The Red Deer Rampage’s Cinderella run came to a close over the weekend.
After winning the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) Central Division championship, the Rampage advanced to provincials to compete for the Larry Bishop Memorial Cup.
Red Deer packed their bags and headed to Beaumont where the host Outlaws welcomed the best teams in the league.
The Rampage went 1-3 losing to the Calgary Shamrocks 9-6 in overtime followed by a 7-3 setback to the Outlaws and a 10-5 loss to the Edmonton Warriors.
Red Deer didn’t come home empty-handed after winning a tight 7-4 game over the Winnipeg Blizzard on Sunday.
“The kids fought hard,” head coach Troy Tisdale said on Tuesday. “We battled and we got beat up a little bit both ways. We lost the first three games and we had a lot of injuries that hit us hard up there.”
Tisdale added his players took the first loss to the Shamrocks really hard and that carried over into the next few games. They came out flat-footed against the Outlaws which was a matchup Tisdale felt they let slip away.
The loss to the Warriors Tisdale explained was hard fought and set them up for their first win over the Blizzard.
“The Blizzard was undefeated and we were able to give them their first loss and just played really hard against them. We had a lot of fun and it was a great weekend,” he said.
Red Deer is thankful for a successful season that saw them exceed expectations and win their first Central Division championship since 2019.
“After they had a poor year the season before we felt like we just really wanted to battle, make playoffs, and see if we could do better than the year prior,” he said.
“Winning the division championship was a feather in the cap. It was exceptional and to have a chance to compete in provincials was not something that was on our radar at the beginning of the year.”
The Rampage finished third in the Central Division standings with a 9-11 record in the regular season. They went on to beat the Calgary Chill and the league-best Rockyview Silvertips in the playoffs to claim the division title. Tisdale said over time the team became a tight-knit group.
“We’ve got the same group of boys back next year and it’s something to build on now. We know what we can do, where our game’s at, and we know where we need to improve.
“Everyone had a great year and we’re looking forward to the next one.”
