Turns out home floor advantage isn’t everything.
The Okotoks Marauders earned a two-game sweep over the Calgary Mountaineers in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League Jr. B Tier I opening round playoff series despite not having a game on their home floor due to scheduling conflicts with the Alberta Summer Games.
Special teams prowess helped power the Marauders forward in the series clincher on Saturday.
Shorthanded goals by Noah Everson and hard-nosed defender Gavin Sundwall were followed up by a tiebreaking powerplay marker from rookie attackman Lyric Kleutsch to see the Marauders past Calgary by a 5-4 count on July 22 at the Stu Peppard Arena.
Dylan Belliveau and Okotokian Cole Morris kickstarted the offence with even-strength markers.
At the Acadia Rec Centre, the home of the Mountaineers, Okotoks scored a 10-5 result in the series opener on July 20.
Max Pocherewny, Owen Williams and Jacob Harlow all registered one-goal and four-assist performances with Riley Zeer and Morris chipping in with two goals. Kleutsch, Belliveau and Sundwall had the other tallies.
Justin Rea, an Okotokian who plays for Calgary, had two goals for the Mounties in the loss.
Marauders goalie Carter Webber and the team defence held Calgary to just nine goals over two games.
Up next for the Marauders is a date with the high-octane Calgary Shamrocks in the South Division Final.
The Shammies have been a fixture on the national stage and the dominant team in the South. Okotoks has given Calgary a run for its money this season and took the season series by a 2-1 margin.
The series starts on July 27 at the Stu Peppard Arena, shifts back to Okotoks' Murray Arena on July 29 at 7 p.m. and if it goes the distance, Game 3 is at the Peppardome on July 30.
For more information, visit rockymountainlax.com.
