The Williams Lake Bighorns midget lacrosse team finished just shy of the medals at the ‘C’ division B.C. Midget Lacrosse Championships in Coquitlam, July 22-24.
The team played Port Coquitlam in its first game July 22 getting off on the right foot with a 7-4 win. In what was a close game until the third period, the Bighorns exploded for three goals late to seal the deal. Game star for the Bighorns was Riley Lawryk.
Later that afternoon the Bighorns met Comox Valley in another close game that was tied 4-4 after three periods where overtime was needed. There, Williams Lake’s Tristan Sailor lit the lamp with the game winner around two minutes into the extra frame to lift his club to a 5-4 victory. Bighorns star of the game was Trenton Horsley.
Day two of the competition saw the Bighorns face Langley in Port Moody. The lakecity squad won handily with a 5-0 win. Bighorns netminder Garrett Taylor-Gerow picked up the shutout, and with the win the Bighorns were first in the pool with three wins and no losses. Star of the game for Williams Lake was Sailor.
Saturday afternoon a recognition ceremony was held in Port Coquitlam where three Bighorns were honoured for their contributions.
Cody Colby was the team’s winner of the Fairplay Award, Lawryk was named to the ‘C’ division all-star team and coach Robin Hoffos was named the ‘C’ division’s Fairplay Coach.
Following the ceremonies the Bighorns were right back out onto the floor for the semi-final crossover game against Mission, who were second in pool No. 2. The winner of this game would advance straight to Sunday’s gold medal game.
Williams Lake blasted out of the gates to a 2-1 lead after the first period and continued with their momentum taking a 3-1 lead into the third.
There, Mission tied the game with 46 seconds remaining to send it to a full 10-minute overtime. Mission scored two goals in the overtime frame to win 5-3, sending Williams Lake to the bronze-medal game. Star of the game for the Bighorns was Lawryk.
Sunday, in the bronze medal final against Kelowna — who’d lost 4-3 the previous day in quadruple overtime to Port Coquitlam — the Bighorns got off to another good start sitting tied 1-1 after the first period. Kelowna, however, would jump out to a 4-3 lead after two and went on to win 9-6. Lawyrk, again, picked up a nod for star of the game.
In the tournament final Mission ended up taking the tournament crown after beating Coquitlam 7-6 in double overtime.
Williams Lake, with a small squad of 11 players and a goalie — fewer than most of the other teams in the eight-time ‘C’ division — did the city proud with their effort and attitude throughout the provincials, said the team.
The team also said its good byes to four players who played their final year in the midget division — Torry Hoffos, Cody Colby, Matthew Brenner and Drew Davies.
The Bighorns would also like to thank the Williams Lake Kiwanis Club for sponsoring their season.