The Okotoks Raiders took the long way home to evening up the provincial final.
Okotoks scored three straight in overtime after allowing a tying marker with less than a second left in regulation of Game 2 on Sunday to edge the Calgary Mountaineers 15-13 and level the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League Junior A championship at 1-1.
“You could see right when they scored a couple guys hanging their heads,” said Raiders attackman Travis Getz. “And it’s on the older guys to get the mojo of the team back and get the guys back ready to fight for that last period.
“We knew we had them. We’re in better shape than these guys and we were going to run it for that last bit and it worked out.”
The veterans got to work to restore the advantage in the extra-session.
Trade deadline acquisition Tristan Rai tallied the crucial opening marker in overtime with a Howitzer from the point. Getz followed it up with a shot through a screen followed on the ensuing face-off by a priceless breakaway tally from Jesse Chong and Okotoks was off to the races.
“We’re a momentum team so it was huge getting that first one,” Getz said. “We play really well with the lead. When we get behind sometimes we struggle.”
Jake Foster cut the deficit to 15-13 with just over two minutes remaining, that was as close as the Mounties would get.
“Going in to (overtime) we felt pretty hot off that end goal,” said Mounties defender Ryan McLean, an Okotokian. “They ended up getting an outside rip and we just never fully bounced back.” The hosts built an early 4-2 advantage following an even opening period highlighted by consecutive goals from gritty defender Austin Rockwell.
High River’s Kade McCormick rifled one into the top corner to kick-start a second period surge for the Raiders which would see them outscore their opponents by a 6-2 margin.
Transition markers from Okotoks’ Brett Craig, Guy Cullen and a breakaway tally from the fleet-footed Connor Pupp provided major momentum swings for the visitors. High Riverite Clayton Warren’s prowess in the face-off circle was equally essential.
Following a pair of markers from Getz and Rai, Calgary got to work chipping away at the lead in a seesaw final frame. Rangy forwards Laszlo Henning and Isaac Bot potted three goals combined to get the lead down to one midway through the stanza.
“We got back into our game and had to stop letting them get in transition on us,” McLean said. “That hurt us in the second with most of their goals off face-offs or odd-man opportunities. Our offence starting clicking more and we realized we had to dig deep.”
Connor Wilson’s goal on a backdoor play with just under a minute a remaining put Calgary in striking distance at 12-11.
They would complete the comeback in truly unbelievable fashion as the Mounties forced a Raiders’ turnover and with the extra-attacker swung the ball to a wide-open Tony Tremblay in-front. The veteran defender didn’t miss, potting his shot from the slot with 0.4 ticks on the clock.
“After they score a big goal at the end like that I would say they had a bit of momentum,” Chong said. “Good on our team staying composed and going through some adversity and sticking together.”
Calgary earned a 1-0 series lead in winning a shootout Game 1 by an 18-14 count.
The Mounties built a 7-1 advantage in the first period and led by as many as 10 goals in the middle frame before Okotoks made a last ditch attempt to narrow the scoreline.
“We’re a young team and for a lot of guys, you can’t really imagine what this series is like until you’re in it,” Chong said. “We came out on the floor, they had been rested, and we came out like ‘well we’re here’ and it took a minute.
“It sucks it went the way it did, but we like the way our team responded.”
The series switches 16 km northeast for Game 3 tonight, Aug. 3, at the Max Bell Centre. Game 4 is Aug. 6 at the home of the Raiders at 8 p.m. with Game 5 to follow on Aug. 7 at the Peppardome.
If necessary, Game 6 is slated for Aug. 10 at Max Bell and Game 7 would be Aug. 14 at the Mounties’ home floor.
For more information on the series go to rockymountainlax.com
