It was a rough home opener for the Estevan Devils, but they can take some positives out of two losses to the Regina Knights on Sunday.
The two Queen City Minor Box Lacrosse teams were originally supposed to play Saturday night and early Sunday afternoon at the Lignite Miners Centre, but bad weather forced a doubleheader later in the day on Sunday.
Regina (2-2) won 15-4 in the first game and 17-1 in the second.
"The Knights are a fast and very skilled team," said Cory Bod, who coaches the Devils along with Shawn Pryznyk.
Indeed, the visitors spent the majority of both games in the attacking zone, moving the ball around with precision and winning most of the races to loose balls.
Devils goalie Ryan Kenzie was peppered with shots and made some excellent stops to prevent the scores from getting further out of hand.
Bod said the second game on Sunday was Kenzie's best of the three games the Devils have played to date.
"Despite the final score, this was Ryan Kenzie's finest game of the year," said Bod. Shot totals weren't kept, but they were likely close to the century mark and he made well over 15 highlight saves."
The Devils got off to a slow start in the first half of the doubleheader, allowing seven goals in the first period, including three in a span of less than three minutes.
But Estevan rebounded with by far their best stretch of the day in the second period, outscoring Regina 4-3 in the frame.
Austin Spencer played the leading role for the Devils, scoring a hat trick and adding an assist.
He got the home side on the board 42 seconds into the period, with helpers to Isaac Elder and Shelby Betzema.
Cole MacCuish rippled the mesh at the 7:40 mark on a hard shot from the middle of the floor, and Spencer scored again 40 seconds later to give the Devils three straight tallies.
Bod said his team "matched Regina's stronger skill set with extremely hard work" in the middle frame.
But the Knights responded with three goals of their own to take a 10-3 lead.
Spencer rounded out his hat trick with 1:48 to play in the second.
Regina scored five times in the third period, with the Devils unable to produce any more offence, something Bod attributed to "tired legs."
The third period did feature more physical play, eventually leading to a fight when Estevan's Christian Yuzicapi Bod took a hard, clean hit into the boards from a Regina player.
The fight was broken up and Bod was assessed a seven-minute major and game misconduct. He was also suspended for the second game.
The floor tilted further against the Devils in the second contest, with Bod's suspension and a wrist injury to Jordan Memory shortening their roster.
Regina opened the scoring in the first 30 seconds of the game and led 6-1 after one.
Elder fired the only Estevan goal of the game with less than two minutes left in the period, scooping up a loose ball in front and beating the tender between the pads. Spencer and Michael Slager drew the assists.
The Knights were held to four goals in the second, but exploded for seven markers in the third period, including four quick ones near the midway point.
Monday night saw the Devils fall 12-0 to the Moose Jaw Mustangs on the road. The physical Mustangs scored five goals in the first period, three in the second and four in the third.
Estevan opened the 2011 season last Wednesday in Regina, losing 14-1 to the Cannons.
Josh Pryznyk scored the team's lone goal with 15 seconds left in the game.
The Devils will face the Knights in Regina tonight in their fifth game of the season.
They return to the LMC this weekend for two games against the Cannons. Game times are 8:30 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
