It was a golden weekend for a South Surrey peewee lacrosse team that won a tournament in Vancouver.
Semiahmoo Rock Lacrosse's U13C team competed against six other teams from the Lower Mainland in the annual Sid Dann Memorial Tournament, a peewee box lacrosse competition hosted by the Vancouver Minor Lacrosse Association each May in honour of Dann, an outstanding goalie and coach who tragically died in a car crash in 1989.
It wasn't an easy journey to the gold, with the tournament full of ups and downs for the team, according to Asahel Beaudet, who coaches the team with Jordan Mikitka and John Mujcin.
After winning their first game against Coquitlam on Friday (May 2), the team lost twice on Saturday to strong showings from Port Coquitlam and Delta. But, with three teams at 1-3 after the round-robin portion of the tournament, Semiahmoo Rock placed third in the standings (the tie-breaker being penalty minutes) and met Sunshine Coast in the semi-finals on Sunday (May 4).
"We won this back-and-forth game 6-5 with a few lead changes and some fantastic chances for our opponents in the final seconds. Matvii Sulso stood out with some fantastic goals to help us earn a berth in the finals," Beaudet said Monday (May 5).
In the gold-medal game, the U13 Rock team slowly built a 3-0 lead off two straight goals from Maximo Pascual and James Woods, Beaudet continued.
"Despite fantastic goaltending from Jelani Honorat and great defensive efforts from Hudson Gibb, Weston Moon-Beaudet, and Brad Walker, PoCo was able to tie the game with only two minutes left in the third period," he noted.
Not wanting his efforts to be for naught, Pascual took a loose ball end to end and scored a fantastic goal against the tournament's top goaltender to secure gold for his team early in the first sudden-victory period.
"As a coach, it was incredibly rewarding to watch these developing athletes find new levels in their play after a tough outing on Saturday against some strong opposition," Beaudet said.
"These young players demonstrated a lot of grit, toughness, and believed in their abilities, showing composure beyond their years. The coaching staff felt privileged to watch them play and put everything they’ve practised so far this young season to work."
Moving forward, Beaudet said the team will focus on "continuing to develop our fundamentals, find ways to win games, and have fun playing the fastest game on two feet."
