Miners rolling
One loss was one too many for the senior B St. Albert Miners as the three-time defending President’s Cup national champions.
The third consecutive victory for the Miners after the season-opening 13-9 setback to the Beaumont Outlaws in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League was Monday’s grudge match against the Outlaws at Go Auto Arena.
The Miners out-scored the visitors 4-1 in the second period for the 5-3 advantage, en route to the 8-6 decision.
The last two goals in the middle frame by the Miners were power-play tallies by Matt Kristiansen at 16:43 and Richard Lachlan at 19:42.
It was 7-5 Miners, when the Outlaws (2-2) scored with 1:24 left in regulation time and Darren Kinnear slotted the insurance marker with 46 seconds to go for his second goal of the night.
Lachlan finished with a pair and four assists and Kristiansen added three helpers.
Graedon Cornfield (power play), Dawson Reykdal and Travis Poseluzny also scored in support of netminder Matt Hiebert.
The Miners are now 90-5-2 since losing the 2015 RMLL provincial final.
The Miners were coming off an 11-3 outburst against the Edmonton Warriors on Lacrosse Day in St. Albert.
Shorthanded markers by Kristiansen, Cornfield and Lachlan, plus power-play goals by Kristiansen, Lachlan and Derek Burak grounded the Warriors (0-3) Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
Lachlan led all scorers with four goals and two assists and Kristiansen's six-point outing included three goals.
Cornfield chipped in with a pair, Brett Bohalchuk also found the back of the net and Hiebert drew one assist.
Next weekend the Miners host the Calgary Mountaineers (1-2) at 3 p.m. Saturday and Calgary Raiders (1-1) at 5 p.m. Sunday at Go Auto Arena.
Crude stymied
The second loss in a row for the junior B Tier I St. Albert Crude was suffered in overtime Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
The third period featured a pair of goals by the Fort Saskatchewan Rebels before Brent McIntyre’s hat-trick marker and sixth point of the contest knotted the count on the power play with 55 seconds left in regulation time.
The Rebels went on to score in sudden death for the 9-8 decision on Lacrosse Day in St. Albert.
Adam Hawrelak capitalized twice on the power play during a six-goal Crude outburst in the middle frame to erase a 3-1 deficit after 20 minutes.
McIntyre also had a goal called back in the second.
Mathieu Gauthier recorded two goals and four assists and Guerin Nollski also scored.
Shots were 8-5 Rebels in OT and 58-43 overall for the visitors with Kyle Schmidt in net for the Crude.
The Rebels (3-2) and Crude (2-2) are ranked first and second, respectively, in the four-team north division in the 15-team RMLL circuit.
This weekend the Crude are in Regina for three games against the Barracudas (0-4) of the east division.
Meanwhile, the junior B Tier II Crude runs the floor May 22 against the Parkland Posse (3-1) in a north central division match at 9 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
Last weekend the Crude (1-3) hosted two north east division teams and lost 15-6 to the Lloydminster Extrme (2-1) Saturday and Sunday’s score against the Vermilion Roar (2-0) on Lacrosse Day in St. Albert was unavailable at press time.
Junior A Miners
The St. Albert Miners split the opening junior A weekend against the Saskatchewan SWAT in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
Scores were the 11-7 loss and 15-9 win at Akinsdale Arena.
Ethan Forgrave and Callin Harris led the Miners in goals with five apiece, while Jacob Bowen produced three and Zach Wildboer netted a pair.
Forgrave was also the team's top point producer with nine, followed by Marcus Needham with seven and six apiece for Harris and Bowen.
Needham contributed five assists in Saturday’s loss, while Forgrave’s three goals and three assists paved the way to victory Sunday on Lacrosse Day in St. Albert.
Next weekend the Miners travel to Calgary to play the Raiders and Mountaineers in the four-team league.
Drillers at home
A three-game homestand for the junior female St. Albert Drillers ends tonight at Akinsdale Arena.
Ball drop is 9 p.m. against the senior Edmonton Bandits (1-1-1).
The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League’s female component consists of seven junior and five senior teams.
The last game for the Crude (1-3) was the 7-2 loss to the Rockyview Silvertips (3-2) of Airdrie on Sunday.
Breanne Peterson and Brittney Howse scored on Lacrosse Day in St. Albert.
