Caidyn Prediger takes a shot against the Swift Current Wolverines (submitted photo/Lucas Wells)

By Ben Tompkins

Provincial Lacrosse

Predators going for back-to-back league titles

Jul 18, 2024 | 3:56 PM

The Prince Albert Predators lacrosse teams begin their quest for back-to-back provincial titles this weekend when they start a best-of-three finals series against the Swift Current Wolverines on Saturday.

Prince Albert will be hitting the road for Game 1, with Games 2 and 3* (if necessary), being back on their home turf.

“Our boys are excited and ready to go, we haven’t played in 20 days, so we’re just trying to keep our practice tempo up and as physical and game-like as possible, just so there’s not any rust when we go down to Swift Current,” head coach Lucas Wells told paNOW.

“I think I’d rather start on the road, it’s always been our mentality that we’re gonna go in and beat you on your home floor, and then you’re gonna have to try and come beat us on our home floor, which in the last two to three years, nobody has done in our league. It’s kind of exciting for us and we’re just looking forward to it and getting ready to go.”

The Predators went 12-0 in the regular season this year, beating Swift Current on three separate occasions.

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They also defeated the Wolverines in last year’s final, 12-11 in overtime, in what was just a one-and-done championship series.

“I think our history is almost like a catch-22 because our guys know we can beat them, but we can’t go in overconfident. For Swift, they have nothing to lose and are going to be pulling out all the stops. It’s gonna be a tough series,” added Wells.

“It’ll be good to play them three times because we have home floor advantage. I’m looking forward to having our fans support us at home for Game 2, and Game 3 if needed.”

If Game 3 is needed, it will just be a 10-minute mini-game. Games 2 and 3 are scheduled for July 27th at Kinsmen Arena.

Prince Albert had a first-round bye these playoffs, hence the long delay in between games.

The last contest they played was June 30th against the Queen City Kings in game two of their National Play-in game, which they lost 11-3.

“I think losing was important for us because our group hasn’t been beaten that badly in a very long time. I think we learned that discipline will kill you and that we have to stick to our game, rather than getting sucked into the other team’s game. We obviously would’ve loved to go to nationals, but it was a great learning opportunity for our team and it’s going to help us in the playoffs,” concluded Wells.

Regardless of the result of the provincial final between Prince Albert and Swift Current, the Predators have already qualified for Western Canadian Nationals.

Called the McDonald Cup, it will run August 6th through 11th and will feature five Western Canadian teams.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8