PAST: Richmond Roadrunners / Burnaby Lakers
PRESENT: 麻豆传媒映画Technical turf field
FUTURE: NCAA Div. 1 High Point University Panthers
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He may have an innate ability to find the open man or the back of the net, but Tyler Vogrig doesn鈥檛 only play on instinct. He can think before he acts.
鈥淚 try to use my brain more than my size,鈥� said Vogrig, 18, who set a scoring record for B.C. Intermediate Lacrosse in his final year with the 鈥淎鈥� Richmond Roadrunners. He scored 69 goals and added 50 assists for 119 points in 18 games with the box lacrosse team.
Never the biggest competitor in the game, the five-foot-nine lacrosse forward has learned where to target the weakest defenders and when to strike.
鈥淗e scores in just about every fashion possible,鈥� said the Roadrunners coach Greg Rennie, who has reviewed hours of game footage with Vogrig. 鈥淗e鈥檚 small, so you don鈥檛 expect him to be as gritty as he is or go inside as often. Tyler really feeds off success.鈥�
Vogrig (pronounced like 鈥済o鈥� or 鈥渟core鈥�) followed his older brother Ryan into lacrosse and neither has since put down his stick. Together they play at parks near their home and every few days after school, Vogrig visits the turf field at Van Tech to shoot on an empty net.
He plays on the right and knows his brother will be on the other side of the crease. 鈥淚 always tell him to put his stick up and I鈥檒l put the ball right there, wherever he wants it,鈥� said the younger forward. 鈥淚 just know where he鈥檚 going to be.鈥�
At 16, Vogrig was selected first overall by the Junior 鈥淎鈥� Burnaby Lakers in the midget entry draft for a league generally reserved for players aged 18 to 21.
The Lakers made moves to sign Vogrig鈥檚 older brother before the draft, said Burnaby general manager Brad Hera. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like trading to get the Sedins together,鈥� he said. In eight games so far, Vogrig has 12 goals and 18 assists.
In August, Vogrig will move to North Carolina to play field lacrosse in the NCAA Division 1 with the High Point University Panthers in the Atlantic Sun Conference. 鈥淗e plays the game at another speed,鈥� said Panthers coach Jon Torpey. 鈥淚f you look at his stats, they speak for themselves.鈥�
On top of his record number of points, Vogrig has a hard, accurate shot, hands as fast as his feet and the confidence to fend off aggressors in a violent sport.
Rennie, the Roadrunners coach, said, 鈥淓veryone says he鈥檚 too small to take it to the next level but he keeps going to the next level.鈥�
