It’s why you play them.
Given little chance to win the Calgary and District Lacrosse Association midget C title, the Rockyview Rage lunged into their three-game final series against the undefeated (12-0) Calgary Knights.
After losing the opening game 9-5 the Rage, who finished the regular season 8-4, seemed a mere nuisance to the Calgary powerhouse.
But a strange thing happened en route to the Knights’ coronation.
“The kids never gave up,” exclaimed Rage midget C head coach Drew Dickson amid the mayhem of Rockyview’s championship celebration following a 6-4, game-3 victory June 25. “Outstanding. These guys (Knights) went undefeated all year, beat us in the first game of the series, badly.
“We have a team of kids, a large percentage who’ve never played the game before,” Dickson related of his 15- 16-year-old players from Cochrane and Airdrie. “They just absolutely came together as a team.”
After shocking Calgary 7-3 in game 2 June 24 to level the series, the Rage knocked the Knights off their horse in series-deciding game 3.
Playing before a raucous crowd of Rage and Knights supporters at a packed Acadia Rec Centre in Calgary, the score was 2-2 after two periods in the rubber match. Calgary opened the third period with two quick goals, appearing poised to claim gold.
But a fluke goal from Rockyview’s Blake Johnson with less than six minutes left put the Knights on edge. Totally gassed from killing a penalty, Johnson fired a bouncer down the left boards from behind centre before jumping onto the bench. The ball bounded down the wall, ricocheted out of the corner to the near post of the Knights goal before bouncing off the back of the goalie Wyatt Griffin’s legs and in.
“At first I didn’t actually know what happened,” Johnson admitted. “Everybody was cheering. I was just sitting on the bench getting some water. The ref came by and asked who scored that. It was me.”
The goal blew a hole in the Knights’ shield as the Rage, smelling blood, moved in for the kill. Johnson, Jaydin Brass and Josh Stutz all scored in the final four minutes to claim the Rage’s improbable championship.
“Blake’s goal was the absolute turning point,” observed Dickson of Rockyview’s third goal. “We saw that in a game before where the goalie absolutely checks out. It was what we needed.
“Whoever got the next goal was absolutely going to win this game.”
It’s why you play them.
