The first trip by the St. Albert-based NAMLC Crude to the junior B Tier I provincial lacrosse final ended with a three-game sweep by the Calgary Mountaineers.
Scores in the best-of-five series were 11-7 Saturday and 16-4 Sunday in Calgary and 17-3 Monday at Akinsdale Arena.
In the game three the Mountaineers tallied twice in the opening 78 seconds before Crude assistant captain Erik Turner scored the first of his two power-play goals of the night.
The period ended with the Mountaineers on top 4-1.
They outscored the Crude 7-2 in the middle frame to make it 11-3.
Jacob Dion’s even-strength goal cut the deficit to 7-2 with 11:38 left in the second.
The Mountaineers capitalized several times on the power play in the match.
Cody Stannard and Simon Hansen recorded two assists apiece in the loss.
The Crude finished their playoff run at 4-5 and the Mountaineers were 7-0.
This is the first year in team history that the Crude won a playoff series. The Crude needed a third and deciding game to eliminate the Saskatchewan Swat, a team they had never beaten in the last five years, and the Red Deer Rampage after rallying from losing game one on their home floor in the north final.
In the regular season the Crude (14-5-1) finished first in the north for the first time ever. The Mountaineers (16-3-1) were the top team in the south.
The Mountaineers will now represent Alberta at the Founders’ Cup national championship, Aug. 19 to 25 in Winnipeg.
Rawlins completed the 125-kilometre trek in 21 hours, 24 minutes and 14 seconds as the sixth fastest female out of 93 finishers.
Rawlins also ranked third out of 29 finishers in her 40 to 49 age group.
The top overall female was Alissa St. Laurent of Edmonton at 16:03:37 for 14th place to win her 20 to 29 age group.
Sean Curran of St. Albert finished 115th overall at 22:43:01 for 51st place in the 30 to 39 male division.
Mark Day of St. Albert was the last runner to complete the race and his time was 23:43:01 for 61st place in the 30 to 39 male division.
In total, 148 soloists out of 371 male and female competitors finished the five legs of the course. It begins and ends on a 4,200 foot plateau, passes over three mountain summits and includes 17,000 feet of elevation change and a major river crossing at the Hell’s Gate canyon at the confluence of the Smoky and Sulphur rivers.
The race winner was Aaron Heidt of Vernon in the 30 to 39 age division at 12:31:44.
In the team event, Serge and Kelly Lajoie of St. Albert were part of the five-person Got The Runs 1 group that placed 21st overall out of 207 finishers at 15:10:26 for 13th place in the mixed division.
Serge skated through the first leg in 1:42:49 and Kelly was graded at 13:47:46 on the fifth leg.
The mixed Paddle Jumpers captured the team title at 11:13:05.
Visit www.canadiandeathrace.com for complete results.
