Stingers go undefeated in regular season

With a decided victory over the Brooks Drillers on Sunday (June 25), the Olds Stingers became the town's first junior lacrosse team to go undefeated in regular season play.

The Stingers crushed the Drillers with a 22-4 win Sunday afternoon in their last home game of the season, and head to provincials ranked first in the four-team Tier III division of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.

"It's special to us," said head coach Laine Foshaug, about the team's 14 straight wins this season. "A confidence booster."

"It's nice to see them succeed," said assistant coach Logan Niemeyer. "Our offence moves the ball, we have systems in place – in general we have a really great group of guys in that dressing room. They know how to play lacrosse."

Defenceman Ryan McBeath said the other teams might not measure up when it comes to commitment and getting players out to practice, which he attributes to the Stingers' success.

"We have a pretty good team this year, and we are pretty committed," said the Olds High School student, who's racked up 32 goals over the season, making him one of the league's top five scorers, along with offensive teammates Dexter Hebert, Braiden Smith and Alex Wigley. "I've seen everybody's getting better this year – it's just developing."

With the Stingers' domination in their division this year, there's talk about the possibility of moving up a level next season.

"We'd need a little bit more practice – things we've got to work on and get together," said Foshaug, "but other than that, yeah we could definitely compete in Tier II."

McBeath, who's been called up to play for the Tier II Olds Mavericks, as well as for Senior C games, thinks the Stingers could hold their own.

"We wouldn't be top in the league, but I'd say we would do all right," he said, noting that there's more consistency from players as they move up. The Tier II teams play more games during the season, and aren't as rusty when they come back from a break, he said.

For now, the Stingers will concentrate on the provincial championships, which will be held on home turf, July 14-15. All four Tier III teams will play round robin style to determine which will battle for the banner.

"I expect us to be in the gold medal game on Sunday," said Niemeyer.