By Robb Fenton
A win is always great and when it comes against a rival, it’s that much sweeter.
The Lloydminster Lacrosse Association had its two local bantam teams play each other Monday night at the Common Wealth Centre, with the Bantam 2 team earning the 9-2 win over the Bantam 1 side.
“It was a big win in the local rivalry. The kids were talking about it before school and then during the game, so it was good to see. It was a good clean game, nothing vicious and it was a well played game for us,” Bantam 2 assistant coach Gerard Boyer said.
Boyer was filling in for head coach Mark Gallery who was unable to attend the game.
While the Bantam 2 team will soak up this win, they know it won’t be as easy the next time they face each other as the Bantam 1s will be looking to get back at their local counterpart.
“They’ll get their chance to get some revenge on us, we have more games, so they can either way, especially with these teams,” Boyer said.
For the Bantam 1s, it wasn’t a case of being out played, it was timely goals and a few mistakes that led to their struggles and to the loss.
“The effort was there, but it was all kind of misplaced effort,” Bantam 1 coach Ray Heider said. “It was a pass at the wrong time, shot in the wrong place and we got caught watching them too much and they have some players that are going to make you pay and they did.”
While it was a very back and forth game, Boyer said his team did a lot of little things right that led to the win.
Simple things like strong defence and good ball movement gave them the advantage and allowed them to walk away with the win.
“We started playing more like a team like we’re supposed to. We showed more effort defensively and kept them out of our zone,” Boyer said.
“We didn’t let them take a whole lot of shots on our goalie, where on the other hand, we got in and got lots of shots on their goalie.”
Offensively, putting up nine goals and having six different goal scorers was a huge thing for the Bantam 2s and is one thing that needs to continue if the team is going to be successful for the rest of the season.
“It was spread out, it was nice to see the other guys score. It was nice to see and it gives the other guys hope they can score every game too,” Boyer said.
The Bantam 1s were disappointed in the results, but said there are a lot of things they can build on from the loss.
“If the effort is there, everything else will come. We’ll just get some more practice in, more ball handling, catching and passing and we’re there,” Heide explained.
The rivalry is now in full swing and both teams will look to take the next round when they face each other later in the season.
“It always is. It’s always going to be there,” Heide said of the rivalry. “It makes the next time playing them even better because we have something to post on the wall. We’ll post this up so everyone knows what needs to be done.”
The Bantam 2s were in Cold Lake last night and return home on May 26, while the Bantam 1s hosted Wainwright and will hit the road May 26 to take on Cold Lake.