To call the Kelowna Raiders a dominant force in senior men’s lacrosse in the B.C. Interior would be an understatement.
For the second straight year—and sixth time in the last seven seasons—the Raiders are the Shaw Cup champions.
Kelowna secured the 2012 Thompson Okanagan Senior Lacrosse League championship Wednesday night in Armstrong with a 14-9 win over the Shamrocks.
The Raiders took the best-of-three final in straight games.
With the score tied 9-9 in the third period, the Raiders pulled away with five unanswered goals, including three from reliable veteran Pho Heng.
“We really wanted to wrap it up, so we came out really focused, played 60 minutes and got the job done,” said Heng, in his eighth season with the Raiders. “They’re always tough games against Armstrong, they’re not the most skilled team, but they’re hardworking, and we had to battle through it. The guys did a great job.”
The Raiders jumped on the Rocks early with seven first period goals, including a pair from Jordan Innes. Heng finished with four on the night, Innes had three, while Vic Wiens added a pair of goals. Luke Bailey tallied a goal and five assists, with single markers coming from Joe Brown, Jared MacLennan, Andrew Habib, and Jacob Illichmann.
After a slow start to the 2012 season, with two losses to Armstrong in the first four weeks, the Raiders have lost since May 11, a span of 11 games.
Kelowna will represent the Thompson Okanagan next month at the BCLA senior C provincial championship on the Lower Mainland.
