Mighty Miners
The St. Albert Miners continue to dominate as back-to-back Presidents’ Cup senior B national champions.The Miners are 8-0 in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League after sweeping last weekend’s homestand at Go Auto Arena.
Scores were 14-4 against the Rockyview Knights of Airdrie and 14-5 against the Calgary Mountaineers (5-3).
Keegan Bal’s five goals and four by Mike Triolo paced the attack against the Knights.
Bal added six assists and Matt Kristiansen chipped in with five helpers.
Tom Buckley, Owen Williamson, Darren Kinnear, Nik Farrus, Graedon Cornfield also scored.
The Miners racked up seven consecutive goals, including five in the first period after the Knights opened the scoring.
Cornfield and Richard Lachlan tallied three times and Bal picked up five assists against the Mountaineers.
Triolo, Farrus and Jordan Cornfield deposited a pair each and Kinnear and Williams also scored.
Period scores were 5-1 and 7-2 for the Miners.
The latest stats have Lachlan tied for the league lead in points with 34 and is the top goal scorer with 19 in five.
The Miners play the Knights and Mountaineers again this weekend. Game times are 8 p.m. Saturday in Airdrie and 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Stu Peppard Arena.
Last year the Miners competed at their third nationals in four years and the fifth since 2010 while going 8-1 as the first Alberta team to repeat as champions. The team’s overall record was 32-2 after a near perfect 25-0-1 showing in 2016 as the tournament hosts in Leduc.
Crude gusher
The St. Albert Crude are winners of two in a row when the junior B Tier I team plays the Edmonton Warriors in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.Ball drop is 7:30 p.m. Friday at Bill Hunter Arena.
Previous results were 12-6 and 10-8 for the Warriors (7-3).
The Crude (3-6) ended a four-game losing streak in Saturday’s 13-12 decision against the Calgary Chill (6-5) at Akinsdale Arena.
The Crude outscored the Chill 4-0 in the third period as Nathaniel Jackson sniped the winner on the power play with 8:35 remaining.
Brock McIntyre shredded the Chill for six goals, including the first five of the game for the Crude, and added two assists.
McIntyre leads the Crude in scoring with 18 goals and 37 points in eight games.
Guerin Nollski and Jesse Ott potted three goals apiece and Kolby Nester had five helpers as the Crude handed the Chill its fourth consecutive loss.
Sunday the Crude downed the Okotoks Marauders 9-4 in St. Albert as Taylor Dion scored three times and McIntyre recorded two goals and two assists.
Dion ranks second in team scoring with 14 goals and 25 points in eight games.
Jorden McCuaig also produced a pair and Jack Rainault and Ott netted singles against the Marauders (3-6).
The Crude led 4-1 after the first and 7-4 entering the third.
Saturday the Miners visit the Calgary Mountaineers (5-5) at 7 p.m. at Acadia Recreation Centre.
Midget A Rams
The St. Albert Rams solidified the midget A team’s first-place standing in the Greater Edmonton Lacrosse Council in Monday’s 10-6 victory over the Edmonton Warriors at Kinex Arena.The winners of five in a row also handed the Warriors (6-5-1) a 10-8 loss the previous week in St. Albert.
The Rams (9-2) have five games remaining before the playoffs start.
Last year’s Rams finished fourth out of five teams in league play at 5-5-3 and in the four-team double-knockout playoff format were 0-2.
Returnees on the roster include Mathieu Gautier and Ronin Pusch and both players were Team Alberta selections for the Canadian Lacrosse Association midget A nationals, Aug. 12 to 18 in Calgary.
Gautier and Push were also teammates on the 2017/18 midget 15 St. Albert Flyers in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League.
Last year Gautier contributed to the first Alberta team to win the Tackaberry Trophy as the provincial squad knocked off Ontario 5-4 in the midget A final to go 8-0 at nationals.
After 11 games, Gautier ranked second in league scoring with 20 goals and 34 points and Push was second on the Rams with 15 goals and 26 points.
Alex Sorochan was the team leader in assists with 29 and is the most penalized Ram with 51 minutes in the sin-bin.
Luigi Benincasa also had 12 goals and 24 points.
The Rams are back in action Monday versus the host Sherwood Park Titans (2-8-2) at 8:30 p.m.
