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‘Lucky goal’ keeps Posse away from provincial medal |
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Written by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff
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Monday, 04 August 2008 |
He scored the goal that gave his Westshore Bears bronze medals. Afterward, Iain Henderson wasn't taking much credit for producing the game-winning marker.
Monday at Kin 1, the Victoria-based Bears edged the Prince George Westcana Electric Posse 4-3 to finish third in the five-team junior B lacrosse provincial championship tournament. Henderson's decisive goal happened with 12:40 left on the clock. With the teams in a four-on-four situation, he attempted to catch a pass near the side boards at the Posse end of the floor. He didn't handle the ball cleanly but managed to scoop it up and muscle around a Posse defender. After Henderson cut to the net, he squeezed a low shot past Prince George goaltender Kyle Frederick.
"That was luck -- that was all luck," said the 20-year-old Henderson. "I missed a pass, got a good bounce and the goalie was out of position. I just tried to make it count when we needed it and I'm glad I did.
"(The Posse defenceman) had control over me. He was definitely in my shorts, just didn't really capitalize on the ball. He tried to play the body and I guess it worked out the way it worked out."
After Westshore took the lead, Posse shooters did have chances for the equalizer but most of their attempts were from longer range. Westshore goalie Dan Ormiston stopped the balls that got through to him, including one fired by Kevin Piche of the Posse just before the final buzzer sounded.
"(The Bears) played real good defence," said Posse coach Eugene Bellamy. "I don't think we penetrated enough. The third period we were starting to get them back on their heels but their goalie stood tall in there."
The Posse led 2-1 after the first period and the score was tied 3-3 after two. Piche, who played for the Delta Islanders of the B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League this season, scored all three Prince George goals. Posse runner Andrew Schwab contributed two assists. Henderson finished with a pair of goals for the Bears, while Jordan Green also scored twice for Westshore.
"Obviously it's a tough loss but close games are the funnest ones to be in," said the 20-year-old Piche.
"It would have been nice to get the win but some of the young kids out there showed lots of potential. They have some great skills and it would be really, really great for Prince George if they could get some help and move on to junior A or intermediate A down south."
He didn't score in Monday's game, but 16-year-old Isaac Haack was one of the Posse's most dangerous players during the four-day tournament. In four round-robin games, he had six goals and three assists. Haack, a midget call-up for the event, tied with Mike Padalec (eight goals, one assist) for the team scoring lead during round robin.
Piche liked everything he saw from Haack.
"He was probably the most dedicated, most committed and hardest-working guy on the team all weekend," Piche said. "If he doesn't get picked up by a junior A team, then that league is just missing out."
As for Padalec, he was later chosen to the tournament's second all-star team.
During Saturday's round-robin schedule, the Posse beat the Bears 12-9.
The Posse began provincials with a 16-4 Friday loss to the Coquitlam Adanacs, the eventual champions. Next came the win against the Bears, a game in which Haack netted the final three Prince George goals. On Sunday, the Posse lost 6-2 to the Kamloops Rattlers and got past the Terrace Raiders 7-6. The Raiders -- who went 0-4 in the tournament and were outscored 57-11 -- held a 5-3 lead after the first period.
Bellamy, the Posse coach, considered provincials to be a building block for his players.
"It was a good learning experience for the guys," he said. "Coquitlam is a well-oiled machine and they came out the first game and took it to us. The only game I think I'm perhaps a little disappointed about is the game we played against Terrace. I thought we were not really into that game. We should have played much better in that game, but that's part of the learning experience. One thing you've got to remember is, the game's played on the floor, not by the (previous results) in the standings."
The Posse played their last three games without the services of Phil Michel, who was handed a slashing major and a match penalty (three-game suspension) during Saturday's contest against Westshore. In the two games he did play, Michel connected for four goals and one assist.
Adam Wasnik also saw limited action after he suffered a knee injury in the opening game.
"Phil is a leader on our offence and our power play, and that's a big hole to fill," Bellamy said. "Those two guys in particular would have really made a difference for us all the way through if we had them available."
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Last Updated ( Monday, 04 August 2008 )
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