The South Sask Stealth didn’t leave much to chance in the Sask Lacrosse U13 A provincial championship on Wednesday at the Kinsmen Arena.
The Stealth -- featuring nine players from the Moose Jaw Mustangs -- rolled to a 12-3 win over the North Sask Predators to open the event before taking a 19-6 win over the Regina Barracuda in the gold medal final.
The U15 Stealth had a bit more drama in their championship game against the Saskatoon SWAT, where they needed double overtime before taking a 4-3 victory. They opened their event with a 12-3 win over the Regina Barracuda.
In the U17 division, the Stealth picked up the bronze medal, falling 7-5 to the Saskatoon SWAT in the semifinal and taking an 8-0 win over the North Sask Stealth in the third-place game.
The Sask Lacrosse house provincials are in action across all age groups at rinks all over Moose Jaw this weekend, with championship finals all taking place Sunday at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. The U13 final is set for 11 a.m., the U17 final at 2:30 p.m. and U15 final at 4 p.m.
U13 Stealth 12, North Sask 3
Things were close in the first period as the two teams left the opening frame tied 2-2, but the Stealth would score four second-period goals and add six more in the third to take their comfortable win.
Rylan Deichert, Jax Brown and Nixon Friesen each had two goals and two assists for the Stealth, while Sawyer Day picked up a goal and four points. Blake Simpson and Ryder Seiferling each scored twice and had three points, Jaxyn Houle scored their other marker.
Brandt Barber had 17 saves to earn the win in net.
U13 Stealth 19, Regina 6
Brown went absolutely off in the gold medal game, putting up six goals and 11 points as the Stealth led 5-1 after the first and 14-3 through two.
Friesen had four goals and eight points, while Seiferling also scored four goals and had a six-point game. Day and Deichert scored twice each, Woods picked up their other goal.
Cohen Baumgartner had four assists, Vanden Chappel had three helpers.
U15 Stealth 12, Regina 3
A three-goal first period got the Stealth off to a good start and a 6-1 lead through two assured things would be all but academic.
The Stealth -- who included five players from the Mustangs on their roster -- had three goals and four points from Chase Folk, while Cashton Smith put up a hat trick. Diezel Paulhus had two goals and three points, while Chase Schafer also scored a pair. Hudson Maloney and Tayven Nordin also scored for South Sask.
Hayden Nidesh added three assists, Caiden Arnott had a pair of helpers.
Scoring information from U15 gold medal final was unavailable.
Saskatoon 7, U17 Stealth 5
With the teams tied 4-4 through two periods, the SWAT scored three in the first five minutes of the third to pull away and eventually advance to the gold medal game.
Ryder Hignett scored twice and had four points for the Stealth, Sawyer Leko added a goal and an assist. Jack Missal and Brodyn Pladson had their other markers, Ryder Gilroy added three assists.
U17 Stealth 8 North Sask 0
The Stealth put on a defensive clinic in the bronze medal game, with goaltender Cam Volk the beneficiary of a rare box lacrosse shutout.
South Sask took a 3-0 lead out of the first period and led 7-0 through two.
Brody Morrice led South Sask with two goals and three points, while Ryder Hignett had a pair of markers. Pladson and Brady Simpson picked up a goal and assist each, Chase McKee and Ethan Nordi scored single goals. Leko had two assists.
Be sure to keep an eye on www.sasklacrosse.net for up-to-date scores from throughout the weekend.
