Gloucester Griffins get ready for Zone Lacrosse Championships by reaching 5 of 7 finals at home tournament

By Adam Beauchemin

The Gloucester Griffins under-17 lacrosse team is heading in hot for this weekend’s Zone 5 Championships in Nepean, fresh off one of their top performances of the season at their home Ray Broadworth Memorial Tournament earlier this month.

“It’s been a bit of an inconsistent season and today was one of those rare days where they actually got it all together,” Griffins head coach Jeff Hartley said after his team defeated the Cornwall Celtics 11-2 to earn a bye past the first playoff match.

“Now you process, that’s not such a big deal getting 11 goals, but giving up only two is,” added the Gloucester Lacrosse Association president. “My defence played really solid, and goaltending was great.”

Julien Francis was one of the Griffins who helped out on the offensive side of things. The forward contributed to over half the team’s goals by wracking up six assists.

“I knew I wasn’t going to beat the goalie in net, so I was letting my teammates do it instead of me,” Francis recounted. “I was more feeding them, and doing what they needed me to do.”

The Griffins opened the tournament with a 9-4 victory over the Nepean Knights, but wound up falling by the reverse score to the Knights in the championship game.

For coach Hartley, the tournament was not about winning or losing — it was about his team showing up for each and every game.

“It’s when they get it together — that’s what it’s all about, right? Because you can’t control the other team,” underlines Hartley, who coached a U17 Griffins team last season that narrowly missed out on reaching the Ontario ‘A’ Final Six Championships.

Hartley said his focus has been on developing players with a strong athletic foundation. He noted that some newer players, who joined the team on the practice roster, have been able to earn their own spots on the roster.

“It’s just a testament to: if you have the heart and the desire and you put the time and effort in, you can do it,” he highlighted. “That’s what these kids are living testaments.”

The host Griffins reached the finals in five of the seven divisions contested at their annual Broadworth tournament.

The Gloucester U22 team put an exclamation point on their perfect 4-0 run with a 9-0 victory over Kahnawake in the championship game.

The U9 Griffins overcame a 5-4 deficit after two periods with three goals in the last 3:40 of play to top Nepean 7-5 and gain vengeance for their tournament-opening 9-2 defeat to the Knights.

The West Grey Rampage downed Gloucester 6-5 in the U13 final with two goals in the last 1:15 of play. Cornwall beat Nepean 10-2 in the U15 final, while Northumberland won 5-3 over Cornwall in U11.

And the U22 Lady Griffins repeated as Broadworth champions with their 4-3 victory over the Akwesasne Storm. Gloucester fell to Akwesasne 5-3 in their earlier meeting in the tournament.

“Losing sucks. But losing is part of sport and it builds character, and all we do is learn from it and keep on moving on,” Lady Griffins coach Mary James said after the Saturday afternoon loss.

James has also coached the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and was recently inducted into the North American Indigenous Sports Hall of Fame as an assistant coach for the world-medallist Haudenosaunee Nationals women.

Read More: Lacrosse coach Mary James set to enter North American Indigenous Sports Hall of Fame

James has been honoured for her role as a builder for women’s lacrosse and didn’t have difficulty seeing the bigger picture after her team’s defeat.

“They are a very skilled team. They’ve come a long way,” James said of her finals opponents. “Their lacrosse program director has put so much time and energy into that program and has just done an awesome job with them.”

James, who’s led the Griffins program for four years now, is also impressed with the strides her team has made since it captured the provincial ‘B’ championship last season.

Read More: Gloucester Lady Griffins players celebrate back-to-back provincial gold, national bronze

“It’s really nice to see that we’ve come this far, that we can go to the higher level of lacrosse that we’re trying to get,” she indicated. “Just that progression over the last four years, it’s really great to see. They’re playing really good lacrosse.”

One area of focus has been transition play, and James said her team’s effort in improving that aspect of the game is plain to see.

“Our transition has improved exponentially,” she noted. “The girls are really getting into it and buying into it and asking the right questions and doing the right things so that we can get the ball down the floor faster.”

For James and the Lady Griffins, competing at home made the tournament all the more special.

“It’s nice to play at home. We do a lot of driving and traveling, and so it’s really nice to be able to have our fans here, have the parents, families, all that — that’s really good for the girls,” she signalled. “It feels good to be back, I’m really happy that we’re playing in the tournament here in this environment.”

The Zone 5 Lacrosse Championships run from Friday through Sunday at Howard Darwin, Bell and Johnny Leroux arenas.