Wildfire still burning opponents

The Quesnel bantam Wildfire lacrosse team added two more wins to their record at a tournament in Prince George.

The Wildfire came close to the loss column in their second game of the day, nursing an 8-7 lead going into the third frame against the Mackenzie Vikings.

The Vikings tied it early in the third period to knot the score at eight and  the teams then traded goals to set up an exciting finish.

Wildfire captain, Levi Robertson, scored the eventual winner, his sixth of the game, with a beautiful goal to give his team the 10-9 lead.

Robertson took a pass in the right face-off circle then fought his way to the edge of the crease and fired as he dove across the front of the net.

Robertson then set up Bryston Waffle who fired a shot from the edge of the crease to close out the scoring in the 11-9 win.

“He’s very athletic,” Wildfire assistant coach Alex Gibbs said.

The score could just as easily been 21-9, but the first period offensive spurt that saw the Wildfire stake themselves a 5-2 lead, didn’t carry over into the second period.

“Our sticks went cold,” Gibbs said of the second period.

Adding to the cool sticks, Wildfire netminder T. J. Reistad lost his mojo in the second period, giving up five goals.

“He got shaky a bit,” Gibbs, a Grade 10 student at Correlieu senior secondary school said.

“Otherwise he has been excellent.”

Both the Wildfire offence and Reistad returned to form in the third period to collect their fourth win of the season.

“We kept on battling and passed the ball much better,” Gibbs said of  his team’s play in the third period.

Travis Gook and Ian Jarvis also had goals in the win against the Vikings.

In their Saturday morning game the bantam Wildlife collected an 11-6 win thanks to strong performances from Reistad and five goals by Robertson.

The novice Wildfire were also in Prince George for a set of games.

Following a tough 16-1 loss against Prince George Saturday morning, the novice Quesnel Wildfire team rebounded in the afternoon with a 5-3 win over the Mackenzie Vikings.

“The boys had fun,” Wildfire coach Gary Salmons said.

The Wildfire earned the win with two unanswered goals in the third period.

A little short on the bench, Salmons supplemented his team of 9 – 10 year-olds with five tykes players aged 7 – 8 years old.

Wildfire netminder Ezra Nestle also had a good game, making several big saves to keep his team on the right side of the score Salmons said.

Both teams next see action May 28 in Mackenzie.