Playing at their home venue for the first time this season proved just what the doctor ordered the Rockyview Silvertips on May 13 and 14.
After opening the 2022 Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) season with one win from four road fixtures, the 'Tips were pleased to finally be back at the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre on Friday night to face off against the Mountain View Mavericks.
Cochrane's junior B Tier 1 lacrosse squad showed there's no place like home, winning the battle over the Olds-based team 17-8.
The Silvertips followed up by beating the Fort Saskatchewan Rebels by the same score line the next day, improving their wins/losses record to an even 3-3.
Head coach Tyler Waycott said playing at home gave the Rockyview players a boost – as did the return of some of the junior B team's stalwarts, including veteran forwards Nolan Oakey and Josh Halcro. Both Oakey and Halcro have returned to play for Rockyview this season after featuring for NCAA lacrosse programs in the United States this past school year.
Oakey, 21, had a particularly impressive weekend, scoring six goals and assisting 10 in the two games, while Halcro added three goals and eight helpers.
Though the two fifth-year players may have made the headlines with their points totals, Waycott noted the wins were thanks to a full-team effort. He touted the defensive showing of Noah Deitz and strong goaltending of 19-year-old Jayden Herman on Saturday, who was recently acquired by the team from the Calgary Mountaineers.
Others who contributed to Rockyviews' goals haul were Owen George, Cole Morris, Owen McCarthy, and Mason Schroeder.
"If you take a look at the box scores, you’ll see how well balanced our game was, among all our veterans, youth and everybody," he said. "It’s nice to see not just one or two guys carrying the workload.”
With Rockyview now sporting a .500 record and sitting in second place of the RMLL's central division, Waycott said it's been a positive start to the 2022 campaign for the 'Tips. But he added there have been some learning curves in the early weeks of the season.
"We had a young group playing early on, before we [regained] some more experience in our line-up," he said. "It’s going to elevate everyone’s performances, not just in games but in practices as well.
"The team is starting to come together off the floor as well, so it’s been good that way. Right from our goaltending to defence to offence, it’s coming together nicely.”
Rockyview will have the May long weekend off before returning to the floor on May 27, when they will play on the road against the Calgary Mounties. They’ll return to Cochrane to face the Red Deer Rampage on May 29.
Now on a three-game win streak, Waycott said the Silvertips' focus for the next two weeks will be maintaining – and elevating – the players' fitness levels.
"Our conditioning is doing really well in our games," he said. "It’s something we worked hard on in our training camp. Guys came back in fairly good shape this year, but we want to keep elevating that. We’re having great success late in games and late in periods, so we want to maintain that."
Another area he wants to see some improvement is the Silvertips' transition, on both sides of the play.
"We want to clean up little bits here and there in our offence and defence, but a big push will be cleaning up how we transition the ball both ways.”
