The South Okanagan Flames lacrosse team struggled offensively and defensively against the Kamloops Venom on Sunday.
The end result was a 15-5 loss at Penticton’s Memorial Arena.
“Our guys worked hard. We have got things to improve on,” said Flames coach Kevin Thompson. “There are some positives and a bunch of negatives.”
The Flames trailed 6-1 after the first period, then 11-2 after two periods. The Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League’s top team, the Venom, are now 12-0.
Thompson wasn’t pleased with losing again as his Flames have a record of two wins and eight losses, putting them fourth in the five-team circuit. Thompson said the Venom pulled out the perfect defence as they knew who to focus on, while not allowing other Flames players to get involved.
Defensively, Thompson said the Flames need to try and toughen up.
“We have to not let these teams come to Penticton and think they can just bowl us over,” said Thompson. “Play good, hard, aggressive defence. We don’t take lots of penalties. We can still play hard, aggressive defence. That’s what we’re going to be working on.”
While the Flames did score three goals in the third period, they had a few other chances denied by Venom goalie Matt Hans or missed the net entirely.
Flames captain Kaid McLeod said they didn’t play as well against the Venom as their last game, which was a 20-12 loss on May 31 in Kamloops.
“We need to work on defence. We can’t give up 14 and 15 goals a night,” he said. “We have been scoring nine or 10 goals a game. Once we improve our defence, we will be right with these guys and other teams in the league.”
Near the end of the game McLeod received special attention from Venom Marc Dumont, who cross checked him several times in the chest and forced him into the boards at one point. Dumont didn’t get any reaction from McLeod and was eventually sent to the penalty box.
“I didn’t do a single thing to him,” said McLeod, when asked about the incident. “He just didn’t like me I guess. I don’t know.”
Scoring for the Flames were Tanner Thompson, Mitch Brodt, McLeod, Chris Pond and Brad Stel. Leading the Venom offensively were Brady Jorgensen with six goals and Monty Chisholm with four.
The Flame’s next game is June 21 against the Venom in Kamloops at Memorial Arena at 7:30 p.m.