TWHS lacrosse team takes first place at The University of Texas Longhorn Shootout

AUSTIN, Texas - The Woodlands D-I men's lacrosse team won their inaugural 2014-2015 lacrosse event in impressive fashion as they beat all five of their opponents to win the University of Texas Longhorn Shootout in Austin, Texas.

This annual tournament is attended by high school and club teams from across the state. The Highlanders became the #1 seed in the tournament after going 2-0 in pool play while outscoring their opponents 21-4 in Saturday's games. The offense was led by senior, Furman University commit Gus Pinsoneault. Gus is a four year varsity lacrosse player and is one of the top players in the THSLL (Texas High School Lacrosse League).

On Sunday, the Highlanders faced stiff competition from two select teams from Austin and Dallas before defeating Clear Lake in the championship game by a score of 4-2.

The Woodlands played solid defense and received stellar goaltending from junior netminder, AJ Thorpe. Thorpe came up huge in the semi-final and championship games allowing a total of five goals.

Overall, the Highlanders are a very young team, with only four seniors returning from last year’s team that lost its first game in the 2014 THSLL D-1 Final Four. The senior leadership of Pinsoneault, Ryan Billig, Riley Spradlin and Lucas Montes will help foster the teamwork needed to be a contender once again in 2015.

The team is loaded with strong underclassmen to include Johnnny Daniels, Matt Mahoney, Ben Perry, Tyler Billig, Connor Binney and Grant Murphy.

Head coach, Keith Tintle, elaborated on his team's performance and expectations for the 2015 lacrosse season.

"It's always nice to win offseason tournaments, but in the grand scheme of things, it's just a barometer for the coaching staff to see where the players are with their game mentally and physically as individuals and as a team. This is a young team as we have just four seniors. In losing 14 seniors, this is also a whole new team. The good news is they like playing together. They had so much fun at the tournament. You can have a whole team of superstars but if they all play selfishly, they would not enjoy playing together and would have zero fun."

Tintle continued, "This fall, we have only played a scrimmage and then this tournament. Although we are in it to win it everywhere we go, it's just fall ball. We win a lot of offseason tournaments but teams are measured by how you finish up every May. Last year, we made it to the Final Four. We've had lacrosse here for almost 20 years and we have yet to win a state championship. Winning it all is what it's all about. Make no mistake, this is not a participation sport. We love the game but our aim is to coach these young players up in such a way that by May of every year, we give them the best chance at winning it all. That hasn't happened yet and it absolutely kills myself and my staff."