There’s no place like home for the Red Deer TBS Rampage.
The Rampage returned to Alberta from their disastrous Winnipeg road trip to beat the Sherwood Park Titans 11-9 Friday in Sherwood Park and then edged the arch rival Edmonton Warriors 12-10 at the Kinex Arena on Sunday.
The weekend sweep secured their lead at the top of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League Junior B Tier I standings.
“It was good to get back to the lacrosse that we know we can play,” said head coach Dustin Reykdal. “In Winnipeg we weren’t really playing Rampage lacrosse that we’re known for. Coming back home ... it was good to get some momentum and get some confidence with the guys.”
The three losses in Winnipeg were their first of the season.
In Sunday’s win Nate Bellanger led the way with two goals while Ryan Beatson and Levi Whitney both had a goal and three assists. Tristyn Zarubiak, Ryan Strome, Jordan Waddell, Logan Elliott, Dawson Reykdal, Logan Sinclair, Mat Giele and Blayne Friesen all scored once for Red Deer. Darrian Banack made 30 saves for the win.
Tyler Sonnichson scored four times for Edmonton while Riley Ewashko had three goals. Ryan Ewashko, Seth McDermott and Drew Gingras also scored. Rhett Baldwin made 32 saves in the loss.
The Rampage were well in control of the game, up 8-4 in the second period, and they nearly let the game get away from them.
As a team, they allowed the Warriors to get under their skin and they started taking penalties, most critically a five-minute major by Lorne Baile for high sticking.
The Warriors scored twice in four seconds to cut the lead to 8-6 and jump back into the game.
The game was tight from there on out, but the Rampage did manage to hang on for the win.
“We took too many penalties,” said Reykdal. “Every time we play the Warriors they like to grease it up a bit and goad our team into some penalties, so we just have to stay disciplined if we want to stay successful against the Warriors.”
The head coach did praise the work of Devin Sheridan after the game for his play in the defensive end.
“He played great out the back gate, he had his match ups and he was aware,” said Reykdal.
Up next for the Rampage is a rematch with the Warriors back in Edmonton on Friday at 8:30 p.m., and then they host the Rockyview Silvertips on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Kinex.
• Beatson scored four times for the Rampage in their Friday win over the Titans while Whitney added and Strome, Bellanger, Waddell, Friesen and Elliott scored once each.