River players spark lacrosse sweep

The North Island Field Lacrosse Association U14 Wild Ravens won two big games Sunday to earn a berth to the provincial championships.

Griffin Whyley (12) of Campbell River “lays the lumber” on a Victoria forward during Sunday’s U14 field lacrosse match in Courtenay. The North Island team won both games to advance to the B.C.’s.

Griffin Whyley (12) of Campbell River “lays the lumber” on a Victoria forward during Sunday’s U14 field lacrosse match in Courtenay. The North Island team won both games to advance to the B.C.’s.

The North Island Field Lacrosse Association U14 Wild Ravens won two big games Sunday to earn a berth to the provincial championships.

Hosting Victoria Titans at Bill Moore Memorial Park inCourtenay, North Island took the opener 8-5 and won the second game 13-3 to secure a spot at the B.C.s, to be held Feb. 25-27 at the Burnaby Sportsplex.

The Raves will also be shooting for the Vancouver Island banner on Feb. 11-12 at the UVic turf fields.

Bailey Robinson (Campbell River) led the way for North Island in Sunday’s first game with a three-goal performance while Taylor Arbour (Campbell River) added two goals.

Graham Evans (Comox Valley) contributed one goal and two assists, Brady Garrett (Comox Valley) and Tanner Jones (Comox Valley) tallied one each and Griffin Whyley (Campbell River) had a helper in the 8-5 win.

Evans delighted the hometown fans in the second game with a stellar six-point performance (3g, 3a) while Garrett backed him up with four goals and one assist. Arbour also collected a hat trick while Jones kicked in with a goal and an assist. Also finding the back of the net were Sam Kussauer (Comox Valley) and Jordan Balon (Comox Valley).

Meanwhile, the North Island U16 squad was in Nanaimo on Saturday hoping to punch their ticket to both the Island and B.C. championships.

They lost the first game 9-7 and tied the second 9-9, but North Island U14 team manager Marnie Evans said there was a discrepency with the tie and no overtime was played.

“The commissioner ruled that we will travel to Nanaimo, hopefully this week, to play two, four-minute overtime halves,” she said.

Campbell River Mirror