The Olds Stingers came out on the wrong side of an 11-5 score against the Calgary Axemen-Mavericks on May 12 in Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League play.
The Stingers got on the board first, with a marker by Shea Layden four minutes into the game. Calgary's Norman Jacob tied the score about two minutes later, at 6:47. After the two squads traded goals, with the period winding down, the Mavericks scored four more times with less than two minutes remaining in the period. Lucas Howard netted a goal for the Stingers with 20 seconds left on the clock in the first period.
Mike Bouma, the Stingers' head coach, said following the game the players lost their concentration in the later stages of the period, putting the team in a hole.
“They had a good start (to the period). They lost focus in the last few minutes and overall, the score doesn't reflect the way they were playing. There was a lot of learning that they did, a lot of good things that they did, they got caught a couple of times and it cost them, but for the most part, they've improved,” he said.
In the second period, the Stingers managed to keep the deficit at two goals, with Layden getting his third goal of the game while Dickson Erik scored for the Axeman-Mavericks.
In the third, the Axemen-Mavericks scored three more times within 55 seconds to give the visitors a 9-4 lead. They added two more goals later in the period within 37 seconds while Howard got his second of the game for the Stingers to round out the home team's scoring.
Bouma said while the Stingers continue to lose focus during some points of games, he's encouraged by the fact that the players recognize when those instances occur and are talking about that as it happens.
“They're starting to talk about it with each other, trying to (correct their play),” he said.
The Crowsnest Pass Ravens defeated the Stingers one day earlier by a score of 18-14.
