INNISFAIL — The Innisfail-based Mountain View Mavericks won the tier 2 championship of the Founders Cup, the national Junior B lacrosse tournament, held Aug. 19-25 in Hamilton, Ontario.
As a result, officially, the team placed fifth overall. The Elora Mohawks were the overall champs.
The Mavericks met the Winnipeg Blizzard in the tier 2 final and beat the team 11-5.
Carter Michaluk scored a goal and picked up three assists in that game.
The Mavericks made it to the semifinal by pounding the Privateers of Nova Scotia 15-5, being hammered by the Elora Ont. Mohawks 14-4, then beaten 11-8 by the Onondaga Redhawks, an Indigenous team from Ontario.
In the semi-final, they edged the Queen City Kings of Regina 8-7 in in double overtime, setting up the final against Winnipeg.
“We had not only the youngest squad in our league/province, but by far the youngest team there,” Christensen told the Albertan.
He said a key in the team’s performance was “we have great will (plus) determination. Our group handles adversity better than any I've seen at this age and has really developed a growth mindset.
He added the Mavericks players “learn from mistakes and get better each and every day.”
Christensen said the team got “strong transition play” from Luke Hildibrant, offence from Hayden Sutherland and strong defence from Brendon Harnack.
“Alex Swann was superb in net, especially factoring in he was a first-year,” he added.
Next year looks promising for the Mavericks, Christensen wrote.
“Most of the group will remain intact, and so long as we stay hungry, we feel good about our prospects of not only making it back, but winning the whole thing,” he wrote.
“The work that the staff put in was incredible and the support from the community was outstanding,” Christensen said.
Many fans and relatives of the players watched the whole thing online, sometimes getting up really early, given the difference in time zones.
