After an agonizing loss in the crossover semifinal the night before, the Mid Island Lightning picked themselves up and powered to victory in the bronze medal game at the U15 Tier 2 provincial field lacrosse championships in Langley last weekend.
Fortunate enough to make the crossover game after recording one win, one loss and one tie in pool play, the Lightning found themselves playing Coquitlam #2, who won the other pool, in the semifinals. Trailing 9-4 at halftime, the Mid Island players dug deep and made a game of it in the second half.
“I told the players, ‘Don’t play for anybody else; just play for the guy you’re standing beside,’” coach Dale Nordstrom recalled.
The Lightning came back and made it 9-9 with about 30 seconds left to play thanks to Denton Macdonald’s tying goal. Macdonald scored again to make it 10-9 in Mid Island’s favour, but the Coquitlam coach called for a stick check on Macdonald. Macdonald’s pocket proved to be about a quarter of an inch too deep, and the go-ahead goal was taken away, sending the game into overtime. Mid Island scored in the first overtime, but Coquitlam scored twice in the second extra period to take the 11-10 win.
“It was one of the most exciting games I’ve ever been involved in,” said Nordstrom, who has coached lacrosse for about 16 years. “They all played so well. It was a bit of a heartbreaker.”
Macdonald still finished the game with two goals, while Hunter Hieta had four, Sam Baxter had three, and Gavin Spencer had one. Colin Jeffrey was named game MVP.
That loss sent Mid Island to the bronze-medal game against Delta, who had defeated the Lightning in pool play.
“The boys were pretty heartbroken from the night before, and they had something to prove,” Nordstrom said.
Mid Island led Delta 12-0 at halftime, and finished with a 14-1 victory. The team got three goals each from Macdonald and Caleb Nordstrom, two each from Hieta, Spencer, and Kurtis Smith, and one each from Jack Sanderson and Logan Hammerer, while Colin Jeffrey and Dawson Webb shared MVP honours. In addition to the bronze medal, the Lightning also brought home the Team Sportsmanship Award.
“As the games went on, they just started getting better and better,” Nordstrom said. “If we had two more games, we definitely would have taken gold, no doubt about it.”
Pool play was not without its ups and downs for the Lightning. In their first game, against New Westminster #2, the top team from the Vancouver league, Mid Island trailed 5-1 but came back to secure a 6-6 tie. Hieta scored three goals and earned game MVP honours, Macdonald scored twice, and Sam Baxter had one.
The Lightning lost their next game 8-6 to Delta. Macdonald scored twice, while Spencer, Hieta, Baxter and game MVP Caleb Nordstrom had one each.
To close out pool play, the Lightning beat Coquitlam 9-4.
Macdonald scored three goals, Hieta had two, Spencer, Sanderson, Webb and Teagan Cunnah had one apiece, with Spencer taking game MVP honours.
Goalie Keegan Smith was selected as Mid Island’s Warrior Fair Play Award winner, and earned the respect of his teammates over the course of the tournament and season. New to lacrosse, Smith was the only player who volunteered when the team didn’t have a goalie at the beginning of the season, and had a phenomenal tournament.
“He didn’t do it for himself; he did it for the team,” Nordstrom said. “To stand in there and win bronze was really amazing.”
