With no action until May 11, the South Okanagan Flames lacrosse team looks to take advantage of practice time.
The Flames are fresh off a 13-7 win against the Kamloops Venom in Kamloops April 27. Team president Kevin Harms filled in as coach for Tony Ramsay. Harms said the gap in their Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse schedule is intentional.
“We don’t have a lot of players (12 runners),” said Harms, as they defeated the Venom, who had 17 runners. “Spend two weeks building on what we have learned. We have four practices to build on the strengths.”
Harms said the victory over the defending provincial champions was big.
“Anytime you can go into Kamloops and come out of there with a win, it’s a great big deal,” he said. “Not a lot of teams do that.”
Josh Greenwood led the offensive attack, burning the Venom netminder with five goals. Kaid McLeod also enjoyed a five-point effort that included two goals. Also scoring twice were Dean Grimm and Tanner Thompson, while Kees Mooijer and Gage Buchanan each scored once. Connor Walton collected three assists, while Ryan Harms had two.
Contributing to the Flames’ win was a quick start that saw them score three goals on five shots. It was something that Harms hasn’t seen happen in Kamloops.
“It really got the boys flying,” he said. “They just kept building, which was a great result for them to keep that pressure on. They have a very good lacrosse club.”
It was also a big win after losing their first home game to the Kelowna Raiders 14-10.
“It just shows that the kids rebound well,” said Harms. “They are great athletes. They have great attitudes. I think they just took that loss as a learning experience.”
On May 11, the Flames travel to Vernon to face the Tigers. Then on Sunday, Mother’s Day, Harm’s said they are treating that game as their home opener.
“That’s going to be a big game for us,” said Harms, who hopes their strong sponsors attend the match scheduled in Memorial at 3 p.m.