The Quesnel peewee and midget Wildfire lacrosse teams faced stiff competition on the weekend.
The peewee Wildfire, coached by Mike Russell, maintained their composure for a 5-3 win over the visiting Prince George Posse.
The Wildfire opened the scoring in the first period, but a little molasses set in and that was enough to allow the Posse to move ahead 2-1 before the Wildfire hit the scoreboard again to send the teams to the dressing room knotted 2-2 after the first period of play.
During the first intermission, Russell had a few words for his players, especially with regards to tightening up on defence, making quick accurate passes and staying out of the penalty box.
The message was well received and the Wildfire staked themselves a 4-2 lead before the second period was out.
Each team lit the lamp once more in the third period to round out the scoring and a 5-3 win for the Quesnel Wildfire.
Russell was pleased with the play of his offensive players, including Landon Cooper, Landon Scott, J. T. Moore and Landon Russell who gave themselves plenty of opportunities to score, but at the same time recognized the win was the result of a strong team effort.
Landon Russell, 11, who has been playing lacrosse for eight years, is considered one of the leaders on the team and he is just fine with that.
“I just tell everyone to keep going and they’re doing a good job,” the younger Russell said.
A Grade 6 student at Lakeview Elementary, the younger Russell said he enjoys every aspect of lacrosse, including the hitting even though he is by no means the tallest player in the game.
As for the key to the win, the younger Russell was quick with his analysis.
“Everybody passed, good defence and our goalie stood in there for us,” he said.
Coach Russell had a similar take on the game.
“They did look for the open passes,” the elder Russell said.
“They moved the ball really well.”
In the end though, coach Russell pointed to the strong team play as well as the goaltending as the key to the win in what he described as a see-saw season.
“This is a good win for us.”
Posse douse Wildfire midget squad
Early morning action was not as positive for the Wildfire midget lacrosse team.
The Wildfire took a 4-3 lead into the third period and saw that lead dissipate as the Posse tallied six times for a 9-4 win.
“We were doing OK, but ran into penalty problems,” coach Pat Gibbs said.
“It’s a very physical game and you need to keep your emotions in check,” Gibbs said of his 15 – 16-year-old players.
Not helping matters, Gibbs was working with a short bench that included just 10 runners and a goalie.
Some of the runners were bantam players stepping in to fill a few vacancies on the bench.
Taking penalties with a short bench means other players have to spend extra time on the ice.
In the early going of the game, the impact on the other players is not as bad as later in the game, Gibbs explained.
“That’s when we run into trouble,” he said.
“We’ve been able to play with them [Posse] for 2.5 periods and then with the short bench we run out of gas at the end.”
A short bench doesn’t help the defensive side of the game either, nor the netminder.
“We’re pretty good on the defensive side of the ball but the short bench doesn’t help.”
Following the early morning loss, Gibbs said he had a single message for his players, the same message he has been preaching since the beginning of the season.
“You need to stay on the floor, if we don’t, we’ll gas out,” he said with a shake of the head.
“Get a bunch of goals early and hopefully hold the fort the rest of the way.”
Although the Wildfire midget team were tuckered out after the Saturday morning game, there was still emotion in their efforts, a sign of passion for the sport of lacrosse.
“The kids that play the sport love it, they absolutely love it”, Gibbs said.
The passion for the game extends to the people involved in the sport, Gibbs added.
He pointed to the president of the Quesnel Lacrosse Association, Lisa Cooper and the other executive for doing a great job supporting players and teams and leading with a commitment to the sport.
“But we just can’t get enough kids out,” Gibbs said.