The Nanaimo Timbermen did everything they could on their last weekend of regular-season lacrosse – the rest is up to the out-of-town scoreboard.
The senior A T-men closed out their best WLA regular season in franchise history on Saturday and Sunday, July 23-24, with back-to-back wins against the Victoria Shamrocks and Maple Ridge Burrards at Frank Crane Arena. Nanaimo beat Victoria 10-8 on Saturday and followed that up with a 12-6 win against Maple Ridge on Sunday.
The Timbermen (12-6) are four points ahead of the rest of the field in the WLA, but every other team also has three or four games in hand.
“We’ll have to wait and see what the other teams do to see how the standings turn out, but we just wanted to make sure we got a win and let the rest handle itself,” said Colton Lidstone, Timbermen forward.
He said his team treated the final regular-season game like a playoff test, trying to hone their game. After giving it their all against the Shamrocks, they had to dig deep to do it again against the Burrards, he said.
“We always have to come out with energy, we always have to come out inspired and connected with one another and [players] did that on back-to-back-nights,” said Tewanee Joseph, Timbermen coach. “It was a good win last night, but tonight was even better because we came together on a second night and that’s what was important.”
The coach said the team has strengthened a “family” type of bond while progressing through the season and he said that’s what he’s been most proud to see.
“Everybody’s connected and we’re holding each other up,” Joseph said. “In our language we say chenchenstway, holding and lifting each other up. That’s our theme for this year.”
In the win against Victoria, Jordan Cunningham led Nanaimo with two goals and two assists, Jon Phillips and Jerrett Smith had two goals each and Devlin Shanahan made 38 saves for the win.
The next night, Lidstone had two goals, six assists and a fight, Phillips had two goals and five assists, Teioshontathe McComber had three goals and two helpers and Jerome Thompson added two goals. Charles Claxton made 36 saves.
Phillips was Nanaimo’s leading scorer again in 2022, finishing with 64 points and also leading the team in goals with 28.
READ ALSO: Nanaimo Timbermen move into first place in the league
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