Even more than the North title is on the line this weekend as the Lloydminster Xtreme host the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League junior B Tier 2 division final.
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This year is the North Division’s turn to host the provincial championship, so the winner of Lloyd’s best-of-three series against the St. Albert Crude hosts provincials on the following weekend.
For the Xtreme, that would mean three straight weekends of lacrosse in their new playoff home, the Co-op Community Arena at the Hub in Lloydminster. They moved to the Hub partway through their two-game sweep of the Red Deer Renegades, after officials ruled the Hillmond Redden Arena floor was too slippery to continue play during a weekend of excessive humidity.
With a solid crowd at the Co-op rink Sunday, the pennant-winning Xtreme won twice in their new surroundings.
Last year, the North-champion Xtreme travelled to Calgary and won the provincial championship.
“We’ve been applying for the (provincial) tournament for the last five years and we’ve never been allowed to host it,” said Graham Murray, in his 12th year as Lloyd’s head coach.
“I finally rallied the group of managers to change the playoff format to how it is now. I think it’s a lot more competitive. It’s how it should be, and I think it’s going to produce a true champion.”
John MacNeil Meridian Source
Under the previous format, the North semifinal victory last weekend would have given the Xtreme a direct ticket to provincials.
“But now, we have a North final that’s a true three-game series,” Murray said. “Instead of a one-game (showdown) on the Friday during the round-robin tournament.
“So, we’re going to have a true North champion (this coming) weekend, and then that champion is going on to play the champion of the South.
“I think it’s a better way than a one-off, because you play these first-round series and you get three shots at it, and then you get to the final and you only get one (under the old format).”
One thing that hasn’t changed is the Xtreme’s competitiveness. They graduated key veterans from last year’s championship team but remained at the top of the North with a 15-3 record.
“We lost the best goaltender in the league, and we lost two of our top scorers, but guys have just stepped up for us,” Murray said. “Rogan Macnab has been our go-to offensive weapon all year long. (Jace) Gunderson has put in a lot of work there, too.
“(Xtreme graduate) Jayden Plamondon’s little brother, Ryder, is fitting right in with us as an AP (affiliated player). He had two goals in that third period (of Sunday’s initial playoff win over Red Deer).
“We made a big trade to get a goalie out of Parkland. His name is Jackson Bennett. We haven’t lost since we picked him up at the trade deadline (in early June). It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was something that we needed to do as a team. We had everything else going. We just needed one final piece to shore things up.”
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