The Prince Albert Prairie Dogs were underdogs last season when they took home the Harvest Cup championship, and this year not much has changed.

Matt Robin, head coach of the Prairie Dogs says the team is not putting too much pressure themselves. Instead, they’re embracing the same approach as last year.

“The mindset of the team is to play one game at a time. Just to not get too much ahead of ourselves. There is a lot, but we just to play one quarter at a time, one game at a time. That’s the same mindset we had last year going into playoffs, so we’re just trying to keep the same mindset.”

The Prince Albert Prairie Dogs finished as the second seed in the Saskatchewan Field Lacrosse League Standings and played well down the stretch, winning two out of three in their final two weekends of regular season play.

Robin says the team saw themselves in a similar situation a year ago.

“Last year, we were down a couple, and we were sitting around the second seed. This year, there were 3 teams tied for second. We ended up going .500 with 4 wins and 4 losses. Our last two weekends were good. Going in this year to last year, it’s pretty close to the same.”
Robin says the Prairie Dogs have had to deal with a lot more comments from opponents this season after the Harvest Cup win.

“We are the defending champs and we’ve been chirped a little bit during the regular season. But last year, nobody thought PA would be competitive in the field aspect when it comes to senior. We proved them all wrong, and we’re looking to do the same thing. Just show up and do what PA normally does which is bringing home the senior championship.”

The Prairie Dogs take to the field on Saturday against the Regina Southern Comfort at 2:30pm followed by the Saskatoon Plainsmen at 5:30pm. Results of Saturday’s games will determine when Prince Albert plays on Sunday.