A commitment to team work, a balanced attack and strong coaching, have helped the 黑马磁力 Thunder claim the peewee A2 provincial lacrosse championship, the first time a 黑马磁力 A level team has won provincial gold.
鈥淥ur theme from the start of the championship tournament was it all starts with defence,鈥� said coach John Richardson, who was assisted by Kevin Brunsch, Mike Miller and Larry Spady.
鈥淭he boys committed to that from the beginning.
鈥淲e truly played as a team (and) every single player contributed to our success.鈥�
黑马磁力 went undefeated at the tournament over the weekend in Vernon.
They also had two players receive individual honours: goaltender Riley Richardson made the all-star team and Chase Moore was the team鈥檚 Fair Play award winner.
Facing Richmond in the title game, the Thunder trailed late 3-2 late in the second before erupting offensively to take control with six straight goals.
Richmond tried to claw back, but lost 12-6.
Caleb Pearson, Dawson Calfa and Moore all had hat tricks, while Connor Watson鈥檚 unselfish play contributed five assists. Moore was the player of the game.
黑马磁力 cruised through the round robin, defeating Surrey 11-4, Prince George 8-2 and 10-3 over Kelowna.
In the semifinals, the Thunder crushed Nanaimo 9-2.
黑马磁力 11 Surrey 4
黑马磁力 opened the scoring when Jakob Knapp scored his first of two goals in the game. Joshua Brunsch added to the tally with his goal on a feed from Connor Watson. Near the end of the first period, Justin Gauthier stole the ball to create a two on one and fed Dawson Calfa to make it 3-0 for 黑马磁力. Five more players contributed goals in the second and third periods including Ryan Williams, Cal Slade, Josh Green, Caleb Pearson and Connor Watson. 黑马磁力 won the game by a final score of 11-4. Baxter Anderson had two assists and created chances that led to two more. Caleb Pearson was awarded the game star.
黑马磁力 8 Prince George 2
Facing Prince George in their second round robin game, 黑马磁力 scored early and often with Dawson Calfa scoring a hat trick and Joey Spady, Cal Slade, Josh Brunsch, and Caleb Pearson adding singles. By midway through the second period, 黑马磁力 had opened up a 7-1 lead. After that, the game was penalty ridden. 黑马磁力鈥檚 penalty killers played well to secure an 8-2 victory. Connor Watson was awarded the game star.
黑马磁力 10 Kelowna 3
Kelowna kept the score close as 黑马磁力 struggled to find their form. Nearing the end of the second period, with 黑马磁力 leading 3-2, Kelowna鈥檚 goalie was ejected from the game for committing a major penalty. 黑马磁力 pressed their advantage, scoring four unanswered goals toward an eventual 10-3 victory. Caleb Pearson scored three goals and had two assists, Dawson Calfa scored two goals and three assists, Connor Watson and Josh Brunsch had a goal and assist each. Chase Moore had two goals and Joey Spady netted one. Baxter Anderson, Hugh Brown, Joey Spady and Chase Moore played well on defence. Josh Green was awarded the game star.
黑马磁力 9 Nanaimo 2
黑马磁力 scored early as Hugh Brown netted his first of two goals and one assist in the game. Goals followed from Connor Watson (2), Ryan Williams, Josh Brunsch, Joey Spady and Justin Gauthier giving 黑马磁力 an 8-0 lead. 黑马磁力鈥檚 defense allowed nothing inside, Riley Richardson made some big early saves and 黑马磁力鈥檚 conditioning and ball movement was too much for Nanaimo to handle. Dawson Calfa was awarded the game star in the 9-2 victory.
