The Okotoks Marauders are going where they’ve never been before.
Okotoks wrapped up easily its best season since launching a half decade ago with an 8-11-1 record to advance to the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League Jr. B Tier I playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
“This team has grown immeasurably,” said Marauders coach Ryan Hobday. “Five years when I started coming on board we had nothing, no process, we barely had coaches, none of the players knew what to expect or look for. We’re finally at that stage where five guys that started on the team are ageing out.
“We did everything in our power off the floor in the off-season to set this team up for success and I’m real proud of that.”
Playoff action was a faint hope over the first four seasons of Marauders lacrosse.
The team shattered its previous wins mark, five, to lock down the number three seed in the South.
“We were here from the get go,” said alternate captain and fifth-year Marauder Matt McKay. “From what we started from to what we are I don’t know what more I could ask for, really.
“(Playoffs) is everything. That’s what we do it for. It’s a dream come true, really. Now we just need to take care of business when the real game starts.”
Improvements from the veterans and exuberance from a strong rookie class featuring the likes of defensive aces Turner Dirk, Luke Welton and sniper Rylee Lapierre have been at the forefront of the ascension.
“The quality of the young guys that we had come up made all the difference in the world,” McKay said.
“Not just their lacrosse ability, but who they are just amazing people who really brought the whole team together.”
The team’s rise hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Okotoks is getting the best out of its opposition in the RMLL.
“Never mind how we feel about it. Throughout the rest of the league we’re scaring people,” the coach added. “It used to be ‘ah whatever it’s the Marauders’. Now people are saying we have to play our best ball to beat them. That’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
Okotoks will need to be good and lucky to extend its first foray into the post-season past the weekend with the number-two seed Calgary Shamrocks standing in its way.
The Shamrocks were tops in the division for most of the season led by a lethal offence.
“That’s a very difficult match-up for us,” Hobday said. “With us getting the penalties we normally do they have an amazing powerplay.
“We’ve got to learn how to stay out of the box, but five-on-five I would give us the edge. We have a little more grit, a little more determination.”
The Marauders enter the playoffs on a bit of a down note with five straight losses down the stretch.
But hitting the panic button isn’t going to happen for the green-and-black.
“It’s a three game series. Anything can happen in a weekend and it doesn’t take much to get us going,” McKay said. “I don’t think momentum is a necessity going into the playoffs at all.”
The other South Division set will feature the top seed Calgary Chill and fourth-ranked Calgary Mountaineers.
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