Richmond Roadrunners Novice Advanced lacrosse team capped an outstanding season in grand style by capturing gold at the USBOXLA Nationals in San Jose, California last weekend.
Competing in the A1 Division, the Roadrunners defeated Mad Dog Lacrosse 6-5 in the championship game. The outcome came right down to the wire after the Mad Dogs pulled within a goal in the final minute of play.
Richmond produced earlier wins over four other American teams — The Denver Elite, The California All Stars, The Marin Wolves and Team Superstar Connecticut.
The Roadrunners headed south with plenty of momentum after finishing second at the prestigious Jack Crosby Novice All-Star Tournament in Burnaby.
They went 3-0-1 in round-robin play to earn the number two playoff seed.
Richmond then got past Delta (7-0) and Ridge Meadows (2-1) in the playoffs before falling to a powerhouse squad from Orangeville, ON.
The success at the highest level for this age group is something Richmond Lacrosse hasn’t seen for sometime. The team has played together for the past two seasons and many of them have been in the box lacrosse program since they were four.
Half the roster also plays field lacrosse and the other half plays ice hockey in the fall and winter.
“These are just good all around atheltes,” explained Sherwin Quilay, a member of the team’s coaching staff. “We practice four to five days a week and spend a lot of time conditioning.
“The parents are a very tight knit group that have come together because of the boys. We thank all of them who were able to attend this special trip.”
The team includes: Josh Mantle, Ryan Kump, Chayton Basanti, Ryan Lin, Cohen Koldenhof, Caleb Jang, Kristopher Fournier, Jamie Hikida, Colby Quilay, Kaleb Insley, Koji Okuyama, Owen Carnahan, Kaden Ng, and Jack Wallace.
Dan Wallace and Jason Jang round out the coaching staff. Audrey Jang was the team manager.
