The Marauders look to be peaking at the right time with another mountain to climb this week.
For the second consecutive year, the surging Okotoks Marauders (11-8-1) will lock horns with the Calgary Mountaineers in the best-of-three first round of the postseason this week in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League Jr. B Tier I ranks.
“It’s been pretty good, when we have our full lineup in, we’re pretty lights out,” said Marauders head coach Don Haynes. “I think we showed that last weekend when we played the Warriors and the Shammies back-to-back, two top teams for sure and handled that pretty well.
“We’ve got a couple of guys banged up, but hopefully those guys can stay in the lineup and have a good go at this first round here.”
Okotoks took last year’s showdown in two games en route to finishing as provincial bronze medallists as hosts of the competition.
This season, the teams have both won by one-goal margins with the other fixture a tie in what should be another airtight battle on paper in the postseason.
“There’s so many aspects to that series that can impact it,” said Haynes. “They push the ball really well, they’re a fast-break team so I think if we can hold them to that, we always preach loose balls and all the little things that are what make a difference in those tightly matched games.
“And if guys are willing to leg it out, sprint the whole game and battle for those gritty plays, I think we’ll come out on top.”
In the second half of the season, Okotoks posted a 7-2-1 record highlighted by consecutive victories over two division-leading teams in the South heavyweight Calgary Shamrocks and defending provincial champion Edmonton Warriors.
“We’re coming in pretty hot,” said Marauders rookie Blake Robinson. “We know we can beat these guys, we’ve beat them before and it just kind of depends on who shows up and who wants it.”
Robinson said both teams will have a pretty good understanding of what their opposition will be trying to do when the playoffs kick-off.
“We know what they’re going to do, we know what they’re going to run and we’ve just got to play our game and not get into of that dumb penalty stuff,” Robinson said.
Marauders attackman Max Pocherewny finished the season tied for the division lead with 36 goals while playmaker Owen Williams topped the South with 50 assists on the campaign.
Pocherewny, Williams, Jacob Harlow, Robinson, Cole Morris and David Bevis finished in the top-15 in scoring in the division.
At the other end of the floor, Carter Webber’s .826 save percentage was third best in the division with Marauders rookie netminder Ashton De Groot just behind in fourth.
The best-of-three set starts in Calgary on July 20, with the Murray Arena unavailable due to the Alberta Summer Games lacrosse competition, and Okotoks then hosting Game 2 and 3 on July 23 and 24.
The winner of the opening round series advances to the South Division final versus the Shamrocks.
“It’s the first year where the Shams have lost to us more than once in a season,” Robinson said. “We’re coming in heated, and we want to get through the Mounties to get to the Shams, that’s the end goal. It’s a two-step period, but I think it’s doable.”
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