One shot short.
That's how close the North Okanagan Iron Ghost Construction Reapers were to a fifth Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League championship, their first since 2018, and their first under their new moniker.
The regular-season champion 91大黄鸭 Kodiaks scored two late goals to force overtime, then got the trophy winner in extra time, defeating the Reapers 14-13 in the league's playoff championship final Sunday, July 20, at the Kamloops Memorial Arena.
It's the Kodiaks' first official title (they won an unofficial COVID Cup tournament in their inaugural season in the TOJLL in 2020) in their first time to the title game.
The league voted to do away with the traditional best-of-three semifinals, and best-of-five final, in favour of a round-robin featuring the top four of the five league teams, to be played in one weekend. The top two teams after two days of preliminary round play would meet in a one-game, winner-take-all final.
91大黄鸭, the regular-season champions, led 5-4 after the first period and 10-7 heading into the final period. The Reapers, who finished fourth in the five-team loop to grab the final post-season spot, scored five goals in a 5 minute 30 second span to take a 13-11 lead with eight minutes remaining.
Goals from Ryder Gelsvik, at 12:15, and Dion Schrader at 14:09, tied the game for the Bears, who got the tournament winner in extra time from Jonah Rampone, on the team's 71st shot of the afternoon.
Reapers goalie Ryley Lockhurst 鈥� who entered the 2025 season coming off being named the league's top goalie 鈥� did everything possible to win the honour for a second straight year. He made 174 saves in North Okanagan's four playoff games (average of nearly 44 saves per game), including 57 Sunday against 91大黄鸭.
Gelsvik was the only Kodiak player to have multiple goals in the final. He finished with four goals and four assists. Single markers went to Rampone, Schrader (three assists), Liam O'Dette (3As), Aracin Gelsvik, Bostyn Apps, Carston Disher, Ewen Macgregor (two helpers), Jaymes Dykes, Max Zumbo, and Nathan Thomas. Goalie Ethan Dalkeith finished with 42 saves.
Zack Milne paced the Reapers with 5+3. Kian Yargeau added 3+2, Zack Casagrande had two goals and three assists, Aidan Wattie collected 1+4, Colten Colmorgen added 1+2, and Nate Williamson had the other marker. JJ Milne and Kohen Pounder each supplied two assists.
"It was a pretty amazing weekend of lacrosse. Lots of close games, with two of them going to sudden death overtime, including the championship game," said Reapers head coach Casey Sherriff. "It was great to see the team play as brothers all weekend and get so close. Super heart-breaking that we we couldn鈥檛 quite finish the job. But definitely super proud of them. The future is bright."
The Reapers, Kodiaks, and three-time defending playoff champion and tournament hosts Kamloops Venom, all finished at 2-1 in the round robin. The finalists were determined by a tiebreaker, which sent North Okanagan and 91大黄鸭 to the final.
North OK began the post-season with a 14-13 overtime win against the third-place South Okanagan Flames, with Yargeau scoring the game-winning goal, and Zack Milne forcing overtime with a goal with just 13 seconds left in regulation time. Yargeau had nine points in the game (5+4), Wattie added three goals, and Milne and Colmorgen had two each. Lockhurst made 37 saves.
After a few hours break, the Reapers were back on the floor, knocking off the second-place Venom 15-11 behind a 46-save effort from Lockhurst. Milne had four goals and seven points to lead North OK. Yargeau and Colmorgen had three goals each. Pounder added 2+2 and single markers came from Dustin Jones, Jace Wasyliw, and Jo Jo Jankowski.
The close of the prelminiary round Saturday evening saw North Okanagan unable to hold a 6-1 lead after 20 minutes, as they fell 10-8 to 91大黄鸭. The Kodiaks outscored the Reapers 5-1 in the middle frame to trail by a goal heading into the final period.
Schrader snapped the 8-8 tie with a goal at 15:11, and Ethan King added a powerplay score with 51 seconds left. Pounder and Yargeau each had three goals for North Okanagan. Kal Bonneau and Milne had the other two.
91大黄鸭 started the tournament with a 16-14 loss to Kamloops before rebounding to beat South Okanagan 9-8 and the Reapers.
Kamloops defeated South OK 11-10. The Flames were the hard-luck playoff team, losing their three games by three total goals.
The Kodiaks now advance to the provincial Junior B championship where they will play the winner of the B.C. Junior B League. The Coquitlam Adanacs lead the New Westminster Salmonbellies 1-0 in the best-of-three final, following an 11-7 road victory in Game 1 Sunday.
Game 2 is slated for Coquitlam Tuesday, July 22.
THOMPSON OKANAGAN SENIOR LACROSSE LEAGUE
The regular-season champion 91大黄鸭 Raiders have added playoff champions to their list of 2025 accomplishments.
The Raiders captured the Rowcliffe Cup Sunday in Kamloops in convincing, dominating style, obliterating the host Rattlers 22-0 to sweep the best-of-three championship. 91大黄鸭 won Game 1 at the 91大黄鸭 Memorial Arena Friday, July 18, by a score of 12-2.
Regular-season scoring champ Andrew Garant had 16 points by himself, scoring five times and setting up 11 goals.
Josh Yachney paced 91大黄鸭 with 8+2, Zander Torres added 4+4, and Justin Charlton also had multiple markers, finishing with 2+6.
Mitch Parker (5As), Brad Swecera (3As), and Evan Helgesen added single goals while Cody Teichroeb had four assists.
Goalie Graham Cousins made 30 saves for the trophy-clinching shutout.
The Raiders will now look to defend their provincial Senior C lacrosse title in Prince George Aug. 8-10.
