Prince Albert Trappers win provincial title in front of hometown fans

After finishing third for two straight years Prince Albert is back on top of the provincial bantam lacrosse world.

Dagan Carlson scored four straight goals and notched two assists to lead the PA Trappers to a 6-2 win over the Regina Rush to capture the 2017 SLA bantam title in front of a hometown crowd at Kinsmen Arena on Sunday night. For his efforts, Carlson was named bantam tournament M.V.P.

“It was great (to be) in front of our home fans. We’ve gone to provincials the last couple of years, always travelling, staying in hotel rooms, always different. It was nice to come to P.A.,” Trappers coach Bryan Swystun said after carrying the championship trophy off the floor.

“(The tournament) was excellently run, great organization, a lot of volunteers did a fabulous job and it was really nice to sleep in our own beds and play well in front of our hometown fans.”

Carlson put his team on the board after four minutes of play in the first period and added three more goals before intermission to give PA a 4-2 lead after 15 minutes. That early cushion would prove to be crucial as the game went on.

“We did it all tournament. We seemed to just come out and have very good first periods and get jumps on teams and play very well defensively later on down the stretch in the game, which was the case tonight,” Swystun said.

“(We) shut them down in the third and a lot of credit to the fellows. They’ve been at this for a lot of times… It’s nice for them, with all the hard work that they put in to come away with a medal this year and gold, so good for them.”

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