Facing their toughest test yet at the Presidents Cup, the Nanaimo Timbermen were able to keep the game close most of the way.
The Re/Max Timbermen lost 10-5 to the defending-champion St. Albert Miners on Tuesday night at the senior B lacrosse national championships at Frank Crane Arena.
Nanaimo trailed 5-4 at the midway mark and 6-4 after two periods, but couldn’t get on a run in crunch time.
“We played with a lot of heart, a lot of effort,” said Jon Diplock, team captain. “It just came down to bounces. We didn’t get our bounces we needed, rebounds, resets.”
Kyle Couling, Timbermen coach, said his team knew what to expect going in and had a good idea of the Miners’ capabilities.
“We had the book, we just didn’t stop them from doing what they wanted to do,” the coach said.
Couling said special teams were a factor – the Miners struck four times on the power play – and said the T-men gave the opponents too many chances. The coach said St. Albert was tough in its own end.
“They play a very good packed-in defence with a lot of big bodies and they play it very well,” Couling said. “They collapse and they force you to shoot shots from the outside.”
Sam Postma scored twice for the Timbermen and Corey Shires, Cayle Ratcliff and Nick Preston had the others. Nick Patterson made 41 saves in defeat.
For the Miners, Graedon Cornfield was player of the game with a hat trick and Aaron Bold made 40 saves for the win.
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Here are senior B Timbermen players including Ryan Dietterle and Doug Langlois defending during tonight's game against the St. Albert Miners… https://t.co/HC3Vo8VpTm #Nanaimo #lacrosse pic.twitter.com/rXqCBZhTBO
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) August 29, 2018
Next up for Nanaimo is a matchup against the Ladner Pioneers, the team that the Timbermen beat in the B.C. final earlier this month.
“We come in with confidence versus Ladner,” Couling said. “We’ve played them, we’ve beat them, so we know what we’re facing … This could make or break whether we get into the next round, so we really need that game.”
Diplock said as soon as the Presidents Cup schedule came out, the Timbermen felt like the game against the Pioneers could turn out to be a must-win, “and it hasn’t changed.”
He said four games into the Presidents Cup, the T-men have shown how they can play against the tournament-leading teams.
“We’re right in the mix. We’re not far off,” Diplock said. “We’ve just got to try to tune up some things, make it a little cleaner, crisper. We’re looking good.”
GAME ON … The Timbermen and Pioneers play Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Frank Crane Arena. On Thursday, the T-men take on the Oakville Titans in another 8 p.m. game at Frank Crane.
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