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Gil the hero as Medicine Hat lacrosse team
sweeps Lethbridge
COLLIN GALLANT
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Watching the rough-hewn mayhem,
you’d have never guessed that the Medicine Hat Sun Devils and
Lethbridge Barracudas were both heading to the same provincial
tournament no matter the result of their intense playoff battle
Saturday at the Kinplex.
The two teams exchanged leads for 59 rough
and tumble minutes before Sunny Gil gathered his own rebound on a
breakaway, then from the corner dished to trailing Gas City
teammate Grayson Weir.
In one fluid motion the hard-charging Weir
fired a shot behind Barracudas standout goaltender Tony
Zappone.
That combined with a last second goal from
Medicine Hat captain Jeremy Kasprick gave the Sun Devils an 11-9
victory and a two-game sweep of Lethbridge in the division
championship series.
"It was a pretty stressful last minute,"
said Gil, who scored twice in the first period as the clubs locked
up 3-3 then played neck and neck right through to the final
buzzer.
"Everybody on our team knew that we had to
win today. We didn’t want to go back to Lethbridge (for Game
3) on Sunday," said Gil.
"Everyone battled hard and in the last
minute, I got a breakaway. It’s just weird how things happen
sometimes."
Both teams head to the Alberta Tier II
Junior B championship tournament, which begins Friday in Fort
Saskatchewan.
In Game 1 of the series, the Sun Devils
won 8-4 on the road Wednesday, but Saturday proved a closer
affair.
The teams traded pairs of quick goals in
the second period and were tied 5-5 after 40 minutes.
Kasprick scored his second of the game in
the middle frame as part of a two-goal burst 1:19 seconds apart
with Carson Skryp.
That regained a slim 7-6 margin for
Medicine Hat, but Barracuda David Isaac tied the game on a low shot
that snuck through Medicine Hat goaltender James McCormick.
Third period goals by Kasprick and Mitch
Kurtz put Medicine Hat up by two midway through the frame but
Lethbridge’s Rayson Blinko and Jeff Bobinec scored their
second goals of the afternoon to tie things up with 5:29
remaining.
"There’s a rivalry that goes back
years and years," said Lethbridge coach Mike Cameron. "The top two
teams go to (provincials), but this was for bragging rights."
The Sun Devils have now beaten the
first-place Barracudas in three straight games, dating back to the
regular season finale on June 23, and are now 13-1 overall since a
mid-season turnaround.
"We finally figured out what we needed to
do to win on a nightly basis," said Gil. "It comes down to battling
and playing responsible, tight defence."
Jory Barton also scored for the Sun Devils
on Monday. Lethbridge’s Williams had a hat trick, while
Travis Varro also scored. |
