Just calm things down. That was the message from captain Owen Hill and the rest of the Lloydminster Xtreme leadership group Sunday afternoon after they hit a bump on the road en route to winning another junior B Tier 2 North Division title in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
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“Just calm ’er down,” Hill said about the Xtreme approach to their 9-4 victory over the St. Albert Crude in the third and deciding game of the North final at Lloydminster’s Co-op Community Arena.
“We’ve won four North titles in the last five years, so they’re going to try to get under our skin. Just don’t retaliate, that’s the big thing. Nobody can handle us when we play five-on-five, so if we stay five-on-five, as it showed today, they couldn’t really handle us. Just calm down.”
The Xtreme stayed composed and regrouped just a few hours after the Crude had won 8-7 to extend the championship series to the three-game limit.
“Yeah, it’s tough we dropped that second game, but we knew we were a better team,” said Hill, whose Lloyd club grabbed the series-opener 12-3 on Saturday. “It feels good to win, but the job isn’t quite finished yet. We still want that provincial (crown). We still need to get that job done.”
John MacNeil – Meridian Source
The Xtreme captured last year’s provincial championship in Calgary. This year is the North’s turn to host provincials, so Lloydminster is at home again this weekend (July 31 through Aug. 2) at the Co-op arena, hosting the South Division champion Calgary Wranglers in a best-of-three series in a revamped provincial playoff format.
This is the 21-year-old Hill’s final run with the Xtreme and his second season as the team’s captain. His teammates include his 19-year-old brother, Alex.
“It’s real nice playing with my brother,” the older Hill said with a smile as players and family members gathered for photographs.
“Even though he can get on my nerves a little bit, he’s always a good time. He’s pretty energetic. Yeah, that’s a nice way to put it.
“We love lacrosse. Me and Alex have both been playing since we were seven or eight years old. Some of these (Xtreme) guys, I’ve been playing with for my whole life, so it’s pretty cool.”
Owen Hill, a business student at Lakeland College, has been a stabilizing influence as part of an Xtreme captaincy group that includes Brady Gamble, Jace Gunderson and Rogan Macnab.
“A calm presence,” Lloyd coach Graham Murray said about his captain.
“Owen is a great defender, great in transition, scores huge goals for us, a great penalty-killer and a floor general. He’s another spectacular kid, too.”
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