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Nanaimo outscores Ladner to win senior B lacrosse championship

Timbermen defeat Pioneers 14-13 in overtime Tuesday at Frank Crane Arena
Greg Sakaki

The deciding game of the B.C. final was a wild one, back and forth, up and down, and at the end, the Timbermen were winners.

The senior B Nanaimo Timbermen won the West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association championship Tuesday at Frank Crane Arena, coming back to get past the Ladner Pioneers 14-13 in overtime.

Jeff Shattler, who wears jersey No. 77, scored seven goals for Nanaimo including the championship-winning goal with 77 seconds left.

The result didn’t always look likely, as the Re/Max T-men trailed by three goals about midway through the third period.

“In the game of lacrosse you can never count yourself out…” Shattler said. “The game of lacrosse, it’s so fast, so many goals. [We] never gave up and that’s what great teams do, never give up, just keep battling.”

The Pioneers had taken advantage of power play opportunities to get ahead, but after that, the T-men raised their game.

“We’re a very skilled team,” said Joe Fendick, Timbermen forward. “It was us giving them that opportunity to get ahead of us and we knew we just had to give it our all, and we did.”

Jon Diplock, team captain, said it was amazing to see everyone pull together, from the coaching staff to the players, and keep their heads straight.

“It was hard work. We battled, gave it all of our heart, all of our effort,” he said.

The Timbermen, hosts of the Presidents Cup national championships, were going to be advancing either way, but Diplock said it meant “everything” to the team to win the WCSLA title along the way.

“This one meant a lot … because we didn’t just want to walk into the Presidents Cup just because we’re hosting it,” he said. “We wanted to earn it and we did.”

Shattler finished with 10 points in the game and Corey Shires had two goals and five assists. Diplock had a goal and three assists and Cory Conway had a goal and two helpers. Other scorers were Fendick, Sam Postma and Darrin Wilson. Pete Dubenski earned the win in goal as shots finished 61-49 in favour of the home team.

GAME ON … Both the Timbermen and Pioneers will be participating in the Presidents Cup in Nanaimo, which starts Aug. 26.


sports@nanaimobulletin.com
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About the Author: Greg Sakaki

I have been in the community newspaper business for two decades, all of those years with Black Press Media.
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