Parksville Qualicum Beach lacrosse fans had the opportunity to watch the Oceanside Sharks Junior B team in action for the first time.
The Sharks are the first ever Junior B team to be formed here and they took on the visiting JDF Whalers at Oceanside Place on Monday night.
The match was not a league game. It was played to determine whether the Sharks, being new in the junior B level, should be competing in tier 2 or in tier 3.
The Sharks showed they belong in tier 2 after easily demolishing the Whalers, a tier 3 team, 13-3 in front of a much-appreciative crowd.
“Because we haven’t had a junior team before, we were kind of being pushed to tier 3,” said assistant coach John Shafi. “The deal is if we do alright against the Whalers, which is a tier 3 team, and the next game or two, then they will put us up in tier 2.”
The Sharks, who played with loaner jerseys from the Tri-Cities Bandits, will get a chance to test their mettle against a tier 2 team when they travel to Campbell River next and take on another team yet to be determined.
Shafi, who along with assistant coaches Dave Wheldon and Dean Thomas, helps head coach Cam Miller, said they started forming this team more than two months ago.
The players they recruited, whose ages are from 17 to 21 years old, Shafi pointed out, have grown up playing minor lacrosse in the area and know each other. They come from Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Port Alberni and Nanaimo.
“We got ourselves a really good mix of boys,” said Shafi.
“I coached most of them over the years and this is the best team I’ve ever been involved with bar none. We definitely are a tier 2 and I think they can make it all the way to the provincials.”
The Sharks dominated the Whalers from the start but lost their cool in the second period which kept them in penalty killing mode.
“We should have really kept our head on straight but we settled down in the third and we played good lacrosse,” said Shafi. “We have a good defensive team headed by our transition guys Neal Shafi, Mike Stewart, Jaimie McKay who was playing both ends.”
The offense provided some highlight shots that included Michael Stewart’s impressive backhand goal in the first period.
Jory Clermont sparked the Sharks offense scoring five goals with four assists. Brenden Harstad had a hat trick of goals and assists while Nolan Morrison had a pair of goals and three assists.
