The Airdrie Mohawks' dynasty is in tact for another year, after the local senior C men's lacrosse team obtained its sixth consecutive Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) title on July 29.
In a one-game, winner-takes-all final, the Mohawks beat the Edmonton Warriors 10-5 at the Plainsmen Arena to secure their sixth straight provincial championship – a streak that dates back to 2017.
“You know what? It’s fun every year,” said player-coach Gareth Barley.
However, this year's provincial title was no cakewalk for the Mohawks, who lost two games during the regular season.
While two defeats in a 14-game season is hardly a record most teams would scoff at, it's admittedly a decline in dominance for a team that previously went seven calendar years without a single blight on their record.
Barley noted the RMLL's other senior C teams – particularly in the south division – are catching up to the Mohawks bit by bit every season.
“Obviously this year was way more of a challenge than it has been in years past,” he said. “We’ve had some great competition. The south division just keeps getting better and better as far as skill and calibre of play. Olds keeps improving every year, [and] the Bears were highly competitive and put together a very strong team this year. The Irish had a bit of a difficult year, but again, they still competed in the games against us.
“All in all, I think the south division was very competitive. That kind of shows – we had two losses this year and had some adversity to face at the start of the year.”
Barley touted the Calgary Bears in particular as a tough adversary throughout the 2023 campaign. The Bears claimed both of the Mohawks' defeats in 2023, and put up a stern fight in the south division finals.
“We had a very competitive year with the Bears,” he said. “Two-and-two was our record against each other and we had to win the last game of the regular season to take over first place.”
Once the Bears were put into an early hibernation, Airdrie had a familiar foe to overcome in the RMLL finals. For the fourth year in a row, their championship opponent was the Edmonton Warriors, who had repeated as the north division's top team.
However, Barley noted Saturday night's one-game final against the Warriors was a bit anti-climactic after the back-and-forth nature of the south division finals.
“Not to take anything away from [Edmonton], but the final series against the Bears felt more like a league final than this series did,” he said. “They were down some players, we were down a handful of players. It was still a great game and a great win. We kept the tradition going and the win streak alive, but it would have been a better game if both teams had their full rosters.”
Knights fall to Miners
While the Mowhawks got to hoist the senior C trophy once again, the other men's team Barley is involved with as coach – the Rockyview Knights senior B team – fell short in their RMLL post-season, falling two games to zero to the St. Albert Miners in a best-of-three, first-round playoff series.
The Knights lost 17-6 and 17-8 in their two games against St. Albert – the four-time defending RMLL senior B champs.
Even though the two games resulted in heavy-handed losses for the Airdrie-based squad, Barley said overall, it was a decent series that showcased his players' growth this summer. He noted in the second game, the Knights were tied with the Miners 6-6 heading into the third period, before the wheels fell off defensively.
“Overall, me and coach Wade Bowley were happy with the outcome this year,” he said. “We went from 4-12 last year to 6-8 this year, and we beat the Miners during the regular season. We proved to ourselves and the younger players…that we can play with the best team in the league.”
In a previous interview this year, Barley mentioned how the 2023 Knights' roster was a changing of the guard. The senior B squad went through a hefty rebuild, adding nine or 10 new players – many of whom were in their early 20s, and new to the senior age division.
“The game isn’t maybe as fast as in junior, but the guys are bigger, stronger, and they’ve played that level before,” he said. “So it’s a big adjustment for some of our younger guys, but the growth from start to end was what we were looking at.
“I think our commitment was better this year than last year, so moving forward, we’re in a right spot to move ahead. It’s nice to go up against an opponent like [St. Albert], who shows you the calibre you need to be at to get to that next level.”
