By Jeff D'Andrea

Preds and Rifles slug it out in tight battle

May 7, 2017 | 5:11 PM

The Prince Albert Predators found themselves in a defensive struggle against the defending Prairie Gold Lacrosse League junior champions, the Regina Rifles. But the Rifles fired a few extra bullets by the end of the game, taking the game 8-6 Sunday at the Kinsmen Arena.

The Predators (1-2) also battled hard on Saturday at the Kinsmen in their home opener, but their comeback fell a tad short as the Preds fell 13-10 against the other Regina outfit, the Riot.

Unlike Saturday’s game slow start and crawl back effort, the Predators were always in Sunday’s game and had the Rifles within striking distance but just could not reel them in.

“It was a good weekend. I believe we have 12 guys out there that have never played [junior lacrosse before this year],” Predators first-year head coach Tyson Fetch said. “It was their third game today. We’re only going to get better… This was a good test for them, two games in 24 hours.”

Fetch added his Predators are likely the youngest junior team in the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League, averaging out at 16.7 years of age in a league that allows players up to the age of 21 to play (22 in some occasions).

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Looking forward, Fetch hopes to get his club to get a little more flow offensively, hoping to open up more holes and scoring opportunities.

“We’re going to work on more motion on offence, get the boys moving the ball a little better,” Fetch said. “A couple times, we were caught holding onto the ball too long. If we can get rid of that, and get it to someone else’s stick, we’re going expose a couple teams coming up in the future.”

Ashton Hall had a pair of goals for the Predators. Brody Low had a goal and two assists. Carson Remy scored a highlight reel goal in the second period. Ethan Beaulac and Tanner Vancoughnett also scored for the Predators.

The Preds will take on the Saskatoon SWAT on Friday, 8 p.m. at the Kinsmen for their next game.

Jeff D’Andrea is paNOW’s sports reporter. He can be reached at jdandrea@jpbg.ca or tweet him @jeff_paNOW.