The Thompson Ravens earned a bronze medal at the peewee lacrosse provincials July 3-5 in Sagkeeng, losing 6-3 to the Winnipeg Sidewinders in the semifinal match-up.
Winnipeg took control of the game early and went into the third period with a 6-0 lead. The Ravens came out strong in the third period with two goals by Bryce Horning and one by Lance Laycock, with assists going to Jayden Bayer, Chad Muswagon, Taylor Ritchie, and Evan Ritchie, but that was as close as they could get.
The Ravens opened the tournament against the host Sagkeeng team. Thompson took an early 2-0 lead with goals by Jack Clinton and Drake Zimmerman; assists went to Laycock, Austin Reimer, and Taylor Ritchie. The Ravens continued the onslaught with three more second period goals. The goal scorers were Bayer, Isaac Babulic and Zimmerman with his second of the game. Assists went to Horning, with a pair, and Evan Ritchie. The third period saw the Ravens score seven more; goal scorers were Horning with three, Bayer with his second and third of the game, Clinton with his second of the game and Mark Steeves. Thompson came away with a 14-0 win as Glenn Shatford played well to earn the shutout.
Thompson's second game was against the Sidewinders. Winnipeg jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and carried the lead into the second period. The Sidewinders then scored three more unanswered goals to take a 6-0 lead. The Ravens replied with a goal by Reimer with assists going to Muswagon and Jonathan Lamontagne to end the second period trailing 6-1. The Ravens were outscored 2-1 in the third period with the lone goal scored by Zimmerman, assisted by Laycock and Braydee Prokopchuk, to make the final score 8-2 for Winnipeg.
Thompson's third round-robin game was against the Winnipeg Falcons who established an early 1-0 lead. The Ravens responded with a goal by Prokopchuk, assisted by Steeves and Babulic. This was the only goal the Ravens scored; Winnipeg added three more for the 4-1 lead. Shatford was outstanding in net for Thompson, keeping the team in the game.
Glenn Laycock said he and his fellow coaches Lee McIvor and Grahame Shatford were happy with the team's effort as the squad was only put together two weeks before the provincials.
