A packed Ladner Leisure Centre crowd witnessed some lacrosse history Saturday night.
The Ladner Pioneers won their third straight national senior B men’s title with a 9-2 win over the Edmonton Miners to bring a highly successful conclusion to the week-long President’s Cup tournament.
Ladner jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first period on a pair of goals from Tyler Pace and singles from Mitch Jones and Ryan Benesch.
Edmonton responded with a pair to open the second, but Ladner restored its four-goal advantage with markers from Jason Jones and James Rahe to lead 6-2 after two periods.
Haiden Dickson, Jake Carey and Pace scored in the third period to put the game out of reach.
Pace finished with three goals and four assists to lead all scorers in the game.
Pace was also the top point producer in the tournament with 10 goals and 26 points.
Jones was second in tournament scoring with 17 goals and 17 assists.
Goalie Christian Del Bianco was stellar in the championship final stopping 44 of 46 shots. He was named tournament MVP.
Pace and Del Bianco were both named as first team all-stars, while Spencer Bromley and Nathan Henare were named second team all-stars.
“Those guys…the whole team…they were so focused throughout the whole tournament,” said team president John Burr. “The Edmonton Miners are a good team. When their goalie gets hot, they are tough to beat, so we were fortunate to jump ahead with four quick goals and put them on their heels, but the crowd we had in that arena that night…had to be 1,400 plus. It was just amazing. There was so much energy, electricity, and I think that is what helped the team be successful.”
Ladner is the first team to win three straight titles since the Miners accomplished that feat when they were based in St. Albert from 2016 to 2018.
The Pioneers topped the round robin standings with a 5-1 record beating Standing Buffalo 16-8, Six Nations 12-7, Allegany 16-8, Victoria 5-4 and Snake Island 5-3. Their lone loss was a 6-3 decision to Edmonton.
In the semifinal, the Pioneers scored on a delayed penalty in the last minute only to see Snake Island tie the score at 9-9 with two seconds to play to send the game to overtime.
Dickson scored in overtime and the Pioneers held on for a 10-9 win.
Edmonton beat Allegany 11-8 in the other semifinal.
Allegany, who hail from upstate New York, beat Snake Island 11-8 for the bronze medal.
“Everyone stepped up. The volunteers were tremendous, the fans came out to watch so it was fantastic,” he said. “The fans got a chance to share the President’s Cup with us and that’s what made me happy because the last two we won on the road. To be there in person to experience that emotion and that pride was really something.
“This tournament would never have been the success it was without all our sponsors. I’m truly grateful for all the businesses that came on board from across the Lower Mainland that helped us put on the best President’s Cup ever.”
The Pioneers President’s Cup roster included: Christian Del Bianco (Coquitlam), Zak Boychuk (St. Catherines), Jakob Doucet (New West), Mitch Jones (Delta), Jake Carey (Delta), Patrick Corbett (Burlington), Dan McDermott (Delta), Keegan Rittinger (Coquitlam), Spencer Bromley (Delta), Connor Davidson (Delta), Ryan Benesch (Kitchener), Ryan Keith (Delta), Travis Irving (New West), Jason Jones (Delta), Nathan Henare (Langley), Keegan Kozack (Delta), Owen Barker (Nanaimo), Matt Hills (Delta), Tyler Pace (Coquitlam), James Rahe (Langley), Patrick Szabo (Delta), Mark Yingling (Delta), Sam Clare (Delta), Coady Adamson (Whitby), Nick Jensen (Delta), Haiden Dickson (Delta).
