The junior B Lloydminster Xtreme staved off a Sunday push from the St. Albert Crude and went on to repeat as the Tier 2 North Division champions in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
Read more: Lloydminster Prairie Pirates to host Baseball Alberta AA provincials at 13U and 15U levels
Playing the entire best-of-three series at home in the Co-op Community Arena, the pennant-winning Xtreme posted a 9-4 victory in Game 3, just a couple of hours after the Crude scored an 8-7 win earlier Sunday.
Lloydminster took the series-opener 12-3 on Saturday.
“I thought we played all right (in our loss) this morning,” Lloyd coach Graham Murray said Sunday evening as the Xtreme celebrated the organization’s fourth division title in five years.
“Just too many turnovers and defensive lapses and loose balls. Just not getting through to the net, for our offence. When our big guns don’t score, it really hurts. Tonight (in the series-clinching win), they really shined through.
“Especially big was Quinn Macnab, a rookie who had been a healthy scratch up to this point in the playoffs. He finally got in (the lineup) tonight and scored a hat trick. It was a total effort from everybody. It’s great to see.”
Macnab’s older brother Rogan, the Xtreme’s top scorer, netted a goal and three assists in Game 3.
LLOYD HOSTS PROVINCIALS: Lloydminster hosts the best-of-three provincial final this weekend (July 31 through Aug. 2) at the Co-op arena, part of the Cenovus Energy Hub complex.
The Xtreme’s opponents are the South Division champion Calgary Wranglers, who topped the Southern Alberta Chaos 12-6 on Sunday at Brooks in the third and deciding game of that series.
Calgary won 6-5 in Game 1, before Southern Alberta prevailed 6-4 in the second contest.
XTREME 9 CRUDE 4: Along with the heroics from the Macnab brothers, and their seven-point contribution, Dagan Thiessen tallied twice and Blake Sheppard fired a goal and two assists.
Teige Brown and Ryder Plamondon had the other Xtreme goals, while Nate Fischer and Owen Hill each recorded two assists.
Jackson Bennett stopped 19 of 23 shots in the Lloyd net. His teammates fired 54 shots at St. Albert goaltender Josh McNalley, who registered 45 saves.
John MacNeil – Meridian Source
Ryder Chaba and Chad Fedoruk each posted a goal and an assist for the Crude. Hunter McAmmond and Lukas Boissonneault added one goal apiece. Nathan Hendricks picked up two assists.
CRUDE 8 XTREME 7: Austin Wells scored the winning goal on a power play with 3:15 left.
McAmmond connected for two goals for St. Albert, while Fedoruk supplied a goal and three assists.
Crude goaltender Josh McNalley made 51 saves. The Xtreme’s Bennett stopped 25 shots.
Hendricks and Brandon McNalley each netted a goal and an assist for St. Albert, which also got goals from Boissonnault and Ronan Brady, with a short-handed marker.
Sheppard, with two goals and two assists, paced Lloydminster’s offence. Brady Gamble contributed a goal and an assist.
The other Xtreme scorers were Brown, Hill, Thiessen and Tobin Dougan.
XTREME 12 CRUDE 3: Jace Gunderson scored a hat trick for the Xtreme, which led 7-1 after the first period.
Sheppard potted two goals and two assists, while Rogan Macnab collected a goal and three assists. Brown and Hill each netted one goal and two assists. Fischer, Dougan, Thiessen and Mathew Christensen scored the other Lloyd goals.
Ben Stachniak assisted on three Xtreme goals. Gamble picked up two assists and winning goaltender Bennett had one.
The Crude goals came from Fedoruk, Brandon McNalley and Joshua Hogman, who played U18 AAA hockey with Lloydminster just a few seasons ago.
Read more: Lloydminster barista places third in Regional Starbucks Championship
