Lacrosse Day
Sunday marks Lacrosse Day in St. Albert with five games on tap at Akinsdale Arena.
Game times for the St. Albert teams in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League are as follows:
Junior females: 10:30 a.m. Drillers versus Rockyview Silvertips.
Junior A: 1:30 p.m. Miners versus Saskatchewan SWAT.
Junior B Tier II: 4 p.m. Crude versus Vermilion Roar.
Junior B Tier I: 6:30 p.m. Crude versus Fort Saskatchewan Rebels.
Senior B: 9 p.m. Miners versus Edmonton Warriors.
Senior B Miners
The President’s Cup senior B national champions for three consecutive years started off the season with a loss last weekend.
The St. Albert Miners dropped a 13-9 decision to the host Beaumont Outlaws and Friday’s scoring summary was unavailable at press time.
The setback was only the fifth in 94 games during the team’s championship run since losing the 2015 Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League provincial final.
The Miners are coming off a 22-1-1 record in the RMLL regular season and playoffs and 8-1 showing at nationals as only the third team in the 55-year history of the President’s Cup to three-peat.
The Miners rebounded from the loss with Saturday’s 11-5 decision against the Edmonton Warriors at JRC Arena.
Four unanswered goals in the middle frame put the Miners on top 5-2 as Tristen Friestad, Darren Kinnear (shorthanded), Derek Burak and Graedon Cornfield (power play) scored.
Cornfield finished off the win with three goals and two assists, Kinnear added a pair and three assists and Richard Lachlan tallied twice and added four assists.
Dawson Reykdal and Matt Kristiansen also notched singles while Burak picked up three assists.
The Miners and Warriors clash again Sunday at 9 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
Junior A Miners
The revamped junior A St. Albert Miners make their season debut this weekend against the Saskatchewan SWAT.
Game times are 8:30 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
The Miners and Edmonton Blues have joined forces this year as one team in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
The four-team junior A division also consists of the Okotoks Raiders and Calgary Mountaineers. Both teams have faced off against each other in the RMLL provincial final seven consecutive years with Okotoks winning four times, including the last two finals.
Last year the Miners finished 1-15 and the Blues were 3-13.
The Miners were also 1-19 in 2017, 7-13 in 2016, 7-11 in 2015, 1-17 in 2014, 2-13-1 in 2013 and 3-13-1 in 2012.
Tier I Crude
Saturday’s third period was the downfall for the junior B Tier I St. Albert Crude in the 8-6 loss to the Okotoks Marauders at Akinsdale Arena.
Okotoks (2-1) fired six unanswered goals and the scoring spree started with the power-play tally at the 4:07-minute mark and the next five goals were even-strength markers.
The Crude (2-1) led 2-0 after the first and shorthanded efforts by Jacob Fodchuk and Adam Hawrelak before the end of the second left Okotoks trailing by four.
Guerin Nollski potted a pair with the man advantage and Tariq Jomha and Kolby Nester also scored in the team’s home opener.
Nester, Mathieu Gautier and Brock McIntyre drew two assists apiece and netminder Kyle Schmidt also had one helper.
The next game is Sunday against the Fort Saskatchewan Rebels (1-2) at 6:30 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
Tier II Crude
A three-game homestand for the junior B Tier II St. Albert Crude in starts this weekend in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
The Crude (1-2) plays the Lloydminster Xtreme (0-1) at 5 p.m. Saturday and the Vermilion Roar (2-0) at 4 p.m. Sunday at Akinsdale Arena.
The last game for the Crude was Sunday’s 18-5 loss to the Lakeland Heat (4-0) in Bonnyville.
The Heat posted period leads of 7-1 and 14-3.
The Crude were led offensively by Issac Flynn’s two goals and singles by Blake Petrushko, Brayden Pacheco and Kieran Fisk.
Drillers at home
Tonight marks the first home game of the season for the St. Albert Drillers.
Ball drop is 9 p.m. against the Capital Region Saints (2-1) of Edmonton at Akinsdale Arena.
The Crude and Saints compete in the seven-team junior female division in the Mountain Lacrosse Rocky League.
Last weekend's results for the Drillers (1-2) were the 5-2 win against the Okotoks Raiders (1-1) in Calgary and 9-3 loss to the Rockyview Silvertips (2-1) in Airdrie.
Sunday the Drillers host the Silvertips at 10:30 a.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
