The peewee Sylvan Lake Buccaneers made the Lacoka Locos walk the plank in their home opener.
The peewee Buccaneers won their first home game of the season 5-2 on April 26.
READ MORE: Novice Sylvan Lake Buccaneers sail to home opener win
The Buccaneers opened the game when Grady Johannesson scored an unassisted goal with 14:10 to go in the period.
The Locos answered with a goal of their own a few minutes later, but the Buccaneers pulled ahead as the first frame ticked away.
Ryan Johnson, from Carsen Belich and Leo Rowley, scored Buccaneer’s goal number two with 2:37 remaining.
Tyse Schalkwyk, assisted by Harper Francis and Remy Painchaud, made it a 3-1 game before the buzzer rang to end the first period.
The second period began with another unassisted Buccaneers goal, this time from the stick of Tyse Schalkwyk.
Lacoka found the back of the net once more before the Buccaneers scored their final goal of the game.
The Buccaneer’s fifth goal was Tyse Schalkwyk’s third of the game. It was assisted by Leo Rowley and Remy Painchaud.
The third period was scoreless for both sides resulting in a 5-2 game.
“I was really impressed with how the kids were able to take what I have taught them in the few practices that we have had and bring it to the game,” said Emma Kooiman, head coach of the peewee Buccaneers.
Kooiman added she is impressed with how they are working as a team and with the group of kids that she has.
The peewee Buccaneers lost their games on April 27 and 28, putting them at a 2-2 start to the Central Alberta Lacrosse League season.
The Buccaneers lost 8-5 the against Red Deer on April 27 and 5-3 to the Innisfail Phantoms on April 28.
“I think that they were a little shaken after losing their first game on Saturday and then our Sunday game I think that just carried over and they just weren’t mentally ready to start winning again,” said Kooiman, adding the team didn’t play as well as they could have.
“They were a little frustrated, but we’ll be able to get their heads in a good place for the next game,” explained Kooiman.
The peewee Buccaneers return to the court May 3 when they face the Blackfalds Warriors on the road.
Going into the game Kooiman says they are going to be working on positioning in plays.
She says she is not looking to give them the tools the need to succeed rather than set plays.
Kooiman says the team made up their own play before the April 26 game and she says they may work on it a little in practice as they were able to execute it 50 per cent of the time in Sunday’s game.
“I want to give them the tools so that they can be successful because if I just tell them what to do it’s not going to make them think, it’s not going to make them be creative with their plays,” added Kooiman, who says she is also looking to teach them motion defence.
She says she doesn’t think the team will totally get the motion defence this season as it is a bit more advanced than the peewee level, but it will further prepare them for when they move up to bantam.
Another thing she wants to teach them is proper defensive positioning.
Kooiman says she is happy with the kids on her team because they are all very coachable.
“I honestly don’t care if we win or lose…,” said Kooiman, “I focus on them having fun and them improving as people instead of winning, but I am expecting us to do pretty good this season.”
The peewee Sylvan Lake Buccaneers return to their home court on May 26 at noon when they battle the Kneehill Bulldogs in NexSource Centre 2.
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