A couple of weeks have passed since the Prince Albert Predators captured their first Prairie Gold Lacrosse League junior division title.
However, the excitement level from their accomplishment was still there for the team as they held their 2018 awards banquet Saturday night.
“It’s too bad that the season wasn’t a little bit longer,” Predators coach Tyson Fetch said. “You want to enjoy that ride as much as you possibly can, as it’s not very often that the things go that way.
“I made mention of this to the guys during the evening, but it was such a fun season to be a part of as a coach and a lot of that had to do with having a great group of young men on the roster.”
With such a talented squad, it made the decisions tough for the Predators coaching staff when it came to handing out the year-end awards.
“It was so hard for Mike Vancoughnett, Charlie Beaulac and I to narrow it down to just one guy for many of the categories,” Fetch said.
“The one category that was an unanimous decision though was goalie Duncan Fetch for the most improved player award, as he made a huge leap with his level of play this season.”
Team captain and graduating player Brendan Beaulac received a pair of accolades as he was named the team’s most valuable player and also earned the king of loosies award that goes to the player who picks up the most loose balls during the season.
“I’ve had the chance to coach Brendan for the last six years and he’s really grown into a strong leader,” Fetch said.
“Whenever he had the ball, it was difficult for other teams to try and get it away from him, and he was always there to pick up a loose ball and regain possession during a game.”
Fellow graduating player Brody Low was also honoured Saturday as the assistant captain received the team’s inspirational player trophy.
“Like Brendan, I’ve been able to coach him for the last six years and he’s really become a fine young man,” Fetch said.
“He’ll be hard to replace as a leader and as a left-handed offensive player, as those are hard to come by. He suffered a knee injury during the course of the year but he only missed a couple of games as he was determined to go back out there.”
Kurtis Peifer and Evan Beaulac were honoured for their work with coaching minor lacrosse in Prince Albert as they received the spirit of lacrosse awards.
Also picking up trophies were Nick Chokan (most sportsmanlike player), Travis Dryka (defensive player of the year) and Ashton Hall (offensive player of the year).