Overtime was looming for the Mackenzie Norsemen bantam lacrosse team.
With only five seconds on the clock and the Norsemen tied 2-2 with the Langley Thunder in the provincial C championship final in Victoria, a shot got through to the Langley goaltender, who failed to corral the rebound. Mackenzie forward Kris Paulson scooped it up and shot it into the net with less than a second left for a 3-2 victory.
"That game was tight -- it was back and forth all game but in the third period we had 85 per cent of ball possession and their goalie stood on his head," said Norsemen coach Travis Stewart.
"Kris Paulson scored literally with just 0.1 second left. The net moved and the buzzer went. I was unsure whether it counted."
Adam Melville of Mackenzie, an all-star in three of the five games, was the tournament MVP.
Mackenzie advanced to the gold-medal game after defeating Cowichan 12-2 in a semifinal playoff. The Norsemen opened the tournament with a 6-6 loss to Mission, then beat Peninsula 13-3 and a different Cowichan team 7-4 to finish second in their pool.
This weekend in Coquitlam, the Prince George midget A2 Posse, coached by Bill Barwise, willbattle for the A2 midget provincial crown. The Posse will step on the arena floor this morning at 9 a.m. to face the Coquitlam No. 1 Adanacs in their opening game of the eight-team tournament. The Posse also plays Cowichan Valley today at 2:30 p.m.
Then on Saturday, Prince George takes on Richmond at 7:30 a.m.
The top two teams in each of the two pools meet in the A2 midget playoffs Saturday at 7:30 and 9 p.m. The gold medal game is set for 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Three weeks ago, the Posse won the B Division at the Canada Day tournament in Calgary.
