An Okotoks Mustangs product completed his four-year journey for a national medal on the weekend.
Team Alberta won the bronze medal at the Midget Box Lacrosse Championships on Aug. 11 in Whitby, ON giving program mainstay and Okotokian Chas McArthur the one keepsake missing from his collection.
“It’s nice to come home with some hardware,” said McArthur. “Every year in the tournament I’ve gone to in the past, the previous three years, I haven’t been able to bring any medals or anything home.”
He’s been agonizingly close to the podium at nationals. McArthur finished in fourth place in his three previous appearances at the tournament, including a double-overtime loss to B.C. for the bronze in 2011.
In 2012, Alberta defeated Team Iroquois 5-3 for the bronze medal resulting from steely determination and stout defence, said McArthur.
“They like to shoot from the outside so we had to make sure our sticks were in the lanes and try and shut off their lanes to the net,” McArthur said. “We beat them on, I’d say, 75 per cent of the loose balls.”
They won the bronze without captain Jordan Prysko, who was sidelined after taking a shot from B.C. in the semifinal. McArthur overcame an injury sustained in the first round-robin tilt with Iroquois to get back in the lineup for the playoff round.
“I got hit from behind into the boards and my head got a bit screwy,” said McArthur, who suffered a mild concussion. “I had to take two games off.”
McArthur said this was the best Alberta team he’s been a part of at nationals.
“A lot of people were not exactly optimistic with the team this year, saying that we weren’t going to be that good, nobody is coming,” he said. “And we had a real good effort coming in third and even challenging for the gold.”
Alberta was contenders at the female box nationals the week prior in Victoria, B.C.
Team Alberta’s Bantam girls, featuring Okotoks Mustangs Ally Bymak and Julia Porter, finished with the bronze medal after trouncing Nova Scotia 12-1 in the third place game on Aug. 5.
“We played that team in the round-robin (too) and the first game we played more as individuals,” Porter said of the improvement the second go-around with their maritime rivals. “At the end of the second and third period we started to pull things together.”
Alberta finished 2-4 in the round-robin. The hosts from British Columbia were dominant in Victoria. Alberta lost all three of its meetings with B.C., including a 5-0 shutout in the tournament semifinal. B.C. went on to beat Ontario 4-3 in the final.
“They just had a really well-practiced motion offence and that’s what killed us was their offence,” Bymak said of Team B.C. “They were all really skilled players and caught us off on some of our mistakes.
“They were such a good team that whatever mistake we made they would capitalize on.”
The 13-year-old Okotoks resident said the level of competition she witnessed in Victoria can only benefit her lacrosse game going forward.
“It just makes me more aware of what could come,” Bymak said. “If our club teams face some really good competition then I think I could recognize it and see how to play it.”
Porter said the tournament experience sets her up nicely for her second year of Bantam in 2013.
“It was a really good experience playing with people that are at the same level,” Porter said. “This is my first year of Bantam so next year will be my strong year and I think (the tournament) helped me quite a bit.”
Team Alberta’s Midget girls team also took home the bronze in Victoria. Okotoks native Natalie Valleau was selected to join the team, but a knee injury kept her from joining Team Alberta at the national tournament for a second year in a row.
For more information on Okotoks Mustangs Lacrosse go to www.okotokslacrosse.ca.
