The Olds Mavericks are in Andy Sweetman's words, "celebrating the heck" out of their Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League championship victory from the weekend.
In the gold medal game versus the host Lethbridge Cudas, Sweetman's team won 11-10 to claim the Junior B Tier II title.
Up to this point, the Mavericks had found success easily, starting from last year, when they took the Tier III championship in their first season of existence. They cruised through the regular season this year to reach the final four.
In the end, it seemed like the most adversity they faced came from themselves.
The Mavericks knew they would enter provincials absent seven players for various reasons. But it wasn't until late Wednesday night (July 13), two days before the tournament they realized their call-ups from the Tier III Stingers were in fact, not eligible to play. To fill their roster, Sweetman called up eight midget players from Olds Minor Lacrosse.
He said the team had some chemistry problems early in the tournament, having not practised together. And for the midget players, they were used to smaller nets – and smaller opponents. Junior lacrosse is played by 17- to 21-year-olds.
"Some of the midgets in the first game were definitely tentative. You're playing against bigger guys, older guys, stronger guys. It's a little faster game," Sweetman said, sounding hoarse.
Olds lost its first two round robin games but won the third, expecting their season to be over. But near midnight on Saturday, they found out they had narrowly qualified for the final contest on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Mavericks alternate captain Kurtis Goller recounts his reaction after hearing the news from Sweetman.
"Just getting the text message from him on Saturday night that we got to play on Sunday was just a huge relief. We played all year for the moment and we knew we'd rock it once we got there," Goller said.
Against Lethbridge, "they just came out and played the game of their lives," Sweetman said.
"I think we scored with a minute-twenty left in the game to take the lead 11-10 and with solid defence, we ended up getting the ball with 15 seconds left and ... were able to kill off the clock for the win."
For Goller, it was his first time winning provincials. Last year, he was on the Tier III Stingers team that lost to these Mavericks.
"It feels really nice especially after losing last year," he said.
"I think everybody underestimated us because we're a small town. But we're a really great lacrosse community."
It was a stressful few days for the coach but he doesn't seem too disappointed with the players who couldn't make it. Some had family commitments, a high school grad trip that was rescheduled to coincide with provincials and others were earning scholarship money at the Calgary Stampede.
"It's completely understandable," Sweetman said. "Everybody would have loved to have them, but we made do with it and it worked out for the best."
"Just getting the text message from him on Saturday night that we got to play on Sunday was just a huge relief. We played all year for the moment and we knew we'd rock it once we got there." KURTIS GOLLER, alternate captain
