After a long day of lacrosse, the Nanaimo Timbermen can celebrate not just one win, but two.
The Re/Max Timbermen were double winners Monday at the Presidents Cup senior B national lacrosse championships at Frank Crane Arena, defeating the Saskatoon Blades 14-11 in the morning and then beating the Onondaga Redhawks 15-11 in the evening.
Afterward, the T-men were banged up, they said, but felt good about doing what it took to get their second win of the day.
“It was nice to see us execute in the third, really buckle down and execute…” said Kyle Couling, Timbermen coach. It was very nice to see us elevate the game at that point and finish the game off the way we should all tournament.”
The coach said the offensive success came both from a balanced attack and also being put in good positions thanks to the transition game.
Corey Shires, who is the tournament’s scoring leader so far, said his team had the right frame of mind, sticking with the game plan and going out just trying to get the game’s next goal.
“We got back to the basics,” he said. “We slowed it down, we did our picks and we got the ball swinging. These goalies, they’re big but they’re not that fast, so if we can move them side to side, that’s key.”
Shires said Monday night’s win was “huge” and one that Nanaimo needed; now the team will try to rest up for many more games to come. Couling said through three games, the T-men can see how all the little things add up to wins or losses.
“It’s cumulative,” the coach said. “The team with less errors and the best effort is going to win.”
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In the morning game, Sam Postma led Nanaimo with four goals and Shires and Jon Diplock also had hat tricks. Darrin Wilson scored twice and added three assists and Joe Fendick also tallied. Pete Dubenski was the winning goalie.
In the evening contest, Shires had four goals and four assists , Cory Conway had two goals and six assists, Jordan Cunningham had a goal and seven helpers and Cayle Ratcliff scored a hat trick. Diplock added a pair and Doug Langlois, Nick Preston and Postma were the other scorers. Nick Patterson made 32 saves for the win.
GAME ON … The Timbermen take on the defending-champion St. Albert Miners on Tuesday, Aug. 28, at 8 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena. On Wednesday it’s an all-B.C. matchup as the T-men face the Ladner Pioneers in another 8 p.m. faceoff.
Senior B Nanaimo Timbermen beat Onondaga Redhawks 15-11 to move to 2-1 at Presidents Cup… #Nanaimo pic.twitter.com/ITgFqUhvTr
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) August 28, 2018
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