Huskies top dogs of high school lacrosse

St. James-Assiniboia

Winnipeg

When it comes to high school lacrosse, the Sturgeon Heights Huskies are leading the pack.

This spring, the Huskies won both the Winnipeg High School Field Lacrosse League’s Men’s Division 1 title, as well as the Women’s Division 1 title. For the boys varsity team, it was the Huskies third championship in the past four years, while the girls varsity team went through the season undefeated in 11 games.

“It’s such a fun atmosphere, a great group of guys,” said Kevin Hilder, head coach of the Huskies boys varsity squad. “If you would have asked me at the start of the year if we would have won, I wouldn’t have known what to tell you.”

The boys varsity team went 5-2-1 through the regular season, losing the first two games of the season 9-8 to Dakota on April 19 and 11-4 to Louis Riel on April 27. Following those early setbacks, Hilder said the team was able to pull together and turn the season around, going 5-0-1 thereafter.

“Early on, we were putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to win,” Hilder said. “We do play rough, we get a lot of penalties, which is fine. But we were complaining about the penalties, and getting more penalties because of it. So we talked about that, and the boys went with it.”

The boys varsity team beat Westwood 14-7 in the league quarter-finals on June 12, then beat Louis Riel 10-3 in the semifinal to set up the final match against Dakota. Going into the final, Hilder said the Huskies were looking for the team’s first win against the Lancers. It wouldn’t be easy, though.

“It was back and forth the whole game,” Hilder said. “We went into fourth quarter down 9-7, then scored goals, then scored with 40 seconds left. Then we won the face-off and were able to hold onto the ball and that’s all she wrote.”

The Huskies won the game 10-9.

Over the course of his work with the boys program, Hilder noted he has had a number of players go on to play at the university level — many of whom come back in May and help coach the next batch of Huskies. Having enough interest in the program at the school to run a Division 1 team, as well as a Division 3 men’s team allows Hilder to help grow the sport and develop the top tier players of tomorrow, today.

The interest in the sport at Sturgeon Heights isn’t limited to the men’s game, though — not by a long shot.

The Huskies women’s team first started playing in 2022, following the COVID-pandemic restrictions on sports in school in Manitoba. The Winnipeg High School Field Lacrosse League that first year included three women’s teams: Sturgeon Heights, Dakota, and Oak Park. Now, there are 12 teams across two women’s divisions. The Huskies won the top division title, going undefeated in the process.

“I don’t think that was our expectation when the season started, but it was amazing to see all the work these girls put in,” said Grant Watson, who has been coaching the girls lacrosse team at Sturgeon Heights since its inception in 2022. “I wouldn’t describe us as the most flashy team in the league. But when we look at the standings at the end of the season, we had the most girls of any team in the top 20. We really play a whole team game, with a lot of depths, which is what I credit with a lot of our success.”

The team, made up almost exclusively of recent converts to lacrosse, excelled at playing to their strengths and working together to get the win.

“Everyone out there plays a well-rounded game. Everyone’s gonna hustle and back check and go up for scoring opportunities. The girls understand it’s a two-way game and they play for the team,” Watson said.

In the playoffs, the Huskies beat Miles Macdonell 12-7 in the quarter-finals on June 10, Selkirk 7-6 in the semifinals on June 13, and Murdoch MacKay 12-11 in the finals on June 15.

“It was all about playing through the team,” Watson said. “It was a great team mentality, which we’ve had in previous years, but this came together with strong leadership from the veteran players.”

For Watson, success on the field is one thing, but growing the game itself is an even greater achievement.

“It’s amazing to see that growth. My captain this year, Grade 12, Neveah Parnell had never played lacrosse when she came to the team in Grade 10, and now she’s going to university to play,” Watson said.