A pair of Orléans lacrosse players ended the box lacrosse season on high note last month, competing for Team Ontario in the national championships in Coquitlam, B.C.
Julien Belair and Tristan Caldwell were named to the team after helping the Gloucester Griffins win a silver medal in the bantam division at the Ontario championships in Durham last month.
The Griffins went into provincials as regional champs and acquitted themselves extremely well. They actually held a 4-2 lead late in the B Championship game against the Huntsville Hawks before the Hawks staged a dramatic comeback, scoring a pair of goals in the final three minutes to tie the game and then notching the winning goal in overtime.
At the national championships in Coquitlam, Team Ontario went 4-0-1 to top the table in the round robin portion of the tournament. They then beat Saskatchewan 20-0 in the semi-final to earn a ticket to the gold medal game against the host team from B.C. which they won 8-3.
Caldwell and Belair both scored two of goals and added an assist in the semi-final against Saskatchewan, while Belair also scored a goal and added a pair of assists in the final.
Belair ended the tournament with seven goals and eight assists in seven games. Caldwell scored five times and added two assists.
It's the first time any lacrosse player from Orléans has played at the national level. To have two players from the same area play together is a remarkable achievement and speaks volumes about the Gloucester Griffins minor lacrosse program.
For more information about the Griffins visit www.gloucester-lacrosse.com.
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of
our local business partners.)
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