The playoffs are under way for the St. Albert Miners in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
The best-of-five senior B semifinal between the second-place Miners (12-5-1) and third-place Edmonton Outlaws (10-7-1) opened Friday in St. Albert but the score was unavailable at press time.
Game two goes Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at Performance Arena. Game three is Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena. If needed, game four is Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Bill Hunter and game five is Saturday at 8 p.m. in St. Albert.
In league play the teams split the four-game series as the Miners outscored the Outlaws 37-30. The 2010 provincial champions and sixth-place finishers at the Presidents’ Cup nationals led all teams offensively with 198 goals.
In the junior A playoffs, the fourth-place Miners (7-12-1) are on the brink of elimination after losses of 13-7 and 12-6 to the first-place Okotoks Raiders (18-2), the host team for the 2011 Minto Cup nationals. Game three in the best-of-five semifinal goes tonight at 7 p.m. at Performance. If needed, game four is Sunday in St. Albert at 5 p.m. and game five is Monday in Okotoks at 7:30 p.m.
Last weekend in Okotoks, Darren Kinnear scored three goals and Richard Thompson added two goals and two assists in game one. Spencer Gelinas tallied three times in the second game. The Miners were also outshot in both losses.
Today at 2 p.m. St. Albert hosts Leduc Crude/West in the Edmonton Rugby Union second division women’s fixtures.
It’s the last match for St. Albert before the Aug. 13 semifinals.
St. Albert is 1-2 (1-9 overall) and Leduc is 1-1 (3-6 overall). In the spring league schedule Leduc defeated a short-handed St. Albert squad 37-5.
Last weekend St. Albert celebrated its first victory of the season after nine losses, defeating the visiting Grande Prairie Sirens (0-2) 34-22.
The division 1A pennant race heats up today for the St. Albert Impact 2 team in the Edmonton District Soccer Association.
Kickoff is 4 p.m. against Sherwood Park Karpaty at Strathcona Athletic Park. Last month the Impact beat Karpaty 5-2 in St. Albert.
The Impact (9-2), Karpaty (8-1-1) and AC Milan (8-2) are fighting for first place. The top two teams also qualify for the crossover playoffs against division 1B.
The Impact are coming off their fourth victory in a row, 3-1 against Milan on Monday at the Riel Park artificial turf. Mark McQuaid scored his division-leading 12th goal. Nick Karakochuk and Scott Lefebvre also connected and Allister Latham-Rubik stopped a penalty kick.
In the season opener Milan knocked off last year’s tier II provincial silver medallists 3-1.
