The Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs may be playing second fiddle to a much younger band of local athletes in the city’s sporting zeitgeist at the moment, but they embark on defending their Minto Cup junior lacrosse national championship tonight against the Okotoks Raiders.
The Adanacs have won three of the last four Minto Cup championships. The Raiders are looking to become the first team from Alberta to win one.
Other teams in the tournament are the Orangeville Northmen, representing Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League, and the Victoria Shamrocks, representing its host league, the BC Junior Lacrosse League. They play each other at 5 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre, preceding Coquitlam’s game at 8 p.m.
The round-robin games conclude Sunday, with the top team getting a bye into the best-of-five championship final that begins next Wednesday. That team will face the winner of a one-game playoff between the second and third place teams on Monday.
Ron McQuarrie, the chair of box lacrosse for the Canadian Lacrosse Association, said the compressed nature of the national tournament makes it particularly challenging.
“The Minto Cup is one of the most difficult championships to win as an athlete,” he said at a press conference on Thursday.
• Coquitlam will play Orangeville on Saturday at 7 p.m. and then square off against Victoria on Sunday at 7 p.m. All games are at the Langley Events Centre.
