The Rockyview Silvertips junior B lacrosse team's season came to a halt after the club bowed out in the first round of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) playoffs on July 20 and 21 in a best-of-three series against the Calgary Chill. The Silvertips took to the road for Game 1 of the team's first playoff series in franchise history. Rockyview came out of the gates fired up and took control of the contest's first five minutes, with a goal from Matthew McKee just a 1:30 into the game. Unfortunately, the team wasn't able to capitalize on any further opportunities, and after the halfway point of the period, the Chill took over. Calgary scored five goals within a four-minute span to cruise to a 5-1 lead before McKee got his second of the frame, cutting the lead down to three. The second period was a replay for the first. In the first 15 minutes of play, with Calgary extended their lead to 7-2 and 9-3 with McKee notching his hat trick goal to break up a four-goal outburst by the Chill. The Silvertips found their legs again in the final period of play, keeping Calgary off the score sheet while potting a pair of goals of their own off the sticks of leading goal scorer Matthew Dyck and Ryan Gulutzan in the latter stages of the game giving the game its final score of 9-5 in favour of the home side. The team didn't have much time to dwell on the loss as they were back in action just a day later on their home turf. Once again, the 'Tips started out the game quickly with Colby Gulutzan scoring an even strength marker at the 12:51 point of the first period giving Rockyview an early 1-0 lead. The goal was the start of a flurry of tallies from both sides in a seven-minute span. Calgary scored to knot the game up at one just two minutes after Gulutzan scored which was quickly responded by the Silvertips on a goal by Josh Halcro to regain the one goal advantage. Nolan Morrison would also score to respond a tying Calgary goal, but the Chill would score three consecutive even strength goals to take a 5-3 lead with just over two minutes left to go in the period. Adam Bartolome scored just before the buzzer to make the score 5-4 in favour of Calgary going into the second. The second stanza didn't go according to plan for the home team as they gave up four goals in the frame, while only getting two back from Gulutzan and Matthew Dyck putting them in a 9-6 hole with potentially only one period remaining in their season. Unfortunately for the Silvertips, the third period was all Calgary as the visitors pumped in another four goals sandwiching a Nolan Oakey goal giving the Chill a 13-7 victory as well as the series. Captain Nolan Morrison who played his final game as a Silvertip in the Game 2 loss said his team battled hard throughout the weekend, they just weren't able to capitalize on their opportunities. "It was a tough series for us, we fought through the two games but unfortunately couldn't take home any wins," Morrison said. "The first round loss stings obviously but when you look at how the past couple of seasons have gone with losing records, we're pretty happy with the success we had throughout this season." Morrison, who has played with the 'Tips for the last four seasons, says it's nice knowing he's leaving the team in a better situation than when he was in his rookie year. "Heading into the season we knew we had a strong roster and I think we expected to surpass last year's record. I'm happy to see the organization grow into what it has become ... it will be exciting to watch and see where this team goes from here. We've got a lot of young guys who are only going to get better with age," Morrison said. "I'm going to miss junior to be honest with you. I've had a lot of memorable moments and have really grown up in these surroundings. The thing I'll remember the most are the road trips with the guys ... just hanging out, killing time. Those are the best moments and ones I'll miss for sure." Rockyview should be able to return a majority of their roster with only four 19-year-olds that will become senior players. Morrison is the only current player who will be over the age limit for junior lacrosse. "It's a little early to tell but hopefully I'll be playing senior lacrosse," Morrison said. "We'll have to wait for the draft to come around and see what happens, but that's the goal for next season."
