If everything goes according to plan, the Moose Jaw Mustangs will be taking home all sorts of hardware from the Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association provincial championships this weekend.
And it wouldn’t come as much of a surprise, either -- not only have local squads put together impressive seasons heading into provincials, they’ll have home-court advantage throughout their respective tournaments as Moose Jaw hosts all three SLA box championships.
The 16-and-under Mustangs will be carrying plenty of confidence into their provincial run, thanks to a gold medal win in the Calgary Canada Day tournament this past weekend.
That success comes on the heels of a solid showing during the South Sask Lacrosse League championship during the June 24 weekend, where Moose Jaw reached the championship final before falling 7-6 to the Regina Hawks.
The Mustangs face the Regina Octane at 10 a.m. in their first game Friday before taking on the Swift Current Rampage at 1 p.m. to close out their round robin. The top two clubs from each three-team round-robin pool advance to the semifinal on Saturday at 6:45 p.m., with the gold medal game at 3:15 p.m. Sunday. All games in the 16U division are at Mosaic Place.
The 14-and-under Mustangs are coming off an impressive SSLL playoff run of their own, where they went undefeated on their way to winning the gold medal with a 10-5 victory over the Weyburn Thrashers. The win capped an undefeated regular season for Moose Jaw, as they went 12-0-2 through the SSLL campaign.
The Mustangs open their nine-team provincial tournament at 5 p.m. at Mosaic Place against Weyburn before taking on the Regina Waterdogs at 11 a.m. on Friday and Saskatoon Rush at 2 p.m. on Friday, with both latter games at the Kinsmen.
The semifinals are set for 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by the gold medal game at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, with all three games at Mosaic Place.
The 12-and-under Mustangs are also heading into provincials with a ton of recent success under their belt -- including a silver medal at the Calgary Canada Day tournament and title win in the SSLL. Moose Jaw finished their regular season with an 11-4 record but got hot at exactly the right time, winning four straight playoff games and defeating the Regina Crossfire 7-2 for gold.
They open their six-team provincial tournament at 5 p.m. on Thursday at the Kinsmen against the Weyburn Thrashers and take on the Regina Queens at 11:30 a.m. at 15 Wing’s Red Knight Arena.
The 12U semifinals are at 4:15 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. Saturday at the Kinsmen, with the gold medal game at 2 p.m. at the Kinsmen.
