The Estevan Warriors bantam lacrosse team lost 11-6 to the Moose Jaw Mustangs at Affinity Place on Friday, but that final result masks a strong start and complete game effort from the hometown club.
“I was happy how the kids played,” said Warriors coach Rhett Handley. “We’re improving every game, every single practice and it really showed out there.”
After falling behind 5-3 in the first 15 minutes, the Warriors fought back in the back-and-forth and hard-hitting second period that featured both teams generating chances offensively. Estevan’s Kyler Gervais quickly brought his team to within one 47 seconds into the frame on the power play with a shot from the top of the goal crease that went low corner only to have Moose Jaw’s Liam Fitzpatrick restore the two-goal lead while shorthanded 30 seconds later. The Warriors’ Cale Adams then notched his second of the game on a scramble in front before the Mustangs jumped ahead by two before the period came to a close.
Estevan controlled the play during the opening minutes of the third period, but couldn’t beat Moose Jaw netminder Bryden Kerr despite a few quality chances including a Gervais shot from 15 feet out that hit the post and an Alex Von Sprecken attempt from in close that the goaltender got a pad on. After withstanding the push, the Mustangs widened the lead before Von Sprecken deposited a rebound off a blocked shot with just over a minute remaining.
“We are pretty evenly matched,” said Mustangs coach Shae Nichols, whose team moved to 6-3 after the win. “They are definitely a big physical team, hard to contain and we’re a smaller younger team, but we just kept running. That’s all we could do.”
Handley said the Warriors (0-5) endured a bit of an adjustment period at the beginning of this season to their new position in the Queen City Minor Box Lacrosse League (QCMBL), but have been progressing with each practice and game. He said getting a chance to play games in the QCMBL as opposed to their former state of just continually practising bodes really well for the club and now that they’ve got their feet wet they’re ready to go.
“You can practise and draw things up all day, but it’s never going to make a difference until you’re playing in a game,” he said. “I expect them to keep improving every single game, just like we have every single practice. The boys are pretty confident and they’ll get a win. That’s our ultimate goal, to come out of this with a few wins.”
