It was their best all-around year as a program, said the coach. And despite not bringing home any banners from the provincial championships as they did in 2013, the PCI Trojans lacrosse team is still pleased with how their third year as a high school unit went.
The Trojans went 1-3 at the Manitoba High School Field Lacrosse Provincials over the weekend, losing in the B-side semifinal to Edward Schreyer (Beausejour) 8-3 to conclude their tournament.
And even after a B-side provincial championship last year, coach Al Patterson says the team made major strides in 2014.
“There’s no question this was the best all-around year and probably by far the best all-around team in the three years that we’ve been running,” Patterson said.
“Statistically, it doesn’t show, but we definitely developed as a program with competing against teams that are very good programs and have been established for a large number of years.”
After a 5-3 regular season, the Trojans made it to the division semifinals in the playoffs before losing to River East. At provincials, the Trojans ran into a powerhouse in Sturgeon Heights, a team they had actually beat earlier in the season, 5-4 on May 10. Sturgeon Heights rolled through Portage 16-0 and hammered the rest of the field en route to a provincial title.
“I don’t want to say they were in a league of their own because there are some other strong programs, but from the game play I’ve seen, they were close,” said Patterson of the provincial champs.
Portage did crush OCN 15-0 to advance to the A-side playoffs, where they lost a tight low-scoring contest to Glenlawn 3-1 in the quarter-finals (“That could have gone either way. They got a couple bounces that we didn’t,” the coach said).
They then dropped to the B-side, where they fell to the eventual champs of that division, Edward Schreyer, in the semis.
Portage will only have nine or 10 returning players next season, with a number of Grade 12s graduating, including Stephen MacKenzie, Cody Palmer, and Teegan Martin, who were named to last week’s MHSFLL all-star game.
Patterson admits 2015 will be a rebuilding year, but says expectations won’t change.
“We still want to make sure that we develop the kids and programs as a good, stable program that will be consistent over the next number of years.”
With the increasing popularity of the Junior Trojans lacrosse program for middle school players, the program is expected to be very strong down the road.
Patterson says some of his younger players on the PCI team have also been noticed, with Tyler Grantham and Cole Hannah being approached to tryout for the U16 Team Manitoba Field Lacrosse squad.
“Our program has gained some respect and our players have gained some from coaches who are the Manitoba coaches,” Patterson explained.
“I’m hoping that those kids take the opportunites, because it’s a goal of mine to develop those kids, so that they can get those opportunities and take advantage when it comes,” said Patterson.
“And I’m hoping our youth program, when they get into high school, will have some interest to continue their careers.”
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