It’s becoming an annual rite of passage in southern Alberta lacrosse.
For the fifth consecutive postseason, the Okotoks Marauders (10-10) and Calgary Mountaineers (6-14) will lock horns in the opening round of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League Junior B Tier I playoffs.
“With the way our division sets up that’s that course for most seasons,” said Marauders head coach Geoff Thompson. “It’s a pretty good match up for us overall. We’ve been working on a lot of things over the last few weeks here leading up to next weekend so we’re pretty confident.
“Now it’s the element of going out there and executing our gameplan.”
Okotoks has won the past two playoff meetings in two-game sweeps with Calgary taking the previous two sets.
The teams split the four-game season series at two games apiece during the 2024 campaign.
“It starts from the defence out so lots of strong defensive presence as well as transitioning the ball up the floor,” the coach added. “We’re confident in our offence to get the job done once they’ve got the ball up in the offensive zone.”
The Marauders are poised to have a healthy playoff lineup on the heels of a season of tough luck with injuries and absences.
The series features four of the top five scorers in the South Division in the Mounties’ Rory Dame and Dane Hansen along with Marauders captain Jacob Harlow, who had a team best 76 points, and 42-goal rookie scorer Drew Dunbar.
“Probably 75 per cent of our group is in their first or second year of junior lacrosse, so it’s quite a young group, but that leadership group has really been the glue to the team and brought the guys along the right way this season,” Thompson said.
“Jacob is just a consummate vet and really does things the right way out on the floor, plays hard and I think he’s now third in Marauders all-time for points and that’s going through the COVID seasons as well.
“With Drew, you can see the skill and talent he brought in as a rookie and he’s had a lot of opportunity on that left side working with Max (Pocherewny) and a lot of powerplay opportunity as well. The results show the quality of shooter and player he is.”
The best-of-three series kicks off Thursday, July 18 at 8 p.m. at the Murray Arena. Game 2 shifts to Calgary’s Stu Peppard Arena on July 20 at 6 p.m.
If necessary, Game 3 is set for July 21 at 7 p.m. back at the Murray Arena.
For more information, go to rockymountainlax.com.