It was a case of too little, too late as the Westlock Junior Rock fell short against the Lloydminster Xtreme at the Rotary Spirit Centre Saturday, June 11 during Tier II Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League play.
The loss marked the club’s fourth in a row, and second in a week, following a heartbreaking loss against the Edmonton Warriors on the road on Wednesday night.
Assistant coach Martin Clausen said by far it was not his team’s best effort in Saturday afternoon’s 9-6 defeat.
“We started off pretty slow today, which really hurt us. We need to come more prepared to play,” said Clausen.
“The boys battled hard the rest of the game … they just need to bury those ones quick when we have the chances.”
Lloydminster opened the scoring 38 seconds into the game and didn’t let down. The Xtreme added four more, to take a 5-0 lead with less than 10 minutes off the clock.
The Rock added three of their own, bridging the gap to 5-3 at the break.
“We had a lot of chances that went off the post, that made it tough to get back into the game,” Clausen said.
“You think you’ve got one in the back of the net, but all of the sudden it’s going the other way.”
The visitors added a pair of second period goals, while the Rock recorded a single tally and trailed 8-4 after two periods of a spirited affair that saw the Rock take 78 penalty minutes, including four fighting majors.
“We had a couple guys drop the gloves and try to get some momentum for the team. It was there for a while, but it didn’t stick with us,” Clausen said.
Westlock added two more markers late in the third, but the squad couldn’t claw all the way back.
“When it comes down to it, we know that we can do it and want to win, but sometimes we wait until it’s too late,” Clausen said.
“The boys battled hard and they do everything they can to make it happen. It was a tough game today.”
The loss came on the heels of a 9-8 overtime defeat at the hands of the Warriors.
The Rock overcame an 8-2 deficit to tie the game 8-8 and head to overtime, but they couldn’t complete the monumental comeback, falling 9-8.
The next day, June 12, the Rock fell 12-7 to the Sherwood Park Titans on the road.
The Rock will close out the regular season at home this weekend with tilts against the Edmonton Wizards and Titans on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, respectively.
“It’s crunch time coming up for playoffs,” Clausen said.
“We’re in a tough spot in the season, but I think we’re playing well enough that we’ll be ready for playoffs. It’s just a matter of getting everyone on the same page.”
