The never-before-seen run has come to an abrupt halt for the Okotoks Jr. B Marauders.
The Calgary Chill sewed up the two-game sweep in the best-of-three Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League South final Sunday ending Okotoks’ marvellous run through its first post-season in franchise history.
“I’m excited to see what they can do next,” said graduating alternate captain Matt McKay. “From what we were when I was 16 my five-year goal for this team was to make sure there was a sixth year.
“Now I know the sixth year is not going to be them grinding to get players, it’s going to be competing and hopefully improving.”
Calgary took Game 2 on Sunday by a 9-5 score largely on the strength of special teams prowess.
The Chill scored four goals, three from Ben Foster, on a seven-minute powerplay in the middle frame to take control of the tilt at Stu Peppard Arena.
“Just a brutal call,” said Marauders head coach Don Haynes. “That’s not even a penalty or anything, there were a couple crease calls they made on us early and one blatantly obvious one that was creasy and they were watching the ball go in, not the foot … Those are game-changing calls that shouldn’t be made or should be made.
“These guys have a tendency to try and take over games, Alberta reffing is just notorious for it.”
Calgary, the top seed in the RMLL’s South Division, showed no chill in the series opener in scoring the first six goals en route a 10-6 triumph on Friday.
“We came in our first game a little flat,” McKay said. “It almost felt like we had accomplished what we wanted. At the same time, not one guy quit.”
Following its upset in the first-round over the second seed Calgary Shamrocks the Marauders struggled to maintain the emotional high they enjoyed following round one.
“During our practices and everything everyone was so pumped,” said Marauders rookie goaltender Brendyn Kendall. “We won, but we weren’t focusing on the next round and obviously that was our downfall. It’s our first time ever and we will get that experience.”
The second game of the series was supposed to be an Okotoks home date, but rink issues forced the game to be postponed a day and then ultimately shifted back into the city. The ice machine at the Murray Arena was inadvertently turned on the night prior causing condensation on the arena floor and rendering it unsuitable for safe lacrosse to be played.
“The Chill were great about it, really we could have forfeited that game,” Haynes said. “They were first class in saying let’s get down here and have the game.
“It’s just a different building. Why we had that push to get it (in Okotoks) was we had those fifth year guys graduating out and we wanted them to be able to play in front of that big home crowd.”
The graduates – McKay, Gage Turner, Taylor McNeill, Josh Vaines and captain Kaleb Burnett — were a major source of inspiration during the playoff run.
“They were vital, we rely heavily on them, scoring, lock down defence, we’re going to miss them a lot,” Kendall said. “There are some people coming up that look really good so hopefully we can build on this and get a win next year.
“This will definitely draw a lot of hype from the community and guys will want to come and play for us.”
Okotoks, on the outside of the playoff picture during its first four seasons in the RMLL, has if nothing else put itself on the Jr. B Tier I map going forward.
“It’s special for those fifth-year guys, they were a huge part of the team,” Haynes said. “Guys like that stick around and there is always a chance. You’ll see some guys come and go, but guys like that who stick around it’s special. It was exciting to watch those kids play lacrosse.
“Legacy? We’re here and we’re getting better every year. We’re moving up the ladder.”
