Okotoks area lacrosse stars enjoy golden Summer Games

Working overtime paved the way for a trip to the top of the podium for Zone 2.

Okotoks area athletes Jamie Jackson, Lane Pothier, Cody Hansen, Evan Williams and Myer Shuttleworth helped Big Country secure a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Calgary’s Zone 3 to take home a dramatic gold medal in lacrosse at the Alberta Summer Games on July 23 at the Murray Arena.

“It was very exciting,” said Shuttleworth. “There was a lot of fans here all of the time and it was fun to play in front of them and we get to say that we won the Summer Games and we won it in our hometown and we beat the five-time defending champs.”

In the gold medal game, Big Country had the extra-attacker out in the final seconds with Landry Mitton stepping up to tie the game with the Airdrie-based athlete then scoring again in overtime to seal the victory.

“We didn’t give up, we weren’t down on ourselves,” said Jackson. “Our coaches kept saying keep working hard whether you’re losing by 20 or winning by 20, just keep trying.

“A lot of (the crowd) was cheering for us and when we scored that tying goal that gave us a lot of momentum, everyone in the crowd, family and friends cheering for you, that definitely helped.”

The Zone 2 athletes were quick to heap praise on the experienced coaching staff led by Al Houghton and Gary Playsted for setting the team up for success.

For Williams, it’s the first lacrosse tournament he’s had the opportunity to win.

“We were actually setting picks, doing plays and it was easier to play with more experienced lacrosse players,” said Williams. “Everyone understood what to do and if you were lost (coaches) would all tell you and we had good captains and assistants to tell us what to do.

“Our coaches ran good plays that made it easy for us to score.”

Team chemistry also played a role, noted Pothier, one of two goalies on the team.

“It was how well we knew each other,” he said. “There was no guy that had a problem with another guy, we were all friends. There was none of this I’m not going to pass to that guy because I don’t like him.

“I don’t think many teams were like that, we were a very close team.”

In the round-robin, Zone 2 went undefeated while scoring 42 goals in its three victories and entered the medal round as the only squad to run the table.

“We worked really hard and practised a lot,” said Hansen. “We made a lot of new friends, learned a few things and it was good.

“This means a lot because you get to support your community and get to meet a lot of new people. We watched beach volleyball and baseball. It was really cool, how it’s all put together.”

All told, Zone 2 produced the third most medals (120) in the competition behind Zone 3 Calgary (212) and Edmonton (130) and were recipients of the Spirit of Sport Award recognizing sportsmanship.

For more information, visit 2023asg.com.