Despite some serious roster issues depleting their depth and causing some problems within the organization, the 2013 Yorkton Bulldogs season has seen some success given the initial circumstances the team was facing before they even played a home game at Farrell Agencies Arena this season.
Often only having two lines of players due to work commitments and injuries that are always a challenge in the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League and starting out their season 0-4 on the road before losing their first home game of the season, the Bulldogs rattled off two straight wins at home heading into their final two game homestand of the season with a chance at a .500 season if they could take both games on the weekend and beat the Estevan Big Dogs on the road in their season finale.
The Bulldogs got one third of the way there on Saturday when they put together a team effort on Saturday night, beating the Regina Riot 11-6 and moving their record to 3-4 on the season.
Bulldogs coach Joey Choptiuk felt that the key to the Bulldogs was simply having a full group on Saturday. "Well we had pretty much our full team and that helps us out a lot when it comes to playing defense in a fast paced game so having our whole team was and is the key when we manage to win," says Choptiuk.
Bulldogs captain Jerrason Fisher also felt that the Bulldogs discipline in staying out of the penalty box helped them in Saturday's win, "Having a full group of guys and playing as a team, staying out of the box and making sure we can have full energy all game is what keeps us winning so staying healthy and focused has been the key to our wins," says Fisher.
On Sunday against the Regina Rifles, led by PGLL All-Star and one of the league's top scorers in Tristan Frei who also plays hockey for the Midget AAA Regina Pat Canadians, the Bulldogs lack of depth was exposed as they were missing a handful of key players due to injury.
Discipline was also an issue for both teams as the referees for Sunday's meeting called the game extremely tight. Yorkton was given a two man advantage to start the game but could not capitalize, but the quick whistles set the tone for a game that played right into the Rifles advantage as the Bulldogs who were playing with just nine players had a hard time matching a Rifles gameplan predicated on long break out passes. Jayden Dozorec and Fisher put in early third period goals to make things interesting for the first half of the period, but the 'Dogs just ran out of gas losing 9-6.
Choptiuk was quick to mention that things will likely look better next weekend and in the playoffs than in the home finale provided that his Bulldogs get healthy, something that the captain Fisher echoed. "Lacrosse is an up and down sport that is played at a fast pace, and when you lose guys to injury like we did on Sunday with a team that is already scraping by on hard work from a small group of players it can kill you," says Fisher.
Fisher also added that with playoffs coming up that the Bulldogs will likely miss less players due to work commitments as the team has made it a mission to try to get a full roster for the rest of the season. "It is junior lacrosse and most of us are adults who are supporting themselves so work comes before games, especially on the road," says Fisher, "But now with playoffs coming up no matter where we are placed we feel that if we can get everyone out there focused and ready to go for a title run we will definitely be one of the sleeper teams going into the playoffs."
Yorkton closes out their regular season in Estevan with a chance to advance further up the standings over the last place Big Dogs. Playoffs are around the corner, and despite the end of their winning streak, Yorkton still has hope.
