The year started with modest expectations but the Olds Mavericks blew through them anyway.
"When Gary and I went into this season with the team, we had a couple goals in mind: One was to be competitive. Two was to make the playoffs and that was pretty much it," said head coach Andy Sweetman.
"We quickly found out we were more than competitive and did quite well."
Second-best in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League's Tier II division, to be exact, with a 13-3 record.
From July 8-10, Olds will host the second round of the playoffs, featuring the final four teams, after getting a bye for the first.
If the Mavericks win their best-of-three series, they advance to provincials, which they might host as well, depending on how the higher-seeded Lethbridge Cudas fare.
The team has a tailgate party planned on July 9. Admission to the games will be free that weekend and Sweetman said he hopes people will come out to watch.
Finishing with home-court advantage and the bye was huge, Sweetman said, with a number of players attending school graduations this past weekend. They could have played short-handed in the first round.
"We've got a few injuries as well. We pretty much have 18 days off from our last game to our next game. It's going to give us a really good time to work on some stuff, get injuries healed up and have a strong team going into our first playoff game."
"We quickly found out we were more than competitive and did quite well."ANDY SWEETMANHEAD COACH
