The best rivalry in Alberta lacrosse swung the wrong way on the Okotoks Raiders.
The defending champion Raiders saw their national dreams cut short as the Calgary Mountaineers won three straight to clinch the Alberta Junior A championship in Sunday’s 14-7 Game 5 triumph at Stu Peppard Arena.
“Our kids played hard. There was no lack of effort, there was no lack of trying or care or anything like that,” said Raiders assistant coach Jesse Fehr. “They out-executed us in certain areas and that’s really what ended up hurting us.”
The Mountaineers found the back of the net eight times in the second period to take control of Game 5 and effectively boxed out the Raiders’ top scorers from golden scoring opportunities.
“They had a big, physical defence and did a really good job getting inside and taking our passing lanes,” said Fehr. “We generated a lot of shots and their goaltenders played well. If they take away the inside, you’ve got to be able to hurt them from the outside.
“And our outside shooting wasn’t great in the finals.”
At the other end of the floor, the Raiders used four goaltenders in the series as primary starter Tyler Landry was unavailable due to work commitments and back-up Brendan Wilhelm was suspended for Game 5 for a last-minute line brawl the night prior.
“We really struggled to gain momentum,” the coach added. “It’s not all on the goaltending, there were plays where we would give up goals off face-offs that killed us, things in transition.”
The Mounties put themselves in the driver’s seat with back-to-back wins away from home at the Raiders’ Max Bell Arena – bookended by a comeback 13-11 victory in Saturday’s Game 4 to take a 3-1 stranglehold on the best-of-seven set.
“We’re proud of the kids,” said Raiders general manager David Fehr. “We’ve grown a lot from the start of the season in terms of the camaraderie, the guys wanting to play for each other and skill-sets and adhering to systems.
“But it’s a bitter pill to swallow when we’ve come so far.”
Calgary’s title continues the tit-for-tat run of championships between the arch rivals. Since 2011, the Mounties and Raiders have alternated titles every year with each club owning three championships in that timeframe. Okotoks has made it to a record eight straight finals.
“Last year was such a bitter end for us that we weren’t going to let it happen,” said Mountaineers defender Tom Fream, from DeWinton. “Vice-versa for them, they’re going to come out hard next year and that’s what it’s all about. It keeps it exciting.”
For coach Fehr, the amount of turnover and lack of free-agency also plays a role in keeping teams from building dynasties in the province.
“It’s the old story of it takes time for teams to learn how to win,” he said. “Both teams haven’t won when their dressing rooms haven’t been ready to win. No team has been able to pull off a win with a really young team that learned how to win early and was able to rip titles off.
“That’s what we were hoping for this year.”
Boasting a youthful line-up, Okotoks loses just five players to graduation in Sean Tyrrell, Robert Raittila, Luke Lehtimaki, Tristan Rai and High River’s Clayton Warren.
Tyrrell’s season isn’t done just yet as the slick playmaker will be joining the Mountaineers in their Minto Cup pursuit. Rai was the Raiders’ most consistent force on offence in the final while Warren enjoyed his best lacrosse in four years as a faceoff and defensive specialist down the stretch.
For more information on the Raiders go to raiderslacrosse.ca
