They may not have been in the A-side of the tournament but both of Estevan’s indoor lacrosse teams were able to win a few games and play well at the tournament.
At the Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association’s indoor lacrosse provincials on the weekend, both the Harris Oilfield Construction bantam Voltz and the KPCL peewee Voltz had to move to the B-side of the tournament after early losses left them with matching 1-2 records.
The bantam Voltz took care of the Saskatoon Forgotten Rebels with an impressive 12-3 win in the A side gold medal game.
“This was a great way for the boys to finish their year,” said Voltz head coach Dion Wagstaff, whose team got to use the Power Dodge Estevan Bruins dressing room for their final game. “I think the final record for the season, including playoffs, was 25 wins, two losses and two ties. For these guys to come through like that, they had a blast…
“It was just a good exclamation mark on a great regular season.”
After losing their first games of the round robin 7-5 to the Saskatoon Tropics and 6-5 to the Moose Jaw Mustangs, the Voltz had to come from behind to win over the Prince Albert Predators in the last round robin game Saturday afternoon. Kaden Chrest scored six goals in an 8-7 win over the Predators, including the last four unanswered. He scored the last goal on a breakaway with only one second left on the clock.
“There was a big hit by Seth (Peters) who just came in and laid out one of the biggest guys,” said Chrest of that game’s turning point. “It got the team going and got us moving the ball.”
They beat the Yorkton Fighting Pikes 8-1 in the B semifinal Sunday morning — Kersey Hollingshead and Tanner Hall scoring two goals each – to earn their spot in the B final. Getting the team to refocus wasn’t a difficult task for Wagstaff and the coaching staff.
“It wasn’t really hard because these guys haven’t given up all season,” said Wagstaff. “This was the hardest working team I’ve had the ability to coach and we have some great young men and women here and they just keep coming and coming. We have one of the best players … in Saskatchewan in Kaden Chrest and he pulled us through some great spots. He brought us from behind and we could have lost our third game.”
The team was prepared for the B-side final, Wagstaff said.
“We were all fired up ready to go for the last game of the season to give it everything we got,” said Chrest, who scored 16 goals and five assists in the five games they played this weekend.
The peewee Voltz were also prepared for the 45 minute, three period game but then ran out of gas in the non-sudden death 10 minute overtime frame of the B-side gold medal game and lost 9-3 to the Saskatoon Quikstix.
While there were disappointed faces heading back to the locker room, the tournament itself was good for the Voltz, who beat Weyburn in the B semifinal and Yorkton in the round robin.
“The kids came out hard and we took a Saskatoon team which picked up players to a fourth period,” said head coach Trevor McNabb. “The kids fell hard but we just ran out of gas at the end. It was a great, fun season with these kids.”
The record was good and the Voltz came to play, McNabb said.
“We could have easily won this game here with an extra bounce here or there,” he said. “For a house team coming in to host provincials, you can’t ask for anything better.”
Chase Foord led the Voltz with 11 goals and an assist in the five games, while Ryder Davidson chipped in five goals and an assist.
The Voltz will graduate seven players on the season and nine more can return and be joined by graduating novice players.
“We should be very competitive next year in the peewee division, McNabb said.
The Saskatoon Tropics, who wore Hawaiian shirts everywhere on the weekend, won the A-side gold medal game in the bantam division with an 8-4 win over the Swift Current Rampage. The Regina Outlaws won the A-side gold medal game in the peewee division with a 10-1 win over the Swift Current Rampage.
In the midget final held at Bienfait, the Regina Rush knocked off the (you guessed it) Swift Current Rampage 4-2 in the gold medal game.
