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While the Estevan Big Dogs junior lacrosse squad has experienced its challenges this season, the team, which started 0-8, has recently found its game.
The Big Dogs snapped their losing streak after collecting a win on June 19. On June 22, the junior team tied the Regina Rifles 14-14 on the road. It's still a long way from the top, but the steady improvement pushe them out of last place in league standings with a 1-8-1 record to finish the season.
They finished tied with Moose Jaw who shares their record, but since the Big Dogs beat Moose Jaw previously, coach Evan Handley expects them to sit in seventh place, drawing second place in the opening playoff game.
After tying the fifth place Rifles, Handley said, "That was probably the best game that I've seen our team play, ever."
Handley was impressed with his team's performance defensively and their ball movement up the floor. Something that was pleasantly absent from their play was the mistakes, he said.
"The mental mistakes weren't there like they had been in the past. They're kind of gelling. They're starting to pick up things more. I guess the more games you play as a team, the better you get."
For the junior team, this means they are peaking at the perfect time of the year. Even though the team's three league points came in the last two games, Handley said he's been much happier with the team's last two or three games before those. Despite the losses the Big Dogs have been in the games and competitive.
They played a tight opening frame against the Rifles, tying the game 4-4, after falling behind by two-goal deficits twice in the period. In the dying seconds of the first, the Rifles scored to take a one-goal lead into the second. The Big Dogs were bitten by late goals from the rifles in all three periods.
There were no goals to be had in the first seven minutes of the second, until the Rifles stretched their lead to three, scoring twice in 20 seconds. While the Estevan boys were scoreless in the first half of the middle frame, once they knocked one in, they closed the gap in mere seconds.
It took only 28 seconds for the Big Dogs to tie the game up at 7-7, as Ryan Curzon got things started, followed by two quick goals by Rhett Handley, who finished the night with six.
The game was tied at 8-8 toward the end of the second period, but again the Rifles scored a late go-ahead marker, this time with just nine seconds remaining.
The third period saw both teams exchanging goals early on. With the Big Dogs down 12-10 with half a period remaining, the team went on a tear, scoring four unanswered goals, and carrying a 14-12 lead into the final five minutes.
For the third straight period however, the Rifles got the last laugh scoring twice, with the tying goal coming with just over two minutes left. In the final minutes neither team could find the back of the net.
Following Rhett Handley's six-goal performance were Dylan Smith and Tanner Froese, each with two, and Ty Currie, Ryan Curzon, Lucas Smith and Marshall Holzer notching single tallies.
The Big Dogs are now preparing for the playoff tournament in Moose Jaw from July 8-10. After the first game, depending on the outcome, they will play on either the championship or consolation side.
Preparing for that tournament, Handley said he wants his team to focus on their strong points, particularly the offence.
"I want to work on maintaining our offence. In the last couple of games I thought we moved the ball well, and (continue to) work the defence against the offence."
He added that they don't need to look at their overall record to try to find success. They can measure their improvement period by period. That's what he told his players and he thinks that plays a role in keeping the team's confidence high.
"And the kids could see how we could compete. Saskatoon (the top team in the league) wasn't taking shifts off against us. Hopefully having some success will get more kids out next year. That's what we want."
