Supplied

The midget Rock celebrate after beating the Sherwood Park Titans on July 4. Back row L-R: Sheila Kulmatyski (manager), Martin Clausen (coach), Brett Walker (coach), Tristen Tremblay, Colman Herrick, Kellan Cornelis, Mike Ivey (coach), Steven Andronyk, Hayden Watson, Christopher Taylor, Jason Peyre, Regan Veenbaas, Bryan Peyre (coach) and Jacob Grainger. Front row L-R: Valerie McMillan, Derek Tymkow, Cole Walker, Scott Ivey, Jordan Boulerice, Amelia Kulmatyski, Gabe Sheehan, Dylan MacDougall and Troy Desranleau.

view all photos (-count-)

Rock rule GELC

Team heads to provincials July 13-15

Westlock’s midget Rock are champions.

The lacrosse team claimed the Greater Edmonton Lacrosse League midget ‘B’ title after defeating the Sherwood Park Titans 10-6 on July 4 in Edmonton.

“I’m very proud of the kids on the team,” said coach Mike Ivey. “They showed a lot of heart all year. It was nice for them to accomplish it because they just really deserve it.”

Despite the four-goal margin, the game was close the entire way. The Rock were always on top, but were unable to get too far ahead, Ivey said, taking leads of 2-1, 4-3 and 7-6 before finally creating some breathing room.

“We pulled ahead in the last five minutes,” he said. “We really took over.”

After the win, Ivey spoke highly of the Titans.

“They played really well, but ultimately we out-battled them,” he said.

For the Rock, it was the culmination of many hours of hard work and dedication. Ivey credited the players with showing a lot of heart and effort and being determined to continue improving all season.

“They’re a bunch of winners,” he said.

Winning the title wraps up the team’s season, which saw them earn first place in the regular season with an 11-3 record and roll through the playoffs undefeated.

“The playoff run was great,” Ivey said. “There were a lot of good teams and every game was tight. Playoffs are a lot of fun like that because every game’s exciting and you can’t take any games or any shifts off.”

He added that it was a total team effort that resulted in the win.

“Everyone was unbelievable,” he said, stressing it took strong efforts from the top to the bottom of the roster to get the job done.

Provincial berth

While their league play is done for the year, the Rock are not ready to stop playing.

They will be in Ponoka July 13-15 for the provincial tournament, taking on several top midget lacrosse teams from across Alberta.

Ivey said he has high hopes for the Rock in Ponoka.

“We’d like to win that too,” he said.

He knows it won’t be easy. The Rock have played some of the southern teams they’ll be facing at provincials in tournaments through the season, so they know what to expect.

Those games were tough, but with the league playoff run under their belts, Ivey said he thinks the Rock have a shot.

“I think we’re even more ready than we were back then, so I think we can give it a good run,” he said.