The Prince Albert Predators are looking to put the cherry on top of a historic season.
Prince Albert will travel to Swift Current for Game 1 of the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League (PGLL) on Saturday night in a rematch of the 2023 final. The Predators finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 record and a goal differential of +161.
Predators head coach Lucas Wells says the team has been looking forward to the matchup for quite some time.
“I can tell they’re all pretty excited. The intensity of practice is starting to ramp up there. Guys are starting to chirp a little bit more at each other, trying to get under each other’s skin. Just the little things that are going to happen in-game. I know the older guys, the guys that were here last year, are very excited to get back to work and get back in the final and try and repeat this year, especially against Swift.”
It’s a new format for the PGLL final in 2024. Instead of a single game, the league has shifted to a best-of-three for the final with the lower seed hosting Game 1. Games 2 and 3 (if necessary) will be hosted by the higher seed.
Wells says the format puts a premium on the first game for Prince Albert.
“I think for us, the most important game is going to be game one in Swift Current. I don’t see any team coming to PA and beating us twice in a row. I think in every playoff series, the first one is the most important one. I think that if you can take that lead back home, it definitely poses a great advantage for us.“
During the regular season, the Swift Current Wolverines posted a 9-3 record and a +40 goal differential. With Swift Current and Prince Albert facing each other in several key matchups in recent years, Wells says the matchup has extra meaning for the Predators.
“Playoffs are a different season. Regular season doesn’t really mean anything if you go undefeated and you don’t win the final game of the year. The guys understand and they know that. It’s going to be embracing the challenge of having everybody gunning for you. Especially Swift, I would consider that our rival team. Us and Swift, especially over the last two, three years. We’ve kind of grown a hatred towards each other and we know we have the target on our back.”
The Predators last played a PGLL game back on June 15 against the Moose Jaw Mustangs. Prince Albert last played on June 30 against the Queen City Kings in a Founders’ Cup play-in game in Regina.
With the long break, Wells says Prince Albert should be able to use their fresh legs to play with pace against Swift Current.
“We have to use our speed. I don’t think that there was a team in the PGLL that was able to match our speed in transition offensively or defensively. I think if we attack with speed and just play our brand (of lacrosse), I think we’ll be fine.”
Game 1 begins at 6 p.m. at S3 Arenas West in Swift Current.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
