This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:Published: July 23, 2009
It’s been a few years, but the Vernon Tigers are once again the cream of the crop in the Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League.
The Tigers strung together six-straight third-period goals to upend the Kamloops Venom 9-5 in Game 5 of the best-of-five championship final Wednesday night at Wesbild Centre.
It is Vernon’s first league title since they won back-to-back banners in 2002 and 2003. They now advance to the B.C. championship, which goes July 31-Aug. 3 at Archie Browning Arena in Esquimalt.
“It’s just unbelievable and it is such a good feeling to have won the whole championship,” said Tigers’ coach Brian Klein. “We did what we set out to do which was to win every shift and to go out there and break their hearts, and we did just that.
“It was a slow start as we were losing 4-1 at one point, but the whole time I thought we were OK and our leadership of Robbie Short, Steven Clark, Braidy Webb, and Blake Lewis shined through.
“Kamloops is a good team who played a close, tough series. They had really strong goaltending in Stu Ford (37 saves) who was the best goalie in the league, so it’s an accomplishment to have been able to beat him.”
The Tigers had a rough start, trailing 4-3 after 40 minutes.
Ryland DeRose, Liam Hagerty, Ryan Hildebrand, and Duncan Schulz notched the Venom’s first four goals. Riley Soleway, Ryan Landels, and Matt Kolb responded for the Cats, who came alive in the third stanza and played the Venom tough from the start.
Steven Clark ignited the Tigers’ attack, scoring just 21 seconds into the frame.
Clark, who is graduating from the Tigers’ program after five seasons, was ecstatic with the win.
“There are just no words to describe it. I’m so jacked that we won this whole championship. I just wish (teammate) Pat Quigley was here to share this with us, as he is out of town for military training.
“This is probably the biggest thing I’ve won in my whole life. I’m proud of the way the boys came together tonight to win the game. It’s wicked how we were down two games at the beginning of the series but we rallied back to beat them in the end. It’s an awesome feeling.”
Goals by Jordan Jarvis, Steven Kolasko, Miles Jespersen, Skylar Hodgson, and Short rounded out the offence.
Hildebrand fired a late goal for Kamloops.
Said first star Short: “I was really happy to get the win and it feels so good to have won two championships this year (the other was a national Junior A hockey title with the Vernon Vipers).
“We knew we had the right team to win this series because we have such a good group of defencemen, and a great goalie in Josh (Phillips) who’s just played outstanding for us all year long.”
Venom coach Al Forster praised the Tigers’ resiliency.
“This series was so evenly matched that it could have gone either way. We played great the first two periods, but Vernon just came out with more intensity and wanted it more come the third period.”
This was the Venom’s first-ever championship final in only their second year in the league. They finished regular season play in fifth place with a 6-6-2 record. Vernon, who spotted Kamloops a two-game series lead, missed first place by one point at 8-4-2.
“I’m very proud of the way we’ve played all year, considering it’s just our second year in the league and we’ve made it to the league finals already,” added Forster.
Earlier, Jespersen turned the hat-trick as the Tigers grounded the Venom 5-3 in Game 4 Tuesday night at Kamloops Memorial Arena.
“It was a low-scoring game – the goalies were good, it’s tough dee, and it’s tough to get a good scoring opportunity,” said Tigers’ head coach Rich Zecchel.
One of Jespersen’s goals came shorthanded on a smart pass from Phillips.
“He’s been really solid this whole series,” said Zecchel, of Jespersen. “Lots of hustle, and he’s just a hard-working young man.”
“Everybody just put in a real team effort.”
Short and Webb (empty-netter) rounded out the Tigers’ attack.
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