It was a clean sweep for the Westlock Junior Rock over the weekend with dominating victories over Cold Lake and Vermilion during Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League Jr. ‘B’ Tier II action.
On Saturday, May 13 the Rock rolled to a 15-5 win over the Lakeland Heat on the road, and followed it up with a 7-2 win over the Vermilion Roar on Sunday afternoon at the Spirit Centre.
Coach Mike Ivey said it was going showing from his club in the two victories.
“We worked our tails off this weekend, they bled out there,” Ivey said.
“We were missing a couple key guys, but we stepped up an battled. We’re a workhorse team, that what we want our identity to be, and we’re talented, too.”
At home on Sunday, the Rock came out to an early lead despite a constant trail to the penalty box. Leading 3-2 after the first period, the Rock shut the door and potted four more in the second to earn the win.
“It was a great start in term of the fact we were in the box a lot in the first period and still came out ahead,” Ivey said.
“We had that momentum and we were able to keep going in the second and third. We just shut them down completely on defence. It’s pretty incredible in lacrosse to shut them out in the second and third.”
After falling to the Roar 11-7 at home on May 1 in a game the Rock felt they should have had, Ivey said it was nice to steal one back.
“I thought we deserved that game, we didn’t get the bounces,” he said. “It was nice to see it go our way.”
Ivey said it was the same hard work and determination that earned them the win in Cold Lake less than 24 hours prior.
“It was a huge win in Cold Lake. That’s a good team we played and to beat a team that strong and that physical … it was a huge win,” he said, adding he wasn’t sure if they’d have much left in the tank Sunday.
With a four-game win streak going, Ivey said the team will look to keep it going after some time off.
“We’re rolling pretty good right now,” Ivey said.
“We have next weekend off and then we get going the Wednesday after that so it is a nice little break, but we don’t want to lose that momentum.”
After the break, the Rock travel to Edmonton to take on the Wizards on May 25.
