The Prince Albert Predators came into the weekend with a mission, and they certainly accomplished it, finishing an undefeated Prairie Gold Lacrosse League (PGLL) regular season with a pair of victories in Moose Jaw.
The Predators outscored Moose Jaw 45-1 on the weekend with 26-1 and 19-0 victories at the Kinsmen Arena in Moose Jaw.
“I can’t complain, that’s for sure,” Predators head coach Lucas Wells said in an interview on Monday. “We kind of came in with a goal in mind to reach 200 goals and it’s something we did. I’m very happy with the guys.
“It’s quite incredible what we’ve accomplished, goals for and our goals against. I think if you were to look at it as a whole, it’s arguably the best PGLL regular season in the history of the league. I’m a bit biased obviously because I am the coach, but the boys came out and they statistically did what needed to be done and I’m very happy and proud of them.”
Predators netminder Mason Hawkes continued his strong campaign in goal, allowing only a single goal across both games.
“He is the best goalie in the province at any level junior, senior, tier 2, tier 1, junior A, it doesn’t really matter,” Wells said. “I think he’s the best. When it comes to big games, he’s the best again. He’s somebody you can rely on back then you can take chances and push the floor because if there is a mistake, he’s going to have your back and that’s what good teams have, they have good goaltending. They are able to take those chances and when those chances work, great and if they don’t, you have someone back there to shut the door. I love having him back there.”
Hawkes scored just as many goals as he let in on Saturday, recording a goal in the Predators 19-0 victory in the second game of the day.
Wells, who was a goalie during his lacrosse playing days, says Hawkes has been sure to let him know about the accomplishments.
“He always bugs me because last year he got a shutout in the playoffs. When I played junior, I’ve never had a shutout in my life playing lacrosse. He was always bugging me about that. Then he got another one and then he scored so he’s been all over my case about it, rubbing it in. But that’s good for him to get on the score sheet.”
In the 26-1 game, the Predators were led offensively by Brayden Rieger with 11 points. Matthew Cudmore added 10 points, while Talon Sandry and Braden Shewchuck each contributed six points.
Kael Nichols scored the lone goal for Moose Jaw.
In the 19-0 game, Rieger led all scorers with nine points. Cudmore added seven points while Sandry and Caidyn Prediger added six.
The Predators return to action on June 30 when they travel to Regina to continue their best-of-three series against the Queen City Kings for a spot at the Founders’ Cup. Regina leads the series 1-0.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
