by Scott Austin:
Thompson-Okanagan (Zone 2) threw everything they had at Vancouver Island-Central Coast (Zone 6) box lacrosse goaltender Mitchell Gurney, but the Victoria teen was having nothing to do with it.
“I was so nervous when they scored their late goal, I thought I was going to have a heart attack,” said Gurney, following a 10-9 win that propelled his team to Sunday’s gold medal game against Fraser Valley (Zone 3).
A game that looked similar to the first semi-final saw many lead changes, but no overtime was needed in this contest.
Down two, Thompson-Okanagan scored with 10 seconds left on the clock. Thompson-Okanagan then won the ensuing face-off and ran down the floor towards Gurney, firing two shots at the resilient goaltender. Gurney stopped both with the clock winding down, and the final buzzer eventually sounded.
Sunday’s final matchup will be an Island vs. Mainland battle, as Vancouver Island-Central Coast goes up against Fraser Valley (Zone 3) for BC Summer Games gold.
In the bronze medal game, Thompson-Okanagan (Zone 2) will take on Fraser River-Delta (Zone 4), a match-up of teams that missed playing for first place by one goal each.
The bronze medal game kicks off at 8:15 a.m. while the championship final is at 10 a.m.