The St. Albert Senior B Miners (16-0) kept their undefeated season alive with a gritty 12 to 8 come-from-behind win against the Beaumont Outlaws (3-13) on Sunday afternoon.
The Miners ran into penalty trouble early and paid for it. Four first period penalties led to two power-play goals against, and one more five seconds after Matt Andruchow exited the box for a roughing minor. After the first period the Miners found themselves down 4-3, outshot 14-2.
“We came out flat, it started in our warm-up. We didn’t come prepared to play lacrosse,” said team captain Jordan Cornfield
It didn’t take long to get things started in the second however – in the third minute the Miners scored two quick goals just thirty seconds apart as Graedon Cornfield and Sean Reid both converted well executed passing plays into goals to give the Miners their first lead of the game. That lead didn’t last, as within the next minute the Outlaws answered with two of their own goals and took it right back.
Goaltender David Marrese found the scoreboard in the second with a pair of assists, lobbing perfect passes down the rink finding Jordan Cornfield twice in a row for two goals at the midway mark of the second period. Cornfield would complete the hat trick with three minutes to go in the second frame, which saw the Miners score seven goals, including one with just four seconds remaining. The Outlaws added two more goals in the last five minutes of the period. The strong second period saw the Miners outshoot the Outlaws 25-11.
The third period consisted of strong defensive play by the Miners, not allowing a goal against and scoring two goals in the final four minutes to put the game away. Both goals were by Richard Lachlan, who also tallied a hat trick.
Leading point getter Keegan Bal (39G, 54A, 93 pts.) had another strong game with five assists, but still wasn’t happy with his team’s performance against the sixth-place opponent.
“We came out and played awful,” Bal said of his team’s poor start, echoing the sentiments of the captain.
Bal, who has 11 games of NLL experience with the Vancouver Stealth in which he scored six goals and 22 assists, is looking to lead the senior B league in points for the second year in a row, last year garnering 26 goals and 44 assists for 70 points. His 93 points have him firmly in first place, 28 points above Miners’ teammate Richard Lachlan.
Although they got the win, the Miners know they need to play better if they want to go far.
“We need to prepare ourselves not just to get out of Alberta, but also to be better at nationals. We need to practice harder and pick up our game in order to win another national championship,” Cornfield said.
Their next game is tonight against the second seeded Edmonton Sr. Warriors (12-5) at 8:30 p.m. at the Jubilee Rec Centre. Their final game of the season will be played Friday against the Blackfalds Silverbacks (4-10) at 8:30 p.m. at the Blackfalds Multiplex.
