A dream start already has Alberta’s provincial champions in the Minto Cup record books.
The Calgary Mountaineers, with Foothills products Ryan McLean and Tom Fream on board, snapped a four-decade long streak at the Minto Cup when they became the first Alberta squad to win out of province at the national championship since 1979.
“Even coming in people still believed Alberta shouldn’t be in the Minto. No one took us as a serious competitor,” said McLean, a third-year Mounties defender from Okotoks. “Then we came out and crushed them essentially, winning by eight.
“We’re super excited to know we have a chance here to do something big, that no one from Alberta has done before and we’re hoping to go all the way with it.”
They didn’t just squeak by to get the result either.
The Alberta champs put it to the Delta Islanders early and often and cruised to a 13-5 triumph over the British Columbia titleholders on Aug. 20 in Langley, B.C.
“Going in we knew we had to prove ourselves because we knew we’re the only ones who believed in us,” McLean added. “We had to play our game, play a full 60 minutes which we never really strung together all season.
“We kept chipping away and eventually ran away with it.”
Laszlo Henning and Sean Tyrell, on loan from the Okotoks Raiders, led the charge with six-point efforts while playmaker Jordan Prysko added a hat-trick in the victory.
McLean, Fream and the Mounties defence held the high-octane Islanders to five goals on 45 shots.
“That was definitely our best defensive game all season and we were really aware of the guys we were up against,” Fream said. “I have no doubt (Delta) probably didn’t expect us to come out and compete. We sent a message to the other teams we’re not messing around.”
To put it in perspective, the last time Alberta won a contest against either B.C. or Ontario opposition High River’s Joe Clark was prime minister, The Knack’s earworm My Sharona topped the Billboard singles charts and Michael Cimino’s laborious The Deer Hunter took home the Academy Award for Best Picture.
It’s been a minute and the win couldn’t have come at a better time.
Alberta was effectively boxed out of the national championships the past two seasons as the format saw the Ontario champs take on the Western winners decided in a battle between B.C. and Alberta.
Now back to the traditional four-team format, Alberta has proven beyond doubt it belongs at the table when the national dinner is served.
“It’s pretty big for the future of Alberta lacrosse,” Fream said. “As long as we’re getting a step closer to competing with these teams every year and getting into everyone’s head that we’re going to be a competitor for years to come, that’s pretty big.”
Still, there is work to be done to advance to the final.
The Mounties would drop their second round-robin tilt to the Coquitlam Adanacs on Aug. 21 in a 10-3 contest. Orangeville’s subsequent defeat of Delta eliminated the Islanders from the playoff round and clinched the top-seed and a bye to the final for Coquitlam.
Calgary made it two wins in three games when it shocked Orangeville by a 5-3 count on Aug. 22.
The two met again in the second versus third semifinal matchup on Aug. 23, after the Wheel’s press time, to determine the second qualifier for the best-of-five final versus Coquitlam.
The series runs Aug. 25 to 29 at the Langley Events Centre.
