Jonathan Maillet For the Journal
The Sarnia Pacers wrapped up the season in Whitby Saturday, as the U11 Tier1 and Tier 2 teams competed in the Ontario Lacrosse Festival, the Provincial Championship for the OLA.
While neither team would come home with a medal, they helped cap off a very successful season for Sarnia Pacers Minor Lacrosse.
The Tier 1 team, coached by Jeff Cox, came into the tournament ranked 7th in the province, and qualified for the ‘A’ division. Cox’s team would start the weekend off with a big 10-2 victory over Orillia on Friday morning. In the afternoon game however, the Pacers would finish the day 1-1 after a 7-4 loss to Halton Hills.
They would finish the round robin with a 9-5 loss to Centre-Wellington to move their record to 1-2 on the tournament.
Sarnia would play in the quarterfinals Saturday, losing 6-3 to the Peterborough Lakers, the eventual silver medalists.
Over in group C, the 37th ranked Tier 2 team opened the round robin against Midland, losing in a tight 4-3 battle on Friday morning. They would finish day one with a 9-3 victory over Pelham. After a back-and-forth game, the Tier 2 Pacers would fall to Brantford 6-5 on Saturday.
Altogether the Pacers had five teams contend for a provincial title, winning the U9 Group B championship, a silver in the U9 Group D, and for the first time in 26 years, a team qualify for the OLA Final 6 in the U13 division.
Teams weren’t the only measure of success at the Ontario Lacrosse Festival, as the Pacers’ own Hannah Stephenson was selected as an official for the tournament. Hannah is a former box lacrosse player herself, playing for the Wallaceburg Griffins U17 girls team, and her two brothers play Pacers lacrosse as well.
“Hannah has reffed for us for 2 seasons now” said Stephanie Dunlop, Pacers Minor Lacrosse President, “She is very competent and very well respected by our coaches and players”.
The Ontario Lacrosse Association accepted applications from officials across Ontario to officiate the Ontario Lacrosse Festival; Hannah’s application was selected for the U11 division.