A lot can happen in four months. Just ask Rockyview Silvertips.
In defeating Okotoks Marauders 9-8 in Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League Tier 1 Jr. B play July 4 in Cochrane, Silvertips looked nothing like the team playing for the first time at the league’s preseason jamboree April 12 in Calgary.
The positioning on the floor was textbook. The passes were crisp. The shots were on target.
The only thing similar to the season’s start were the jerseys on the Rockyview players.
“A lot of new faces when you get together in that jamboree,” Silvertips assistant coach Jason Dressel said following the win over Okotoks. “Then it’s about developing that trust over the last 15-17 games. They’ve come a long way in that time.”
Part of that journey included the loss of 17-year-old Chestermere rookie Jaydon Sommerfeld, killed in a June automobile accident near Chestermere.
“We’ve been through a lot this season,” Dressel offered. “On the floor and off the floor.”
The July 4 win vs. Okotoks was Rockyiew’s third of the season, the team’s first three-win season in Tier 1 Jr. B play since 2009.
“You have to look at our schedule and our record. And sometimes you don’t see that improvement,” Dressel said. “As a coach you have to find the victories in those little things -- the individual skill and their confidence.”
Silvertips close out the regular season with a pair of games, July 11 vs. Chill at Airdrie’s Plainsman Arena, 8:30 p.m. and July 12 vs. Marauders in Okotoks, 4 p.m., Murray Arena.
