As the season draws to a close Senior B lacrosse wraps up with game 5 played at Delta’s Sungod Arena with the series tied at two.
While the league final is on the line, more for bragging rights, it should be known that the Ladner Pioneers will head East to play in the Canadian Championship at Six Nations in Ontario.
As the season came to an end it’s only fitting that the number one and two place teams squared off for the Championship in a battle to what almost came down to the last shot.
Knowing the talent on each team, it was ironic that through the first four games of the series there was one goal difference in the scoring with the Pioneers managing 35 and Royal city had 34, which shows the talent of each teams goaltenders.
With Ladner jumping out to a one game series lead, you knew that Royal City wasn’t finished and pressure is what they threw at the Pioneers as they managed to rebound pulling off an 14-7.
With the series tied it got down to a best of three and while discipline was or should have been on the minds of everyone, the aggressive play of the Pioneers got the better of them as they allowed Royal City to take a 2-1 series lead by pulling off a close 8-6 win.
The longer the series went the more of a fan base the teams seem to attract and with game four played on the hard-wood at Queen’s Park, the Pioneers had to play aggressive, but more disciplined to even the series at two.
With the Pioneers having a date with destiny and knowing they are heading East to Six Nations for the Presidents Cup they needed to go back a winner and not second best representing the West.
Game four was not only exciting, but far more disciplined by all players on both sides, with the exception of an altercation with just over five minutes remaining in the third.
Mind you Royal City were getting hammered both on the scoreboard and on the floor, with the Pioneers playing what could easily be described as their best game of the series pulling off an impressive 13-4 win.
Game five was less than 24 hours later and no doubt both teams would be “up” for this key match-up game that has the winner crowned league champion.
Home floor means a lot and not to disappoint anyone, the Pioneers played what might be described as the best game of the series.
By far discipline was the “key to success” and knowing the overall importance the Coaching staff knew what was at stake.
Game five saw the Pioneers never look back and controlled the game from the opening face-off to the final whistle outshooting Royal City by a commanding 52-45 margin.
Coming out with a strong start and never looking back was essential for the Pioneers whose game plan was to simply dominate play at both ends of the floor and that they did; from the opening face-off to the final whistle.
We estimated the crowd to be just short of 300 and while not all were cheering for the Pioneers, no one left until after the trophy presentation, which included the fans from New West.
Bench boss Ross Frehlick mentioned “We didn’t have adversity all year long and we lost some of our mojo and it took a couple of games to get it going again but we responded and then you get a goalie with a .920 save percentage the pieces come together.
The team is looking at a blast from the past and having a couple of outdoor practices at the Ladner Lacrosse Box as the ice is in at the Leisure Centre.
Did we mention that this is the first Championship the team have won in a decade and in doing so they now head to Ontario for a date to play for the Presidents Cup that starts August 27th in Six Nations.
We wish them all the best!!
