The Lloydminster Xtreme didn’t take their foot off the gas last weekend as they kept on truckin’ in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
With a pair of decisive home victories at Hillmond Redden Arena, the Xtreme extended their perfect record to 8-0 in the junior B Tier 2 North Division.
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“Two more wins, it was a good weekend,” said coach Graham Murray, whose Xtreme defeated the Sherwood Park Titans 14-7 on Sunday and the St. Albert Crude 15-5 on Saturday.
“Offensively, I thought we moved the ball tremendously. Defensively, we maybe had a couple of lapses, but I think they were good learning moments for us and didn’t cost us.”
As part of that experimental weekend, the Xtreme rested starting goaltender Ryker Gamble for Sunday’s game and half of Saturday’s contest, giving second-year man Donovan Swanky time between the pipes.
“It was good to get our backup some action and give Ryker some rest,” said Murray, describing the veteran Gamble as the best goaltender in the league.
Gamble graduates after this season, so the Xtreme are banking on Swanky becoming their go-to goalie going forward.
It’s full steam ahead for Lloydminster, which managed to stray from complacency this past weekend while playing against perceived weaker opponents.
HEALTHY HABITS
“Something I kind of preach to the guys is that it’s not about the team we’re playing,” Murray said. “It’s about what we do and the habits that we create. We’re going to lock things down on defence, we’re going to cut off the top and we’re going to do the things we want to do, and need to do, to be successful against better teams.
“So, just getting in those habits while we’re playing maybe the weaker teams of the league, but (the approach) stays the same for us.”
St. Albert (2-3-1) sits in fifth place in the eight-team North Division, while Sherwood Park (1-7) is in seventh spot.
Lloydminster has seven more points than the second-place Lakeland Heat (4-1-1) of the Cold Lake and Bonnyville regions.
TOP SCORER
A 29-goal outburst proved to be a profitable weekend for the Xtreme and the league’s top scorer, Jayden Plamondon.
After posting nine points, including eight assists, on Saturday, Plamondon added a goal and six assists Sunday for a 16-point weekend. With 17 goals and 48 points after eight games, Plamondon has a 12-point command on his nearest challenger, the Crude’s Brandon McNalley, who collected three assists in Saturday’s game against Lloyd.
Ryker Gamble, the Xtreme’s star goaltender, is the older brother of assistant captain Brady Gamble.
Lloyd captain Owen Hill’s younger brother Alex collected six assists in Sunday’s game, while Dalyn Hepburn fired four goals and two assists and Jace Gunderson had three of each.
Rogan Macnab, with two goals and three assists, capped his 10-point weekend, after scoring three goals and two assists Saturday.
Dagan Theissen had four points Sunday and three Saturday. Owen Hill chipped in with back-to-back three-point games.
Alex Hill’s 11-point weekend included his two goals and five points Saturday. Gunderson picked up two goals and two assists in that weekend opener.
This coming weekend, the Xtreme make their third road trip of the season as they visit the third-place Posse (4-1) in Spruce Grove at 4 p.m. Saturday and the Crude in St. Albert at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
On Friday, June 6, Lloyd and Lakeland tangle at 8 p.m. in Cold Lake. Two days later, the Xtreme are back home to face the Posse in an 11 a.m. game at Hillmond.
PUB NIGHT
The Xtreme’s annual pub night fundraiser is set for Thursday, June 5, at 4th Meridian Brewing Co. in Lloydminster. Tickets are available from Murray or on social media via the team’s Instagram account.
“It’s one of our bigger fundraisers,” Murray said. “It’s $40 for steak and a full meal. There’ll be drink specials and a silent auction as well.”
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