The St. Albert Miners enter the second half of the schedule in better shape than how they started the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League season.
After losing two of their first three games, the two-time defending senior B provincial champions improved their record to 5-3 by winning four of their last five.
"I truly believe we're going to be rolling now," said head coach Vay Diep. "We're playing really good and the guys are starting to believe in what were trying to do here. We've still got some things to work on and hopefully we can fix those sooner than later."
The Miners rebounded smartly from their 11-7 loss to the first-place Rockyview Knights (7-1) with impressive back-to-back victories last weekend.
"Overall we're not quite where we want to be right now but at least we have a winning record," said captain Nate Schmidt. "We started off at 3-3, compared to the last few seasons where we got off to good starts. The team is finally picking it up and it's only going to get better. We're coming together as a group and we're really working together hard at practice."
Last year the Miners finished second in league play at 12-5-1 after placing first at 14-4 in 2010.
Both years the Miners prevailed at home in the fifth and deciding game in the playoff final to determine the provincial rep at the Presidents' Cup national championship.
"We have the same core group of guys from last year. We have that experience of knowing how to win those tight games the last two years, especially going into game five in provincials. That is definitely an advantage in our corner," Schmidt said. "We also have some good draft picks this year. Josh Sullivan is a really good transition guy. He's helping out our team a lot."
A third straight provincial title would punch the Miners' ticket to nationals in Spruce Grove. The Aug. 27 to Sept. 2 tournament will feature teams from six leagues across Canada and the host Spruce Grove Slash.
Last year at the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne the Miners equalled their result at the 2010 nationals in Burnaby, B.C. with two wins and four losses.
"Having nationals so close to home is something we're thinking about, but we don't want to think too far ahead because it's a tough league this year. All the teams are close. A lot of the teams have some good draft picks too so they're a lot better," Schmidt said. "Both years we've had to travel to nationals so we know how hard it is to be on the road and play six games in six days and compete, so to sleep in your own bed at night, if we do end up making it, is going to be a huge advantage."
Road to recovery
The Miners buckled down at both ends of the floor after the disturbing loss to the Knights on June 3 in St. Albert. The Miners outscored the Knights 5-3 in the second period but still trailed 8-6 going into the final period.
"We let them get up on us 5-1 right off the bat and we were playing catch up the whole game but we finished off strong. It was a good last 30 minutes for us," Diep said. "We had a two-game winning streak at that point and the boys thought they were rolling good but the slow start really hurt us."
Last Saturday, Grant MacLeod made a rare start in net in the 11-8 victory over the Slash (5-3) at Grant Fuhr Arena.
"He made some really key saves at key points in the game, but the score doesn't indicate that we dominated the floor the whole time," Diep said.
The next day the Miners knocked off the Edmonton Outlaws 12-8 in a penalty-filled affair at Bill Hunter Arena.
"We played against a goalie we hadn't seen before so we just threw a lot of rubber and we capitalized on most of our scoring chances," Diep said.
It was 8-3 going into the second when the game got chippy and the Outlaws (1-4) cashed in on the power play. Miners' all-star Dave Marrese was stellar in net.
"We gave the ref pretty good opportunities to make those calls. Normally some of those would slide but in a blowout you expect makeup calls like that and it definitely made things interesting. Once they made it a three-goal span, we stayed to the game plan and kept pressing and walked away with another hard win," Diep said.
Tonight at 8 p.m. the Miners host the Okotoks Raiders (3-4) at Northstar Hyundai Arena. Two years ago the Miners beat the Raiders in the final and the year before they finished one point behind Okotoks in the pennant race.
"It's going to be a good game. We have that rivalry going on with them, dating back two years ago in the final. Every time we get together it seems to be an action-packed game and an all-out battle so we're looking forward to it," said Schmidt, 24, the team's most valuable player in 2010 and the fifth-leading scorer last year with 24 goals and 45 points in 12 games.
