WESTLOCK – The St. Albert Drillers, a junior female lacrosse team that included eight players from Westlock, narrowly missed out on bronze at the Alberta Major Female Provincial Lacrosse Championships which was hosted by the club at the Rotary Spirit Centre (RSC) July 7-9.
The event featured four of the province’s top junior female lacrosse teams from the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) including the Drillers which is composed of young women ages 16 to 21 from Westlock, St. Albert, Spruce Grove and Fort Saskatchewan.
The Drillers went 0-3 in the round robin, falling 14-3 to the Calgary Cardinals in the July 7 opener. On Saturday, July 8, the club lost 12-5 to the Calgary Silvertips, then dropped a close 7-4 decision to the Sherwood Park Junior Titans later that day — the Titans went on to claim gold with a 9-7 win over the Silvertips in the final.
In the July 9 bronze-medal game versus the Cardinals, the Drillers found themselves down by two goals after the first period and could not battle their way back. The game remained close until midway through the second frame when the Cardinals widened their lead to 8-4 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the period. Seven minutes later, Westlock’s Alisha Boulerice scored the Driller’s fifth and final goal to make the final 11-5.
“We only had five offensive players (in the bronze medal game). One girl went home with a concussion and one girl was out with her knee but we still came back and played defence too so we were playing both ends of the floor,” said Boulerice, adding it was nice to be able to play at home in front of a crowd.
Drillers captain Brittney Howse, who also tallied for them in the bronze-medal game along with Madison Howse, said they’re a supportive, tight-knit group that gives a 100 per cent every time they step onto the floor.
“Coming from last year where we did finish fourth in provincials, we’re going to remember that and we’re going to fight (for a medal),” said Howse.
Assistant coach Denise Boulerice said the girls “dug deep” throughout the tournament despite the tough losses and that they remained positive which gave them an opportunity to “learn from our losses.”
“During the season when we’ve had our successes, the grit starts to come out and they just find that heart,” said Boulerice. “They are learning from it in the sport and in life and in terms of how to have some resilience and work to be better.”
