Morning Star Staff
The North Okanagan Legends grounded Kelowna 6-1 Monday to finish seventh in the 12-team Richmond Midget A Lacrosse Tournament.
Game MVP Karson Patommel supplied 2+1 and some crushing hits that forced Kelowna to the outside. The Legends were without two injured players and one suspended.
“We started the game with nine runners and by the midway point of the second, we were down to eight against Kelowna’s 17,” said Legends’ assistant coach Dave Deshane.
“The boys ran them from the start and did a terrific job of not letting Kelowna get the ball and when they did, we kept their offence outside for our goalie to get a good view of the ball.”
Tournament advancement was based on total points with each game worth five points based on win, loss, tie and periods won. The Legends snuckthrough because they were able to win a number of periods to go along with a win and a tie in preliminary play.
North Okanagan opened by rallying to tie Vancouver 6-6 with game MVP Kyle Cuzzetto earning 2+1.
North Okanagan then lost 7-3 to Semiahmoo of White Rock with the Legends falling behind 6-0 after one period due to penalty trouble. Marshall Box took MVP with a dynamic showing until breaking his arm in the late minutes.
In Game 3, eventual champion Delta ambushed the Legends 12-4. The Legends went up 3-0 before Delta pounced on them for 11 unanswered goals, several on the powerplay. Game MVP was Legends’ goalie Dylan Hiemstra who stopped close to 50 shots.
The Legends ended the round-robin by brushing back Richmond 8-4. Thomas Landels pulled the hat trick for Game MVP as the Legends stayed out of the penalty box.
In Bantam action, North Okanagan B2 Legends earned a slice of redemption with an 8-4 doubling of the B1 Legends Tuesday at the Hassen Arena.
Jake Pelletier led the B2 team with two goals, while Seth Waterstreet, Dalen Kenny, Tiege Doughty, Rhys Larsen, Sean Howard and Reece Hawthorne chipped in singles.
Francois Leroux Jr. was stellar in the B2 net.
Riley Swiscoski netted two and Brett Williams and Chase Bronson had singles for the B1 Legends.
The B1 crew suffered its fourth straight loss Wednesday night as they fell 4-3 to the last-place Kelowna Kodiaks in Rutland.
Dylan Henry, Shelby Connors and Tanner Franje-Gilbert handled the North Okanagan attack.
