The sophomore Crossfire season has proved to be a struggle as the team spent a large portion of the early season hunting for an elusive first win.
The season culminated in a three-game flurry for the Crossfire, with a trio of teams – the second place Assault, the Styler and the Devils – coming to town Thursday, Saturday and Monday.
The Crossfire were in the hunt for a playoff spot down to the very last game of the season against the Devils after a loss against the Assault and a win against the Stylers.
In a very rough, intense game, the Crossfire beat the Devils in overtime, 11-10 and found their way into the playoffs.
Depending on whether the Stylers or Devils win the final game of the year, the Crossfire will go into the playoffs in third or fourth.
“It was a dig deep game,” coach Pat Gibbs said.
The game started off slow and built through the periods to a climactic finish.
In the first, the Crossfire and the Devils traded goals, with the Crossfire coming out on top at 3-2.
In the second the game heated up. The Devils evened it up early in the period putting the Crossfire in overdrive resulting in two three on fives against the Crossfire, which they killed successfully.
In the last 10 minutes of play, the scoring picked up and in a flurry of goals late in the period, the Devils took the lead 6-5 going into the third.
In the third it got rough, with a couple players on the Crossfire leaving the game early and injured and a game suspension for one of the Devils’ players.
The Crossfire got ahold of the lead early in the period, but a raft of penalties hampered their forward motion, including a nine minute major late in the game which had the Crossfire down a player into over time, after a Devils player charged a Crossfire player deep in the Crossfire’s end and the goalie, Bob Mills and another Crossfire player took some retribution.
The two minute minor the Devils player got had many in the crowd questioning the reefing, including a heckler who eventually got booted from the arena.
“I’m not saying we didn’t deserve some of those penalties, but we’d get a penalty and they’d make the same infraction and not be penalized,” Gibbs said.
Despite the penalties, the Crossfire stayed one goal ahead through most of the last 10 minutes, until a Devils goal at 1:43 brought the Devils back even with the Crossfire. A response from the Crossfire’s Devon Whalen put the Crossfire back on top and had the crowd cheering on fire.
It was the Devil’s that had the last say of regulation time, pulling even with 21 seconds left pushing the game into sudden death overtime.
The Crossfire controlled the ball for most of the overtime period, despite being down a player.
Brody Lawlor found the ball at seven and a half minutes and ended the game to a joyous crowd, putting the Crossfire into playoffs for the first time.
Thursday’s game against the Assault was close throughout the first 40 minutes, before a third period, in which the team fell apart, resulting in a 14-9 loss.
“There’s a couple goals there that I’m sure Bob (Mills) wants and there’s about five goals I’d like back,” Gibbs said.
Due to a suspension, Gibbs wasn’t on the bench, resulting in some line choices that had him cringing on the bench.
The third period meltdown belied a very strong early performance from the Crossfire, who led the game for much of the first 40 minutes.
The Crossfire opened the scoring and traded the lead a couple times in the first. But it was the Crossfire who came out of the first on top, with a one goal lead.
The second began with the Assault trying to gain their footing, pushing hard against the Crossfire defence, but a strong zone defence managed to keep the Crossfire out of trouble, as they traded goals with the Assault. The Crossfire pulled away from the Assault with a two-goal cushion, but a late push, two goals in the last minute, brought the Assault even with the Crossfire going into the third.
The Crossfire opened the scoring again in the third, but the Assault returned with a run of five goals that threw the Crossfire and, ultimately, won the game. The Crossfire and the Assault posted another goal each after for a final score of 14-9.
The game didn’t stop the team from hoping. They knew the next two games were key to cementing a place in the playoffs, and they came out against the Stylers with everything they had on Saturday, winning 13-2.
At the end of a hard season, the Stylers were down a bunch of players on the road and the Crossfire took advantage of that.
The game was even in the first. The Crossfire and the Stylers both worked hard, taking a trio of points each. But that would be the end of equal play.
In the second, the Crossfire took advantage of the tired Styler team and made a seven goal run, while keeping the Stylers off the scoreboard.
A couple more in the third tied the game up with the much needed win.
The team faces an uphill battle, according to Gibbs, as they don’t have the base of support winter sports have to draw on. So far they have been successful at keeping the team stocked with players, but Gibbs hopes the future will provide a large stream of players to choose from and make the draft to get on the team more competitive.
“It’s not in the lifeblood of the community like hockey is,” he said.
That’s his goal now, to put lacrosse on the map in Quesnel and get people out to take part.
His goal is to improve the team so he can put on a good show from the crowd, hoping the action will draw the crowds.
“If you put a good product on the floor people are going to come and watch,” he said.
“The more people come the more money we’ll have and the better we can treat our players.”
The team is on their way, doubling their wins over last year and extending their season with playoff games.
The growth comes along with some significant pains as the team tries to find players with the skills and the drive to play, along with taking some very difficult losses.
“You gotta take those 18-5 beatings right on the chin, he said.
Gibbs also said a big part of the team’s success is due to the hard work of association president Lisa Scott, who he is very thankful to for giving the team a chance to prove itself.
A strong base
A strong base of junior players has been a boon for the team, with Gibbs calling the younger players up to plug holes in his team and being impressed by their skill.
“The junior players are some of the best players on the team,” he said.
Next year, some of this year’s juniors will graduate out of the league and into the big boys league. Gibbs is looking forward to having these players test the older players and push the team. The affect of the juniors was already felt this year, as a couple of last year’s juniors made their way onto the team with a junior player getting the winning game against the Devils and getting the star of the game.
A chance
Gibbs, who loves the game, wants to share it with his home and create a place for young lacrosse players to go once they age out of the juniors.
“When we have a senior team like this, the younger guys can look up and see that, ‘if I keep playing I can go play with these guys.’ That’s the main thing for us, giving the young guys something to shoot for as they come forward,” Gibbs said.
The affect on the young lacrosse players is there at every game as young players walk the stands, lacrosse sticks in hand, or take to the box after it empties out from the game to relive the game with their own sticks in hand.
Gibbs said he’s willing to put forward the energy and deal with the hard losses to get the team off the ground.
“I just want the chance.”