Crude vs. Rebels
Two of the top junior B Tier I teams in the province butted heads in Tuesday’s deciding game in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League playoffs.
The score between the St. Albert Crude and Fort Saskatchewan Rebels at JRC Arena was unavailable at press time.
The Crude staved off elimination in Monday’s 14-12 overtime barnburner at Akinsdale Arena after dropping the best-of-three series opener 8-7 Sunday in Fort Saskatchewan.
In game two, Tariq Jomha and Guerin Nollski scored in the 10-minute extra period after the Rebels rallied with goals with 42 and 20 seconds remaining to pull even at 12 apiece.
The Crude posted period leads of 6-2 and 9-7 before Jomha and Adam Hawrelak potted goals early in the third.
The Rebels replied with three straight to close the gap to 11-10.
Guerin made it 12-10 with 2:06 to play.
Jace Simington-Lesanko of the Crude was credited with 64 saves.
The Crude served 30 minutes in penalties, including five-minute majors to Simington-Lesanko and Nathan Shellington (match penalty in the third period), compared to 18 minutes for the Rebels.
The Rebels capitalized five times on the power play and scored once shorthanded while the Crude finished with three goals with the man advantage.
Mathieu Gautier led all scorers with eight points.
Hawrelak recorded three goals and three assists and Nollski also found the back of the net three times.
Jomha, Joseph Royer and Gautier netted a pair each and Jorden McCuaig and Kolby Nester notched singles.
Sunday’s game summary was unavailable at press time.
The Crude (15-4-1, 224 GF/159 GA) were coming off a 10-7 and 11-3 playoff sweep of the Edmonton Warriors (5-15) and the Rebels (15-3-2, 222 GF/136 GA) had a bye as the division leader.
In league play, the scores between the Crude and Rebels were 9-8 in OT May 12 in St. Albert and 13-11 for the Rebels at home July 14 in the last league game before the playoff and the 10-10 OT draw July 2 in St. Albert.
The junior B Tier I circuit is comprised of 15 teams in four divisions and the first-place team overall in the regular season was the central division Calgary Shamrocks (19-1, 294 GF/117 GA), last year’s provincial champions.
The north division playoff winner advances to the next round against an opponent to be determined.
This year’s provincial champion qualifies for the Founders’ Cup, Aug. 12 to 18 at Winnipeg. The Manitoba Blizzard (13-7, 203 GF/189 GA), the first-place east division team, are hosting nationals.
Junior A playoffs
The season is over the junior B St. Albert Miners after losing three playoff games in a row to the Calgary Mountaineers in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
The best-of-five series opened in Calgary with the Miners winning game one and 11-7 and the Mountaineers answered with the 23-10 decision.
Last weekend the Mountaineers posted wins of 13-9 and 17-4 at Go Auto Arena for a berth in the RMLL provincial final.
In Saturday’s series clincher, the Mountaineers racked up nine power-play goals and one shorthanded marker as the Miners were assessed 84 minutes in penalties while Calgary served 16 minutes.
Ethan Forgrave led the Miners in playoff scoring with nine goals and 14 points.
Skyler Wilson produced five goals and 11 points, Mathew DeGirolamo potted five goals, Braedan Duckworh added seven assists and Marcus Needham had six helpers.
In the four-team standings, the Mountaineers (149 GF/128 GA) finished first and the Miners (4-11, 132 GF/159 GA) were fourth.
The Miners were also 1-4 against the Mountaineers in league play.
