Despite having almost double the available players, the Quesnel Crossfire were unable to get much going against the Prince George Bandits in the first senior lacrosse game held at West Fraser Centre.
The final score was 9-3 for the Bandits in a game the Crossfire were outplayed in for large swaths.
The lone bright spot was the performance of Bryston Waffle, who had a pair of goals for the local squad.
“We came out pretty slow,” says Crossfire player Garth Kennedy.
“In that second period we ran them but we’ve got to get ourselves in shape again.”
The Crossfire players were able to get quite a few nice runs on goal, but their ability to move the ball around and get quality chances hurt them time and time again.
“We’ve got to work on passing and catching the ball,” Kennedy says.
“Lots of the guys haven’t been taking their sticks out in the off-season, so obviously we’re missing lots of passes and putting lots of shots on the goalie’s chest.”
Drew Doig scored four goals and added two assists for the Bandits, who won the regular season last year.
“We slowed it down and played our game,” he says.
“They’re pretty fast and there’s tons of them, so we had to slow it down and play it at our speed.”
Only 11 players made the trip down from Prince George, leaving some in the arena wondering if there were more waiting in the dressing room as the teams performed their pre-game stretches.
“A lot of guys work out of town or on shift work,” Doig said, shrugging off the short handedness.
Rookie Caleb Mueller had a hat trick in his first game as a senior for the Prince George team. He also distributed the ball well, notching four assists.
The Bandits went up 3-0 in the first period, capitalizing on almost every chance they were able to conjure.
While the home team was able to get a run going in the second, scoring two quick goals a little past the halfway mark, the Bandits responded with two rapid answers, and the locals never threatened again.
Next up for the Crossfire is another home game versus the Prince George Devils this Thursday (May 4).