The Estevan Tarpon Energy Big Dogs have reached the halfway point of the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League regular season with only one win under their belts.
The junior lacrosse team dropped to 1-5 on the year with a pair of losses at Affinity Place on the weekend.
Defence was not a strong point in the two games, as the Big Dogs lost 25-10 to the Regina Rifles on Saturday and 29-18 to the Saskatoon Smash on Sunday.
On Sunday, Rhett Handley and Dylan Smith starred for the Big Dogs with 14 points apiece, including seven goals for Handley and six for Smith. Cole MacCuish, Brady Long, Mark Moriarty, Ty Currie and Marshall Holzer added singles.
Brandon and Sam Murphy each scored seven goals for the Smash, while Cody Schwan (4), Brendan Sullivan (4), Levi Dzadick (3), Reid Murphy (3) and Zack Deck also scored.
The Big Dogs held a 4-2 lead barely five minutes into the contest, but it was mostly downhill from there. The Smash scored virtually at will for the rest of the period, taking a 12-8 lead after one.
"We just made some big defensive mistakes. We weren't covering their overload. That's what they did, they put three guys on one side and just worked around instead of a pick, and our guys just couldn't seem to figure it out. They kept doing it all game, over and over and over again," said Big Dogs head coach Evan Handley.
"We did change some things up defensively for a bit, and it seemed to slow them down a bit, and then they got a couple of goals that maybe we should have stopped, and it's hard on your mentality that way."
The Big Dogs were without regular goalie Thomas Davis for the weekend. Teanna Sieben played goal against the Rifles, while Dustin Cowan was in net for the Saskatoon game.
The Smash extended their lead in the second period, outscoring the Big Dogs by one to take a 19-14 edge. However, Estevan made it closer than it had been with four goals in the final eight minutes, during a period in which they had several breakaways.
"We were just playing better defensively in our own zone, making the save and even if they missed the net, we were getting to the loose balls and winning the loose ball battles. That's something that's just been killing us. We have to win loose ball drills and we don't a lot. When we do that, we're able to get the ball down to their end and we can do it," said Handley.
The third period was the worst of the day for the Big Dogs, as they scored four goals to Saskatoon's 10.
On Saturday, Rifles star Tristan Frei dominated the game, scoring a whopping 12 times, along with three assists. Taylor Frei scored six goals and five assists. Blake Schindel (3), Logan McMurtry (2), Jesse Duncan and Spencer Watson also scored for the Rifles.
Handley (4), Smith (2), Moriarty (2) and Tanner Froese (2) replied for the Big Dogs.
The coach said his team played "really bad" defensively.
"They do a lot of things very, very well. The Rifles have three or four really good players that move the ball extremely well and we just didn't do a good job of getting on them."
Handley noted that the Big Dogs lost several of their top players, as Froese and Ty Currie were ejected in the second period and Rhett Handley exited in the third.
"They're a really frustrating team to play against (but) we have to be better than that."
The Rifles led 7-3 after the first period and 17-7 after the second.
With his team already having played half of the league's 12-game schedule, Handley said the Big Dogs need to play with more intensity.
"The biggest thing is playing harder overall. (Sunday was) the first game we've had a real full bench, but we've just gotta play tougher in both ends and make sure that we actually get the ball, and if we shoot, we gotta go get that ball if it doesn't go in the net. We just don't do that enough and those teams, they do that every game. They're all over that ball."
The Big Dogs will play three games at the league's festival event this weekend in Regina. They play the Yorkton Bulldogs and Smash on Saturday, followed by the Prince Albert Predators on Sunday.
