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Posse players refuse to play with discipline, dumped early from provincials |
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Written by TED CLARKE, Citizen staff
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Sunday, 20 July 2008 |
Penalties, penalties, and more penalties.
That was the story of the tournament for the Prince George Marc Carrier Plumbing and Heating Posse at the A1 midget provincial lacrosse championship in Coquitlam/Port Moody, and it did not have a happy ending.
The Posse broke the rules a little too often and were sent home early after losing all three round-robin games.
“We were undisciplined,” said Posse head coach Dave Jenkins. “In each of the last two games we were penalized twice as much as the other team, mostly from stickwork, and I blame it on the style of lacrosse we play up here. The guys thought they could freewheel and get away with stuff they get away with here (in the P.G. Senior Lacrosse Association).”
The Posse’s provincial quest ended Friday with a 6-4 loss to Langley, leaving the Prince George squad out of the playoff round. The Posse opened with an 11-2 loss to Port Moody and lost 8-5 to Juan de Fuca
Ridge Meadows beat Port Moody 8-5 to win the provincial title on Sunday, after Langley had defeated Saanich 9-6 in the bronze medal game.
“In the last two games, after they found their legs, they were every bit as as good as either team they played,” said Jenkins. “It was only their time in the penalty box that did them in. Nearly all the other teams’ goals were scored on the power play and we had no more than two power play goals for our entire total in three games.”
Isaac Haack, the Posse’s leading scorer, was keyed on constantly by the Posse’s opponents and was held to three goals in the tournament. Haack and his linemates Zac Thompson and Danton Nicholson, the Posse’s top scoring trio in the season, were left wondering where the magic in their sticks went.
Jenkins said the Posse sorely missed Daniel Gibb, a specialist at breaking down picks, who was out with a hamstring injury. Gibb has been the Posse’s top defenceman all season, averaging 40 minutes a game.
On a more positive note, Posse forward Mitch Marsolais, a three-goal scorer in the Juan de Fuca game, was named a tournament all-star, while Mike Quarin and Matt Rochon stepped up their offensive production, but not enough to keep the Posse’s title drive alive.
Aside from his team’s disappointing results, Haack got more bad news Sunday when the B.C. Lacrosse Association ruled a hitting-from-behind penalty he took in the last minute of the Langley game will result in a five-game suspension. For Haack, that means he’ll miss playing for Zone 8 with his Posse teammates in the B.C. Summer Games, which start Thursday in Kelowna. It will also keep him out of the lineup of the Westcana Electric junior B Posse for the start of the junior B provincial championship, set for Aug. 1-4 at the Kin Centre.
“I’ve seen a heck of a lot worse checks,” Jenkins said. “The guy turned his shoulder at the last second and I think Isaac tried to pull up just before he delivered the check, and but that’s not the way the referee saw it.
“Isaac has played disciplined all year and I don’t think it should have gotten him more than a one-game suspension. It certainly wasn’t an attempt to injure, it was just tough playing by Isaac.”
The Posse chose at the start of the season to move up to the A1 level and despite the weekend outcome, there were no regrets.
“It was an excellent experience for our kids,” said Jenkins. “They know they can play at that level and they had the opportunity to be seen by the junior A scouts. I know if we had played in league with these teams all year, I know we would have been playing in that gold-medal game. We would have won at A2, but I think every kid appreciated the opportunity to play against somebody who at least thought they were better than our kids, and in reality, really weren’t.”
n Game 6 of the PGSLA final series starts at 8 p.m. tonight at Kin 1. The Shooter’s Pub Devils can clinch the Dale Rolufs Memorial championship with a win over the BX Pub Bandits in the best-of-seven series. The Bandits are coming off a 10-7 win on Thursday.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 July 2008 )
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