Lose their leading scorer for six weeks while battling for first place?
Not a problem for the Vernon Sun Valley Source For Sports Tigers in the Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League.
The Tigers will have to do without injured Ryan Sarazin for the next six weeks but have signed former scoring star Jordan Orr for the rest of the season.
“Jordan is comparable to Ryan as far as scoring goes,” said Tigers head coach Chris Scabar.
“It puts us in a great position. Jordan took some time off but said he wanted to come back. He’s got support from us and his parents. We’re ecstatic to have him back.”
Orr finished second in team scoring a year ago with 28 goals and 26 assists for 54 points, six back of Sarazin. He will make his 2016 debut Thursday in Kelowna.
Sarazin, who broke his thumb last Thursday night after taking a slash from Greg Batt in Kelowna, has 28-18-47 for the Tigers, who extended their winning streak to eight games, and their unbeaten mark to nine, by dispatching the Armstrong Shamrocks 12-7 Friday at the Nor-Val Sports Centre.
Sarazin, who plays field lacrosse for the Marquette University Golden Eagles in Milwaukee, was hoping to have surgery Tuesday in Vernon. He landed some heavy blows in a scrap with Batt after the slash. Batt has 31 points and 108 penalty minutes.
Jordy Barr had three goals and two assists while Jake Pelletier scored four times for the Tigers, who had period leads of 4-2 and 10-4.
Quintin Harrish scored twice while singles went to Chris Inscho, Chase Wirth and Sean Connors for the Tigers, who played without Sarazin and rested fellow veteran Thomas Landels.
The Cats also played midget callup Troy Cuzzetto in goal.
“Troy played well,” said Scabar. “He’s been out to every practice and has taken a lot of rubber from our guys so I felt he deserved a chance to play. It also qualifies him for provincials, if we make it that far.”
Cuzzetto finished with 22 saves while counterpart Francois Leroux made 42 stops for the Shamrocks, who were led offensively by Mykl Drabiuk with 2+3.
Ryan Sadersky had two goals, Drew Bannister added 1+3 and single Shamrock markers went to Marlon Forrest and Garrett Turner. The Shamrocks have lost eight straight.
Vernon (9-1-1) and the South Okanagan Flames (9-3-1) remain tied for first place after the Flames beat the visiting third-place Kamloops Venom 12-9 Monday night in Penticton.
The Tigers visit the fourth-place Kelowna Raiders (2-9) Thursday while South Okanagan travels to Kamloops (8-4) for a rematch with the Venom.
The Shamrocks (1-10) play in Kamloops Friday, and the Tigers host the Flames Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Kal Tire Place.
Finishing in first place would give Vernon a first-round playoff matchup with either Kelowna or Armstrong. Finishing second or third would mean a date with either the Flames or Venom in the opening round.
The North Okanagan Fairfield Marriot Hotel Pee Wees went 0-4 against top visiting teams at their home tourney in Armstrong.
The Fairfield gang lost 10-1 to Calgary with Zach Milne getting the goal, then fell 9-2 to Cowichan Valley with Nate Williamson and Andrew Brown supplying the snipes and Colten Colmorgen earning one clutch assist.
JJ Milne pulled the hat trick as North Okanagan owed 8-4 to Port Moody. Zach Milne produced the other tally.
The Hotelmen dropped a 9-1 decision to Coquitlam in their first playoff game with Zach Milne converting.
“We were in pretty tough against the top Pee Wee team in Calgary and Cowichan and Port Moody being two of the top teams in B.C.,” said Fairfield coach Ryan Williamson. “Our team is really young (only one second-year player). We are in a rebuild year similar to the Canucks except we have some talent and promise.
“The kids are doing well; they are just missing on some game experience and knowledge which we are gaining every day.”