The Quesnel Wildfire bantam lacrosse team pushed their season record to 8-1 Saturday despite losing their first game of the season.
After catching up on their sleep during a 14-4 loss to the Prince George Posse, the rested Wildfire salvaged their weekend with a 12-4 shellacking of the Mackenzie Norsemen.
“They’re the second place team, so it was a good way to bounce back,” coach Matt Gook said of the Wildfire’s afternoon win against the Norsemen.
The home team was once again led by their captain, Levi Robertson.
Robertson, seemingly able to score on every opportunity, found the back of the net seven times against Mackenzie, including three first period goals to help lead the Wildfire to a 4-1 lead.
Robertson kept rolling in the third period with another three goals as the Wildfire extended their lead to 9-2 after two periods.
“He played a solid game,” Gook said.
Playing a solid game is expected of Robertson, but it is easier said than done considering he is the team’s leading scorer and thus a favoured target with opposing players.
“He takes a bit of abuse out there because he is a bit of a target,” Gook said of his captain.
Abuse indeed.
At one point late in the second period, a Mackenzie player cross-checked Robertson at least five times in a row, even though Robertson didn’t have the ball, but the hits were well within the rules of lacrosse.
To his credit, Robertson, 14, kept his cool and instead of retaliating, which would have put him in the penalty box, Robertson’s payback came shortly thereafter with his sixth goal of the game.
“He does a good job of keeping his emotions under control,” Gook said.
“I just try to keep my head straight, practice a lot and play the game,” Robertson, a Grade 8 student at Quesnel junior school, said.
Robertson’s lacrosse skills are above average, especially considering he has played lacrosse for just two years.
“Having fun,” Robertson, who admitted he would like to play professionally, said was the best part about playing lacrosse.
The entire Wildfire team played with discipline, taking only two penalties, despite the fact the Mackenzie players tried to intimidate the league leading Wildfire into penalties.
That includes the shortest player on the Wildfire, forward Bradley Miles, 12, who admitted to receiving his fair share of attention.
“They can rock me around pretty easy,” he said with a laugh.
Despite his size, Miles, a Grade 7 student at Red Bluff elementary school, uses his agility to his advantage in tracking down opposing ball carriers.
The Norsemen, on the other hand did not make things easy for themselves as they took eight penalties.
The afternoon game was in marked contrast to the Saturday morning game.
Gook was expecting a strong game from his players who entered the weekend with a perfect 6-0 record and had beat the Posse in two previous meetings.
Unfortunately, the Wildfire didn’t show up for the game, Gook said.
“Everybody was a step behind, it seemed like everyone was asleep.
“Poor preparation on their [Wildfire players] part, showing up tired or skipping breakfast.”
The Wildfire sleepwalked through much of the game and were out of the game after the first three minutes of play, Gook said.
Prince George staked themselves a 5-1 in the first and never looked back as they handed the Wildfire their first loss of the season, a 14-4 thumping.
The bantam Wildfire are in action again this weekend as they host a team from Fort St. John for a pair of exhibition games at Twin Arenas. The first game, June 18 starts at 7 p.m. and the second game, June 19, starts at 8:30 a.m.