The novice South Cowichan Thunder wrapped up the season by winning gold at the Victoria Eagles Wind It Up tournament on June 18.
The Thunder went undefeated through the entire tournament, and were outscored in only one period out of four round-robin games, largely due to the efforts of goalie Marcos Williams, who stepped up his game and did everything possible to stop the ball.
Cowichan South faced Oceanside in the final, and the game went back and forth until the last five minutes when Cowichan pulled away with a series of shorthanded goals.
“Our graduating players held their own and moved the ball very well, but it was our first year players who were the backbone of the team playing every shift hard and with intensity,” head coach Chris Claxton commented.
“I think the team was a little bummed not making the gold game in the last tourney to face their own novice North team and wanted a chance to play in a final game before the year ended.”
The North team ended up finishing the season unbeaten while the South squad lost only a handful of games, but the biggest thing for the young players was getting ready for the next level of lacrosse.
“More importantly, we developed the skills for the boys to move the ball, break out and make line changes efficiently in preparation for peewee,” Claxton said.