In their final tuneup before they try to bring home a B.C. banner, the Prince George Posse reeled off five straight wins and cruised to the Capital Cup tournament title in Edmonton.
The Posse went 3-0 in the round-robin and went on to defeat Lakeland of Alberta 8-4 in the final, July 3.
Now the Posse has its eyes on the big prize - the provincial A2 bantam lacrosse championship in Vancouver.
The city's top 13- and 14-year-olds have been gearing up all season for their chance to take on the best A2 teams in the B.C. and it all begins on Saturday when they square off against Semiahmoo of Surrey.
The Posse has also done well on the road in B.C. tournaments this season, finishing second in Penticton, fourth in Vernon/Armstrong and fifth at an A2 tournament in Kamloops.
"We've faced half a dozen A2 teams and we're competitive, middle of the pack," said Posse coach Blake McIntosh.
"That (Kamloops tournament in late April) was early in our season, our first tournament of the year with the kids together. They've had a lot of practicing and they're really improving offensively. The motion offensive system is coming together and they played really well defensively (in Edmonton). There were a lot of 30-second (shot clocks) that we killed based on their defence.
"Their conditioning and their running is coming along and the transition's been good, we just have to play a full 60 minutes to stick with the better teams in the province. You can't fall asleep because then they end up killing us."
The Posse is blessed with a strong crop of left-handed shooters.
Jake Nohr made the provincial bantam team that will challenge for the national title, Aug. 2-6 in Saskatoon.
Fisher O'Brien, Matt Magrath, Posse captain Sean Meehan and Konner McIntosh can also fill the net.
On the right side, the Posse will lean heavily on the offensive capabilities of Jackson Parish and Connor Dionne. Liam Froese, a second-year bantam, is the only goalie on the Posse roster and coach McIntosh says he's giving them what they need to win games.
The roster also includes Riley Stevens, Ethan Porter, Grayson Pement, Marshall Schonewille, Stuart Vassallo, Jaydon Merritt, Daniel Sturgeon and Rhys Vassallo.
Doug Schonewille and Trevor Clark are the Posse assistant coaches.
Unlike the type of lacrosse played at the higher levels, where players focus on one specialty, either offence, defence or transition, in minor lacrosse there are no automatic line changes with each change of ball possession and McIntosh says all his players have learned their roles on offence and defence.
The eight-team tournament also includes Kelowna, Burnaby, Richmond, Nanaimo, Vancouver and Saanich. The medal games will be played Monday afternoon at Trout Lake Arena and Killarney Arena.
Last weekend in Coquitlam at the A2 midget provincial championship, the Prince George Posse finished on a winning note but did not qualify for the medal round.
Coached by Tom Esopenko and Ken Eyles, the Posse defeated host Coquitlam 6-3, after losing 10-7 to Nanaimo and 9-2 to Burnaby. Delta defeated Ridge Meadows 9-5 for A2 gold.
Posse sniper Alex Nimmo was picked as a second-team all star, while Hayden Kerr was the Zone 8 scholarship winner.
Gage Prince of the Posse was a fair play award winner.
Graduating Posse midgets Nimmo, Kerr, Lucas Rushton, Justin Parker, Ryan Mager, Adam Halsall, Ethan Brown and Seth Blacker all played their final minor lacrosse game.
Also in Coquitlam, at the six-team midget C provincial championship, the Vanderhoof Bears won gold, defending the championship the Bears won last year as a combined Vanderhoof-Mackenzie team.
Simon Nemethy led the Bears to the title as the tournament's most valuable player and Addison Miller-Gauthier was selected for a midget C fair play award. Coached by Tony Martin, the Bears beat West Kootenay 7-3 in the final last Sunday.
The Prince George peewee Posse, coached by Jeff Parish and Ken Barwise, will play in the A2 provincial championship, July 22-24 in Richmond.
The peewee Posse won silver at the Canada Day tournament in Calgary.
