The rules for the Jan. 4 Tar Heel Holiday Lacrosse Showcase have been announced. The teams participating and the game schedule is below.

Schedule
10:00	10:40	11:20	12:00	Break	1:10	1:50	2:30
1v4	7v5	4v6	5v3		6v2	1v3	2v7
2v5	1v6	7v3	4v2		5v1	6v7	3v4
3v6	2v3	1v2	1v7		4v7	5v4	6v5
7b	4b	5b	6b		3b	2b	1b
(b= bye)

Teams
1. Riverside
2. Jordan
3. Chapel Hill
4. Apex
5. East Chapel Hill
6. Guilford
7. Wilmington

Beach Battle photos Owen Ham (in light blue) gets an LBC against a Lafayette defenseman on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Seventh Annual Battle at the Beach at Virginia Wesleyan University. [More Photos]

Riverside will have its work cut out for it on this year's Northern Exposure Tour to Charlottesville. They will play Albemarle (14-4 last year) and Monticello (12-3 last year), both of whom won their divisions in 2002.

Albemarle, of the Northwest AAA Conference, lost to W.T. Woodson in the state championship game two years ago and Monticello, of the Va. II-III Independent AA Conference, defeated Albemarle for the first time ever last year [read story of the game]. Albemarle finished 2002 with a Laxpower ranking of 18th in the state and Monticello finished ranked 19th among the 96 lacrosse programs in Virginia.

At first glance you'd think there was not much to take away from Riverside's third-place finish in the Seventh Battle at the Beach in Virginia Beach on Nov. 23. But considering the way the Pirates played in the early seeding games, to come back in the afternoon for the spot behind eventual champ Durham Academy and runner-up Cape Henry was quite an accomplishment.

After the six 25-minute seeding games Riverside was a disappointing 2-4 and were seeded fifth in the afternoon tournament. However, in the afternoon's tournament quarterfinal they defeated fourth seed Cape Henlopen by a convincing score of 10-4, a team that had defeated Riverside 7-6 in a seeding game earlier in the day.

That got them into the semifinal against Durham Academy, which had gone undefeated in the seeding games and was the top seed in the tournament round. While Riverside kept it close against DA in the morning, losing 5-3, they lost 9-2 in the afternoon in a mistake-filled game of 20-minute halves. In the 40 minutes of play the Pirates probably possessed the ball less than 15 minutes.

That put them into the consolation game against third seed Lafayette, which had defeated the Pirates 3-2 in their first seeding game of the day. This time, though, the Pirates came out on top 4-3, to give them third place.

That placement was accurate, considering what DA and Cape Henry showed. Those two were clearly the best teams there. But I'm sure there are Pirates fans out there who are wondering where they would have ended up had Cory Coffman, Anthony Howard and Tim Gregory been able to make the trip.

In the tournament final, Cape Henry was giving DA a fight and was leading 5-3 at one point. Then DA tied it up 5-5, at which point a scuffle ensued and a player from each team was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Cape Henry player, unwilling to accept the decision, argued until he was ejected. Unfortunately for Cape Henry, this was one of their best players, a Feifs-sized middie with a rocket left-handed shot.

DA scored two quick goals and eventually won the game by two.

Here's a rundown of all nine games (4.5 grueling hours of nearly non-stop lacrosse!) the Pirates played:

Game 1: Lafayette 3, Riverside 2.
Riverside, two-time Battle of the Beach champion and one-time runner-up, has never won its first game of the day at that tournament. They didn't alter that record as they fell to Lafayette 3-2. Owen Ham had both Riverside goals in that game.

Combined Tournament Scoring
Player	Goals	Assists	Points
Owen Ham	17	2	19
Andy DeLamielleure	8	1	9
Jay Whitaker	5	2	7
T.L. Hutchins	2	3	5
Brian Jobe	3	0	3
Elliot McDonald	2	0	2
Andy Ross	2	0	2
Bryce Adrian	1	0	1
Bryan Thompson	1	0	1

Game 2: Riverside 6, Colonial Forge 0.
This game will be remembered as the one in which Riverside's Brian Jobe collided with a Colonial Forge player and broke the Colonial Forge player's leg. An ambulance was called and the player was rolled off on a stretcher as the Riverside players applauded him. Owen Ham had two goals in that game and Elliot McDonald, Chris Cherry, Jay Whitaker and Andy Ross each had one.

Game 3: Cape Henry 9, Riverside 3.
These guys were just too big and fast for the squad that Riverside had on the field. This is the first time Riverside has lost to Cape Henry, beginning with a regular-season overtime win in 1999. They have played them numerous times in the Battle at the Beach, defeating them last year when Kevin Raspet and Chris Feifs neutralized their aircraft carriers. Owen Ham had two goals in that game and Jay Whitaker had a goal and an assist.

The Webmaster wants to apologize for the omission of the names of the many players who were valuable contributors in the Battle at the Beach. When taking pictures and trying to keep score at the same time, he can't also register saves, ground balls, LBCs and takeaways, much as he would like to. Goals and assists are about all he can write down without Riverside's talented scorekeepers to back him up, which, unfortunately, causes fewer mentions of goalies, defensemen and middies who don't get on the scoreboard. So, here are all of the people who helped this weekend who were not mentioned in the game recaps: Goalie Zach Brewer; defensemen Brian Farmer, Michael Woodard, Chris Wooley and Ian Mikkelsen; and middies Joey Pietrantano and Ben McDonald. Also thanks to Marcus Howard and Ed Brewer who helped get guys up and back safely, and to Charlie Thompson who generously paid the van rental (we're getting some of that back for you, Charlie).

Game 4: Durham Academy 5, Riverside 3.
Typical Riverside-DA game: frustrating for RHS fans. Too many dropped balls led to too many DA fast breaks (a familiar scenario). The Riverside defense held well, though, in a setup offense, but that wasn't enough to narrow the gap. Owen Ham had two goals and an assist in that game. Brian Jobe had one goal.

Game 5: Cape Henlopen 7, Riverside 6.
A game Riverside should have won but let get away. The teams traded goals (it was tied 3-3, 4-4 and 5-5) and regulation ended with them knotted at 6-6. The game was to be decided with a "Braveheart," a tie breaker in which two players face off and the faceoff winner tries to go one-on-one with the goalie and the faceoff loser plays defense. Andy DeLamielleure won the faceoff and had a shot on goal that was saved. The goalie made the outlet pass and the Cape Henlopen player scored to make it 7-6. Owen Ham had two goals and an assist in this game, Brian Jobe had a goal and an assist, DeLamielleure, Jay Whitaker and Andy Ross had a goal each and T.L. Hutchins had an assist.

Game 6: Riverside 6, Norfolk Collegiate 5.
A game Riverside almost gave away to a team that has never beaten Riverside, in the tournament or the regular season. But Riverside fell behind 5-3 and had to score three quick goals to get back into it. Owen Ham, Andy DeLamielleure and T.L. Hutchins scored those three goals, but it was Bryan Thompson's play at longpole that forced the turnovers that made it possible. He further contributed by scoring an unassisted goal. Give coaching kudos to Jon Ham (the younger) for switching Thompson to longpole after seeing him in action in earlier games. The close defense seemed to be in good hands and Ham thought the team needed Thompson to cause turnovers. That move would pay dividends the rest of the day.

Tournament Quarterfinal: (No. 5) Riverside 10, (No. 4) Cape Henlopen 4.
The Pirates' best game of the day. Everything seemed to click. Where they had seemed totally spent after the morning's six 25-minute games, they seemed full of energy after lunch. In this game of two 20-minute halves, the Pirates ran out to a 6-3 halftime lead over the clearly surprised Cape team, which was surely expecting a win over the lower-seeded Riverside. The Pirates extended their lead in the second half to win going away, 10-4. Andy DeLamielleure had three goals and an assist, Owen Ham had three goals, T.L. Hutchins and Jay Whitaker each had a goal and an assist, and Bryce Adrian and Brian Jobe each had a goal.

Tournament Semifinal: (No. 1) Durham Academy 9, (No. 5) Riverside 2.
Where the Pirates has seemed energetic against Cape Henlopen, they seemed drained against DA. They trailed 4-1 at the half, and saw that deficit grow in the second half. Their problem was possession: they just couldn't keep the ball. The majority of the game was played at the DA end of the field and the defenders put up a valiant effort. But DA's patience on offense and sure-handedness with the ball were the deciding factors.

Tournament Consolation Game: (No. 5) Riverside 4, (No. 3) Lafayette 3.
Another close game with Lafayette, but this time with Riverside coming out on top. Still, the Pirates had to come back, down 3-2 at one point. This game was tied at 2-2 and 3-3 before Elliot McDonald scored the game-winner to make it 4-3.