For so many reasons, lacrosse is as a young man's game.
It's a sport played in perpetual motion on a concrete floor where it is legal to use a stick to cross-check an opponent and the object of the game is to fire a five-ounce solid rubber ball past a goalie into the net without getting permanently maimed.
Just don't tell 63-year-old Ray Masson he's too old to suit up. Saturday night at the Coliseum he played a starring role in goal for the Cowboy Ranch/Regional Security Stylers.
Masson was well-oiled puppet on a string, using every piece of his body to block shots and turn BX Pub Bandits shooters a whiter shade of pale in the first game of a Prince George Senior Lacrosse Association doubleheader. He made 50 saves to cinch an 18-6 win over the Bandits that evened the Stylers' season record to 1-1.
"I thought I was going to be in shape from playing hockey, but lacrosse is a whole lot different than hockey and about halfway through the second period I was wondering if I was going to make it to the end," said Masson. "Last year it was a lot of work because we were under the gun so much but I held up OK. I made it through 62 and I thought, 'am I going to be able to play at 63?' Yeah, I guess I can."
Masson was a hockey goalie before he started playing Canada's other national sport in the early 1970s with the Labatt Blues of the North Central Senior B Lacrosse Association. He kept playing both sports until the senior lacrosse circuit folded in 1978 and he came back to lacrosse a few years ago when the PGSLA Stylers needed a goalie.
"Luckily I don't have to run shifts up the floor, but it still wears you out," he said. "Playing goal is hockey is more up and down and that's pretty tough, but this is more side to side and a lot more moving around because there are a lot more loose balls to chase than there are loose pucks."
The Stylers were the only team in the five-team league to miss the playoffs last year, but if they keep playing like they did Saturday, that drought will end this summer. Stoking the Stylers' offence were Mat Rochon (five goals, two assists), Morgan Bloom (4g, 4a), Carson Toth (3g, 5a), Dakota Murphy (3g, 5a) and rookie Brandin Daychief (2g, 2a). Damon Calfa scored three for the Bandits.
James Teer played goal for the Bandits until the 5:34 mark of the third period, when 16-year-old Liam Miller came in to replace him with the Stylers ahead 16-6. Miller gave up just two goals the rest of the game.
The Stylers have fallen on hard times for much of the past two decades, but the determined efforts of player/coach Steve Grabowski to rejuvenate the team are starting to bear fruit. With 20-year-old goalie Kyle Wilson in net last week, the Stylers lost their season-opener by a respectable 13-7 count to the powerhouse Devils.
Just before the season started the Stylers acquired five players from the Westwood Pub Devils in return for the Stylers' two leading scorers, Andrew Schwab and Mike Padalec. The Stylers picked up Cody Rochon and four members of the Sidhu family, Gary, Ashley, Josh and Mark, bringing some fresh young legs into the lineup that are now making a noticeable difference.
"It's a whole different team from last year," said Masson. "The young guys coming in are just great. They're working really hard and they have good skills. We have more bodies on the bench and the work gets shared better so everyone performs better."
