After a strong weekend on the road, the Prince Albert Predators are looking for a little bit of home cooking.
The Predators will host the Swift Current Wolverines on Saturday night before a Sunday afternoon matinee with the Regina Chaos at the Kinsmen Arena.
Preds head coach Lucas Wells says the team is excited to return to their home floor.
“Coming back home after a weekend away is huge. We’ve got two wins down there on the road and the young guys played really well. We have a rivalry game with Swift Current here on Saturday. I expect it to be loud. It’s going to be hot. I love playing at home. We have the best atmosphere in the league, so nothing beats it.”
Prince Albert sits at the top of the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League (PGLL) with a 2-0-1 record through three games. The Predators are coming off a weekend that saw them win a pair of road games over Weyburn and Regina by double digits.
Neither Regina or Swift Current have gotten off to hot starts as both teams are still looking for this first win in the young PGLL season. Regina sits with an 0-3 record while Swift Current enters the weekend at 0-2.
Wells says the Predators are not able to take either team lightly.
“Our mentality is that this is our league and we’re going to prove to you every game that it is our league. Swift Current is going to be a tough game. They played Moose Jaw and they played Saskatoon twice and Saskatoon has a very good team. We definitely can’t take those guys lightly. Regina, we beat them last week but in the same breath, you can’t take them lightly. You never know what’s going to happen or if a goalie gets hot or we can’t find the back of the net. We got to work on some of those finer things in those games.”
So far this season, the Predators are leading the PGLL in goal differential at +27. Swift Current and Regina sit at -16 and -18 respectively.
Wells says one key for the Predators to be successful will be playing their brand of lacrosse, but staying disciplined while doing so.
“The biggest thing for us in the first game against Saskatoon was staying out of the penalty box. We got down to Weyburn and I think we took four penalties. One was a bench minor and one was standing up for a teammate. Ultimately I looked at it and we had two penalties in that game. The guys were talking after and they said how much more fun it is playing lacrosse when they’re not short handed or living in the box. I think if we can stay out of the penalty box this weekend again, I think that’ll be huge for us.”
Ball drop against Swift Current is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday night at the Kinsmen Arena.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
