The Quesnel Crossfire suffered a tough 13-9 home loss to the Prince George Bandits on Thursday (May 10) but were able to focus their frustrations into back-to-back winning efforts against the Mackenzie Lumberjacks on Saturday (May 12) and Sunday (May 13).
The local team was powerless to stop Bandits forward Dan Martin, who scored six goals on Thursday evening and added an assist.
Pesky front man Drew Doig, who leads the Prince George Lacrosse Association in scoring this year, saw all the holes in the Crossfire defense and punished them by scoring three goals and dishing five assists.
Dusty Cathcart, who scored three and assisted on two, continued his solid play for the hometown boys, while Bryston Waffle played facilitator, with four assists in the game.
Falling behind 5-1 after one period, the Crossfire looked nothing like the team that beat the Devils and the Lumberjacks.
They were unable to get near the goalie crease for much of the period, were having difficulty linking together passing plays, and many of the shots they managed on net were careening off the opposing goalie’s chest.
The second period saw them get a spark of confidence.
They used their speed advantage and engaged in an entertaining firefight midway through the frame, exchanging goal-for-goal with their opposition.
Unfortunately, despite a goalie change, they were never able to bridge the gap established by the Bandits early on.
A weaker team might have wallowed in their misery, but the Crossfire showed resiliency by travelling up country and taking a couple wins from a tough Lumberjacks squad.
The Mackenzie team couldn’t seem to keep their players out of the naughty box in the first game, racking up 101 penalty minutes to the Crossfire’s 60.
Quesnel’s Landon Scott, #93, won the first star of the 12-10 game with three goals and two assists. His teammate Hunter McSeveney, #18, also put up identical stats, with all three of his goals coming in the first period for the natural hat trick.
Sunday’s game saw cooler heads prevail, with significantly fewer penalty minutes by both teams.
While the Lumberjacks had a four-goal performance from Jaydon L’Heureux, the Crossfire’s scoring prowess proved to be too much for them again, as they took the game by a final score of 10-8.
Dusty Cathcart, #55, and Brody Lawlor, #97, both registered hat tricks for the visiting team.
