The Prince Albert Predators are ready for the postseason, and they finished the regular season on the right note with a pair of victories over the Regina Barracudas at Kinsmen Arena on Saturday night
Prince Albert came away with a 16-6 win in the afternoon and an 18-9 win in the nightcap of the doubleheader.
Predators assistant coach Jordan Carriere says it was important for Prince Albert to send a message ahead of the upcoming playoffs.
“This is a big day for us because going into playoffs, we know that this is a team that we’re going to face. We want to set the tone you don’t want to go into playoffs giving a team like that a hope going into the weekend, so it was big for us to come in and come out swinging.”
The Predators scored early and often in the first game scoring six unanswered goals in the opening period to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Prince Albert would strike seven more times in the second period and add a trio of goals in the third.
Brayden Rieger led all scorers for Prince Albert with 10 points, six goals and four assists.
In the second game, the Predators would take a slim 5-3 lead after twenty minutes thanks to a couple of late tallies from Hayden Ulriksen and Matthew Cudmore.
Prince Albert would extend their lead to four goals after the second period as they would score seven in the second period.
The Predators would run away with the game in the third period, outscoring the Barracudas 6-1.
Hayden Ulriksen led the charge offensively in the second game with 9 points, six goals and three assists.
Although head coach Lucas Wells was absent from the team over the weekend, Carriere says he would’ve been proud to see the effort the Predators showed.
“Coach Lucas (Wells) couldn’t be here today for this double header, so the boys dug deep for this one. It’s tough when your head coach is gone, and the boys want to win for him. He really prides himself in and wants the kids to realize is battling adversity. That first game, we didn’t face a ton of it, but the second game I can pretty much say we had adversity from start to finish and that’s something that he takes pride in is our team trying to battle that adversity and that’s something that they did today. I know on Monday, watching the film back from this game, he’s going be really proud, that they are battling that adversity.”
Playoffs for the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League are set to take place in Moose Jaw on the Jul. 8-9 weekend.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
