The definition of perfection is the St. Albert Miners. The senior B lacrosse team finished 22-0 as provincial champions and will now challenge the best in Canada at the Presidents' Cup, starting Aug. 25 in Coquitlam, B.C.
The definition of perfection is the St. Albert Miners.
The senior B lacrosse team finished 22-0 as provincial champions and will now challenge the best in Canada at the Presidents' Cup, starting Aug. 25 in Coquitlam, B.C.
“It was one of our goals we set at the start of the season and to do it in the fashion that we did as an undefeated team is an unreal feeling. Every single individual on our team came together as a group and we played our best lacrosse,” said captain Nate Schmidt.
Graedon Cornfield, the Miners' most prolific scorer in the regular season with a Gretzky-like 50 goals and 86 points in only 15 games, was in awe of the magnitude of the feat.
“It's pretty amazing going undefeated. It's a pretty big accomplishment,” said Cornfield, who recorded nine goals and 19 points in five playoff games. “I'm not going to lie; it's something I didn't really expect going into the season but I knew it was a strong team.”
The Miners outscored teams by an outlandish 204-93 total in 16 league games and in two best-of-five playoff sweeps were 33-12, including a decisive 29-9 margin in the final against the defending champion Calgary Mountaineers.
“From the beginning we've had a target on our backs so to win this provincial championship in the fashion we did going 22-0 is very special. There were some games that were harder than others so it was never easy. This is a challenging league so it's a pretty big feat,” said Schmidt, who tallied once and added two assists in Sunday's 7-1 championship clincher in Calgary.
But it was a rock-solid defence and the netminding greatness of Dave Marrese in the playoffs that propelled the Miners to their third provincial crown in five years and the first since 2011.
“Our defence has been unbelievable all season long and when you add in Dave Marrese backstopping you it's going to be hard to score against our team,” Schmidt said. “To only allow nine goals in a series is pretty amazing. It speaks to how strong our defence and goaltending is.”
Cornfield credited the team's new pressure defence for allowing so few goals.
“The defence we have this year is really good. It really stems from having John Lintz (of the Edmonton Rush) back there. He's kind of like the quarterback on the defence. He's created the system and everyone is buying in. They're not giving the offences the quality shots that they would normally have and having Davey standing on his head also makes it easy for our offence. Everyone on the floor can score every time they have the ball,” Cornfield said.
Depth at both ends of the floor was another factor in the Miners running the table for provincial honours.
“We have 27 guys on our team and if someone can't make it we can put any one of those guys in the lineup. They know all of our systems and they can all contribute,” Cornfield said. “In the past we've had teams where we would get injuries and we didn't quite have the depth. We played games with less people so the depth we have has been a huge help for sure.”
A deep talent pool should put the Miners into medal contention at nationals after 2-4 finishes in 2010 and 2011.
“This team is quite a bit stronger,” Cornfield said. “We fell short in the past to even get into the bronze medal game. We're hoping to take steps forward and improve and hopefully get a medal this year.”
Nationals is a seven-team round robin format hosted by the Tri-City Bandits. The top four teams advance to the medal round and the finals are Aug. 31.
“We have a much better chance of winning the Presidents' Cup than ever before,” Schmidt said. “More than half of the guys have been to a Presidents' Cup so they know what to expect and know how hard physically it so that is a really big advantage for us. Plus we have that depth on our team this year to play that many games in that many days so that's another big advantage for us.”
The final against Calgary was spread over 10 days and the Miners had no trouble knocking off last year's fourth-place finishers at nationals by scores of 12-2 Aug. 1 at Go Auto Arena and 10-6 Saturday at Akinsdale Arena before closing out the series Sunday at Stu Peppard Arena.
“In terms of provincial championships we won it probably in less dramatic fashion. The last two times we won it was in game five (at home) when it went down to the wire,” Schmidt said. “We just shut them down in every aspect. They only got nine goals all series and normally in one game a team can score that many.”
In game two Jarett Toll of the Rush sniped three goals, Schmidt, Cornfield and Darren Kinnear potted a pair each and Sean Reid tallied once.
Toll netted two goals in game three and Schmidt, Reid, Cornfield, Jordan Cornfield and Aaron Duff rounded out the scoring against the Mountaineers, 11-10-2 overall this season
“Jarrett Toll was our leading scorer (14 goals and 24 points in six games) in the playoffs and he was unreal. In the last series he got a lot of goals (five) for us. He played some really good lacrosse, as did Dave Marrese. He only let in nine goals in the final,” said Schmidt, 26.
Sunday's post-game trophy and medal ceremony included the presentation of the Harris Toth Award to the younger of the two Cornfield brothers as the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League's top scorer. It was the same award he received in 2011 after racking up 66 points, including a league-high 31 goals, in 18 games.
“It's a team offence so it wouldn't have happened without the offence we have,” said Cornfield, 27, who finished game two with four points. “We have so many good players and that's why I'm scoring goals. They're keying on other players like Nate Schmidt and Jordan and Jarrett Toll so it opens it up a lot for me.”
Cornfield's 50th goal was celebrated in the second-last game of the regular season against the winless Spruce Grove Slash.
“I was at 49 goals and I wasn't going to play the last game of the season so in the third period the guys were kind of making me stay out there and telling me to stay down (in the Slash end) to get that goal. I was just exhausted and I was taking all these shots and their goalie was standing on his head. I couldn't bury it for the life of me but finally I got a quick greasy goal at the end. It was kind of funny but I was sure glad to get it. It really was a team goal that's for sure.”
