They entered as underdogs but came out champions.
The New Westminster boys field lacrosse team captured the tier 1 under-15 title 10 days ago, on the strength of some stellar netminding and excellent team play.
They edged Delta 6-4 in the final, using the knowledge gained from a 5-4 setback to the same team in the round robin.
“Technically we changed a few things up, but we had to work our butts off to get through the round robin, basically on a tie-breaker,” said coach Rich Catton.
In the final the start wasn’t exactly what the team had planned, however. Down 2-0 early, Catton said it took a while to raise their game.
“We trailed right off the bat. We had talked to them about being over-excited, how they’d be nervous... Once they got a couple of shifts under their belts their skills took over.”
Netminder Johnny Edin led the charge, as New West rallied to take a 5-3 lead, attacking Delta through the transition.
Jordy Mahal would net four goals on the day.
“(Edin) had a fantastic game,” said Catton. “He calmed us down by making numerous tough saves and it opened things up for our transition game.”
The coach pointed to a team trip to San Diego at New Year’s that helped bond everyone together.
“It was a great team building opportunity for us, we had great parent support all year,” said Catton. “But we lost our last (regular season) game to Langley badly. The players didn’t let that phase them.”
Cole Catton was named the team’s Warrior Fair Play award recipient.
