Penticton Game Action Photo peewee A Heat won the Wayne Goss Lacrosse invitational in Semiahmoo over the weekend.
Following a close start in the final against the New Westminster Salmon Bellies, the Heat pulled away and won 12-5.
The Heat went 3-1 in the tournament and started with a 10-3 win against the Salmon Bellies. The Heat also defeated Mission 5-3 in a hotly contested event, then had a letdown Saturday evening against the host Semiahmoo Rock 8-7.
“I definitely liked the effort and intensity. With the exception of the Semiahmoo game, team play improved as the weekend went on and for the most part we were the hardest working team in the games,” said Heat coach Dan Chetner. “We also played a very good team game and our players working together as a team are very effective. We were able to dominate physically and that paid off as we got later into each game.”
Chetner said his players are building confidence and becoming better lacrosse players.
“They appear to love to learn the game and to learn to be better players,” he added. “They are a very coachable group. The team’s goal is to compete for a provincial championship and these strong performances show the players that this is a reasonable goal. As long as they are able to stay focused on the task at hand, the team will have an opportunity to be successful.”
Game MVP’s were Liam McLaren, Darius Venables-Alex, Travis Fehr and Ethan Joe. Ty Ricard was named the most sportsmanlike player. Leading scorers were Liam McLaren, Tyler Pisiak, Cairo Rogers, Beau Chetner, Kale Lawrence and Ethan McLaughlin. Also having strong performances were Aiden Canada, Brendan Craig, Bryn Carter, Bailey Tamminga, Matts Bratton and Naidyn Keough. Next action for the Heat will be in Vernon at the Rock the House tournament June 15 to 17.
Bantam Heat
It was a dominant performance by the Chilliwack Mustangs, who won the Penticton Heat bantam B Barnburner tournament.
After cruising through round robin play, the Mustangs whipped Kamloops 11-3 in the championship game at Memorial Arena. Langley beat Westshore (Victoria) 5-3 to claim third place. The host’s scored a dramatic goal by Michael MacLean with seven seconds remaining to defeat North Okanagan 5-4, claiming fifth place and Port Coquitlam edged West Kootenay 5-1 to place seventh.
Heat coach Dan Van Os was pleased with his teams play.
“We competed very well against some quality teams in Chilliwack and Westshore,” said Van Os.
The main focus was improving their defence, which they accomplished.
It was hard for Van Os to pick any player who stood out only because many of his players played well. However, he did pick one player.
“I though our goalie Brendan Steed was solid in every game,” he said.