Lacrosse Mounties finish season in fourth place
Mt. A downs Acadia, lose to champs from DAL
Robert Murray
Sports Editor
The lacrosse Mounties closed out their season during the first weekend in November, beating Acadia in the quarterfinal 12-6 before losing to the eventual champions from Dalhousie on Saturday 13-8.
Friday evening, Mt. A got help from their whole roster to take down their rivals from Wolfville for the third time this season. Peter Burns, who was held pointless during the regular season, exploded for four goals to stand as the leading scorer for both sides. Wayne Crossman, Ali Rehman, and Kevin Isherwood all chipped in two goals each to provide the difference for the Mounties.
After the matches, attacker Wayne Crossman shared his thoughts on the team’s effort against Dalhousie and Acadia, saying, “It was a tough loss but we know the team is heading in the right direction.”
The Mounties finished the season fourth overall, ahead of Acadia in the final regular season standings for the Maritime University Field Lacrosse League (MUFLL.) Dexter van Dam contributed one assist for Mt. A with Ryan Scott and Ben Leger rounding out the scoring for the Mounties.
Saturday was a statement game for the Mounties. After losing consistently by wide margins for years to teams like Dalhousie, Saint Mary’s University, and St. Francis Xavier (see stat box), the Mounties only lost by five goals to DAL on Saturday. Six different Mounties found the back of the net and a total of eight players found the score sheet.
Jason Gray scored two goals and Ali Rehman had his second two goal game in as many days, as the Mounties made great strides against the eventual champions at Dalhousie. For the first time in four years, goalie Tyler James sported a GAA under 10 in the playoffs, and finished with a 9.5 GAA over two games, second only to Mike Cowan’s (DAL) GAA among goaltenders in the 2011 MUFLL playoffs.
Looking forward to next season, Crossman sees opportunity for improvement saying, “We just need to keep doing what we did this season, take it one week at a time…” He then went on, adding, “…and have confidence that we’re gong to make each game tough on our opponents whether we win or lose.”
While the result on the scoreboard Saturday may not have favoured the Mounties, they took home arguably the most important individual award as Kevin Isherwood won MVP honours for the league. The Vancouver native, currently in his second year with the team, capped off a 31-goal season by taking the award. Mt. A’s coach Gary Wallace, who received two nominations for Coach of the Year (but lost to Dalhousie coach Glen Dunbar), will look towards putting more of a stamp on the team as they progress and develop.
Despite enjoying another successful season, matching their career win record, the Mounties face big questions heading into the offseason as standout goalie Tyler James and others graduate.
Stat Box
16.22 GAA between 2008-2010
14.875 GAA in 2011
10 Games between 2008-2010 where Mt. A allowed 20+ goals
2 Games in 2011 where Mt. A allowed 20+ goals
9 Mt. A players who earned at least a single point in 2011, the most in any year from 2008-11