The Rockyview Rage Tier 2 junior lacrosse team started their first season in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) with three straight losses starting on April 13 and leading into the weekend of April 20 and 21. The Rage hit the road for their first regular season game in Olds against the Stingers. Before the game, the Olds lacrosse community held a tribute for Ryan McBeath who played on their team last year and had died in a car accident a month ago. The team has another player who is a survivor of the Humboldt bus accident that took place on April 6 in Graysen Cameron, who is currently recovering in hospital. It was a special night for both the Rage and the Stingers who were playing in front of a lot of family and friends in the stands. The game itself started off with Olds scoring the first goal of the game, but was quickly followed by a goal from Rage affiliate player Nathan Lam just two minutes later to tie the game 1-1. The rest of the quarter was back and forth with Rockyview getting goals from Austin Lousier, sandwiched by an Olds goal to make it 3-2 in favour of the Rage. All three of Rockyview's goals came on the power play and the team was opportunistic while being badly out shot. Olds bounced back to take a 5-4 lead in the third, with Ben Smith getting the lone goal of the period for the visitors. The Rage scored two goals late in the third to take a 6-5 lead with four minutes to go and looked to put it away, scoring with 1:30 left, but the goal was disallowed on a crease violation. The Stingers came down and scored immediately on their next possession pushing it to overtime. A penalty with 19 seconds left in the game put Rockyview a man down to start overtime and the Stingers took advantage, scoring late in the power play for a 7-6 win. Rage head coach Kent Proctor said he was impressed with how the team played during their first game of the season. "It's unfortunate, because we were good with a man down all night, only allowing only one goal shorthanded up until then and it looked like we were going to kill that one too," Proctor said of the penalty called late in overtime. "Reece Sellwood played really well in goal, especially early for us in his rookie debut with the big nets. Most of our experience on this team is on defence, and they played really well directing our rookies and moving the ball in transition. After the first (period), we kept them (the Stingers) on the outside for the most part." "Credit to them (Olds) for sticking with it. They worked hard and needed some luck for the win. Honestly, I'm happy for their club and town on such an important night in their community. I'm happy our boys got to experience that and hopefully got something out of the night more important than the lacrosse experience. We will learn from the loss as well.” The Rage followed the loss in Olds with a pair of tough games against the Red Deer Renegades and the High River Heat. Ben Mills, Jacob Decker and Nathan Lam scored for Rockyview, but the Rage fell 17-3 to Red Deer in the first game of a back-to-back for the team, which was followed by a much closer 12-8 loss to the Heat the following day. Nathan Lam had four goals in the game, while Braeden Jewell had a five-point night, the best outing between either of the two teams. Proctor once again was impressed with how his team competed against two of the league's top teams and said the games are a learning experience for his young squad moving forward. "As far as the record goes, I hate to be so optimistic, but I'm not surprised, worried or concerned about our outcomes. I'm actually surprised by how well we've done. Our first three games were against teams with a combined 7-1 record so far and we've likely played two of the top three teams in the province," Proctor said. "I figured we would have a chance in Olds, and we did. But their experience nudged us out of the win column. We really didn't deserve to win that game. I look forward to our rematch with them at home." "Red Deer is the early favourite for provincial gold and our 17-3 loss was actually the closest game they've had so far this season. There was no let up in the third period from the Renegades, but our push back was impressive. We actually tied the third period 2-2 and the game became very physical. Really, apart from two stretches at the end of the first and second periods, we played them pretty tight." "We just weren't experienced enough to limit their two five-goal runs late in the first and second periods. We're just not there yet offensively to have a good one of our own against a provincial contender." "In High River, again, it was a tough attendance weekend missing six of our starters for this game and playing the game with only 13 runners. Their roster was deep with a full 20-man bench, many of whom were older players. We led that game for awhile early and played the game smart ... but just couldn't match their size and depth," he said of the team he expects to be in the top three this year. The Rage have three more road games before returning home for their season opener on May 11 to take on the Strathmore Venom on April 27 and the Calgary Wranglers on April 29.
