Westlock’s junior Rock lacrosse team continued its strong start to the season with a 15-8 win over the Wainwright Wolfpack on May 4 at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre.
With the win, the Rock are 3-0 on the season, after winning their first two games of the season on the road, 7-4 over the Edmonton Warriors on April 27 and 7-6 over Fort Saskatchewan on May 3.
Even though the Rock recorded their biggest win of the season, coach Mike Ivey said it didn’t start out that way.
“We had a slow start,” Ivey said. “But once the boys found their momentum, they battled through.”
It took the Rock until the second period to find their rhythm and take over the game.
In the first period, both teams simply could not stop scoring. By the end of the opening 20 minutes, the score was tied 6-6, with neither team being able to build a lead greater than a single goal.
In the second, only four goals were scored. However, three came off the Rock’s sticks, giving the team a 9-7 lead heading into the third period.
Once the third started, the Rock continued to assert their dominance over the Wolfpack, scoring the first five goals of the frame to run their lead to 14-7. A late Wainwright goal cut the lead to 14-8, but with only 63 seconds left on the clock, the Rock scored one last time, making the final 15-8.
Despite the strong final result, Ivey said he wasn’t completely happy with his team’s performance.
“We took too many penalties,” he said. However, he acknowledged the Rock was able to kill most of them.
In any win, there need to be big plays that help lead the team to victory, and this game was no exception.
Ivey said the defence held firm when a stop was needed, making big plays when called upon. He also credited goaltender Wayne Juniper with making big saves and keeping the Rock in the game.
Leading the Rock in scoring against Wainwright was Kellan Cornelis, who recorded five points (3G, 2A) in the win.
Joining Cornelis as multipoint contributors were Kevin Peyre and Jordan Boulerice, who each had three points (2G, 1A); Scott Ivey and Bryan Peyre also had three points (1G, 2A).
Jake Chizma (2G), Brett Walker (1G, 1A) and Mark Smith (2A) chipped in two points of their own.
Brennen Connery, Kody Wolfe and Justin Quaghebeur each had one goal, while Juniper, Derek Tymkow, Cole Walker, Taylor Holterhus and Riley Attfeld had one assist each.
Next up for the Rock is a road game on May 11 in Cold Lake.
