Local lacrosse teams got their first taste of competition at the Eye Opener tournament in Red Deer April 13-14 with midget and bantam squads winning all their games.
Midget creaseman Deitrich Lohman, 15, scored a goal from the crease and another from the top of the house on the way to a 10-0 victory over Stettler in the Saturday matchup. The 4-2 win over Olds was a tougher battle.
“Olds was more competition,” he said, noting it was fun to work on playing as a team. “Passing the ball around was pretty good.”
Nolan Pochapsky, 15, who plays point on the midget squad, said he's enjoying playing in Innisfail this year so far after being on a Red Deer team last year.
“I thought I'd come to Innisfail and try out,” he said. “I've got a lot of friends on the team.”
The bantams came off the floor victorious twice as well, beating Olds 16-0 for Innisfail, and defeating Red Deer 1 with a final score of 17-4.
“It was pretty great,” said bantam creaseman Devin Petersen, 12. “Everyone was really excited to get on the floor.”
The Sunday match against the Red Deer team was the more challenging game, he said.
“We were put to the test in the first period,” he said. “In the second and third period we put all we had on the floor and ended up winners.”
The peewee team faced off against Sylvan Lake 1 and Red Deer 2 at the tournament but lost both games.
Allex Putte, 11, who plays point, said he had a lot of fun.
“I like hitting people,” he said with a smile. “You see a guy with the ball and you want to hit him. But you can't because if you over-commit they'll have one less guy to get past.”
The novice team played Red Deer 1 and Didsbury, but was defeated in both games.
The mini tykes played Red Deer and Stettler while tykes played Sylvan Lake 1 and Sylvan Lake 2. No score is kept in these divisions.
Peewee, bantam and midget teams are looking forward to the Ice Breakers Tournament hosted by West Edmonton Blues Lacrosse in St. Albert April 26-28.
Upcoming home games: The bantam team plays Red Deer 2 on May 1 at 7 p.m., the novice team plays Lacoka Locos May 2 at 6:30, the peewees play Red Deer 3 on May 3 at 6:15 and the midget team plays Red Deer 2 at 7:30 on May 3.
