Ponoka and Lacombe’s joint lacrosse team the Locos have had their first game of the season, an exhibition match, over the weekend and had a good opportunity to pinpoint their weak points as they prepare for the regular season beginning later this month.
Lacoka Locos lost the game to Fort Saskatchewan Rebels 19-11 in a high-speed game, which saw some quite rough clashes in the third period and a lot of penalties for both teams.
Although it was the Locos who scored the first goal of the game, the Rebels did not take too long to respond and when they did, they did so with strength taking the lead and never letting it slip out of their hands again.
The visitors had superb passing skills and ball movement coordination in addition to their highly accurate distant shooting ability. The Rebels scored almost half of their goals through shots taken from behind the arc while the hosts tried to score through penetration into the goal zone.
Wes Amendt, the head coach of the Lacoka team, said they had had only three practices before the exhibition game and said they would need further practice.
Lacoka Locos are in new territory this year as they were promoted to the Tier II division where they will compete against 22 other teams in the Rocky Mountain House Lacrosse League.
Amendt said he had 22 players who graduated from the Midget category and he was in the process of finalizing his roster for the regular season.
The Locos have a schedule of 17 games set for them beginning on Saturday, April 26. Through the regular season, the Locos will play a total of nine home games, four of them in Ponoka and five in Lacombe.