…seriously, think about it… add to that cool lighting and Wham!…you’ve got recipe for some cool photos. The only thing that’s missing are those distorted mirrors and those weird creepy clowns…actually, that’s a terrible idea.

I take full advantage snapping away like crazy. I catch a sweet pic of Jeff ‘hands from God, beard from hell’ Zywicki running out to a loud roar. Please note the back of the announcer’s t-shirt…the front reads “Lacrosse: it’s like Hockey, but…” Not only is it pretty hilarious, it’s also a pretty accurate statement… I turn my camera to team Captain Colin Doyle looking uber focused…I know he feels some pressure on those shoulders.

The national anthem is in full swing, but the sweet photo-ops keep my finger on the shutter. As I look through my camera’s viewfinder I catch some other players deep in their pre-game thoughts and think back to all those games I was in their shoes. Whoa, whoa, whoa…am I getting sentimental?!…Alright, new paragraph.

The game begins and the teams trade goals. The first half flies by as only two penalties were called the whole half. Edmonton leads 3-2 after one and takes a 8-5 lead into the locker room. Although down by three at the half, I like the Stealth’s chances. Of their 5 first half goals, 3 where stuck by rookies Alex Turner and Paul Rabil with another coming from defenseman Curtis Hodgson. This means they are right in the game and their offense still has way more weapons that can make noise.

The second half sees more of the same…almost no penalties and the Rush holding on to a slim 10-8 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Jeff Zywicki and Frank Resetarits keep the Stealth a float in the third quarter with Frank’s goal cutting the Rush lead to one.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Stealth for sure. Cam Sedgewick stuck a power-play goal about four minutes in. Two minutes later Rabil ties the game up with a laser past the Edmonton keeper that makes the place erupt. I creep over the top of the glass behind the Stealth bench to watch coach Chris Hall draw up some plays for the offense. Looks more like the results of someone throwing a Etch-a-Sketch down the stairs, but then again, I did play defense…I trust that the San Jose offense is in good hands and find a new shooting location for the end of the game. I have a feeling that it’s gonna be a good finish.

I have to give the Edmonton D some credit, here. After the Stealth scored to tie it up they didn’t let off the breaks and they still held the San Jose offense off the board. I was totally surprised to hear the announcer come over the PA system and alert the crowd…’One minute remaining in the game.’ Talk about intense…one minute left, tie game, playoffs on the line.

Whew, I was starting to sweat. From my new shooting angle, I catch Rabil drive down left handed, turn back, and flick a behind-the-back- pass to a wide open Colin Doyle. There’s 54 seconds on the clock when Mr. Clutch himself buries the Rabil assist past the Edmonton netminder. Game over. Stealth take this one 11-10 in pure come from behind fashion.

I hop over the boards and shoot former Stealth player Ian Hawksbee in total denial of his current team’s collapse as well as the Stealth celebration, which carries over into the locker room. I head back with the boys and keep the camera rolling while they soak up the win and soak in some fluids. Doyle heads around the room congratulating everyone of the game. He knows the importance of this win, especially heading into a doubleheader with Portland next weekend.

The Stealth got some help around the league with some other key games coming up in their…but the season is still very much in their own hands. Need a sweep of the ‘Jax next week to stay alive. But with the offense getting help from some rookies as well as the vets, things look like they could work out in the Stealth’s favor. Tune in next week to find out…same bat time, same bat channel.

NLL Insider will be posting blogs from Zach Heffner, a member of last year’s regular season Western Division champion San Jose Stealth squad, Zach has since started his own company, VERDICT Photography, and looks to promote the team and the sport through his photographs.

Zach joined the Stealth after a stint with the Chicago Shamrox and is currently a player with the San Francisco Dragons after putting in two seasons with the Chicago Machine. An NCAA National Champion while at the University of Virginia, Zach lists winning a bronze medal with the USA National Indoor Team at last years’ World Indoor Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia as his top lacrosse moment.

To view the full photo gallery from this post, Visit the NLL Insider Photo Gallery Page

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