The Sudbury Rockhounds crew knew that they were in for a stiff test, as the Novice, Peewee and Bantam teams registered for the Boyd Balkwill Memorial Tournament in Orillia. While the event is listed as a “B/C” rated competition, the bulk of local teams fall into the “C/D” classifications, generally, by the time that provincials roll around in August.

Still, a chance to match up against superior opponents did bring out the best in all three teams, even if there were still some games mixed in where the Rockhounds clearly took it on the chin. Short term pain for long term gain, as they say.

The Bantams recovered nicely from a tough opening game, going toe to toe with two of their three adversaries. A rested Orillia Kings side took full advantage of the Sudbury travel legs on Friday night, drilling home seven second period goals en route to a 12-3 win over the Bantam Rockhounds.

Gianluca Ongaro, Sebastien Chartrand and Kurtis Watson scored for the locals, who were without the services of both Max McCue and Parker Farstad on the weekend. The Rockhounds would take a 3-2 lead into the dying minutes of game two, eventually surrendering two goals in the final 3:50, and dropping a 4-3 decision to the West Durham Rockmen.

Ethan Teeter, Zak Thompson and Sebastien Chartrand tallied once each for head coach Benoit Douillette and company. The Sudbury lads would come ever so close in game three as well, as a pair of markers from Watson, and a late on from Chartrand brought the Rockhounds to within one, beaten 4-3 once more, this time by the Nepean Knights.

The Sudbury Peewee Rockhounds managed to squeeze in one battle that went right to the wire, between a pair of lopsided losses. The locals found the back of the net four times in their inaugural contest, by had trouble keeping the Akwesasne Storm at bay, beaten 14-4.

Game two, quite truthfully, could have gone either way, as the Sudbury Peewees came up just a little short, on the wrong end of a 3-2 scoreboard against the Gloucester Griffins.

In their final match-up, they discovered that they were likely in with an improperly seeded opponent, as the Oshawa Blue Knights (#1) blanked the Rockhounds 12-0. Cameron Shanks paced the Peewees offensively, drilling three goals in as many games.

A little patience will be required with the Novice Rockhounds, who challenged the Whitby Warriors in an 8-5 loss on Friday, before being dumped by both the Nepean Knights (11-0) and London Blue Devils (13-0) the next day.

The Intermediate Rockhounds are off to Cambridge this coming weekend, site of the Zone 8 Intermediate Tournament. Coach Mike Marion’s troops are scheduled to face Brampton, Owen Sound and Guelph, hopeful of finishing in the top two in their pool.

And finally, the GSLA (Greater Sudbury Lacrosse Association) houseleague season comes to an end this weekend, as all divisions are involved with the playoff showdowns. Games will run Friday and Saturday, with finals slated for Sunday afternoon, at both the Coniston and Carmichael Arenas.