Stacey wins silver at box championship

Kahnawa’kehró:non Ryan Stacey was in Columbus, Ohio last weekend, taking part in the United States Box Lacrosse Championships in the high school girls division with the Akwesasne-based Lady Lightning, winning silver in the process.

“It was a great experience playing against some tough competition,” said Stacey.

The youngest player on the team at 14 years old, Stacey was tasked with more defensive assignments.

“I got a lot of opportunities there,” she said.

The team was made up of hand picked players rather than a tryout, which makes her selection to the team along with older players impressive.

She thinks she had a good tournament and enjoyed getting to play with her teammates in the process.

“This team works well together,” she said.

In the finals, the Lady Lightning played against Elevate Lacrosse Club, a team they faced off against twice during the four-game round robin.

They lost their first meeting 4-3 and won the second 6-3, making the finals matchup the rubber match.

Elevate was their strongest opponent in the tournament according to Stacey.

“That Elevate team was tough, they were good.”

It was a tighter, more low-scoring game than their first two, with the Lady Lightning finding themselves up 2-1 late in the third period.

Elevate tied the game late, sending it to overtime. There, they received a penalty shot, which they converted on to win the championship.

“It was definitely upsetting losing that way, since we were up most of the game,” said Stacey.

At the end of the day, the Lady Lightning still won silver and gave it their all against Elevate.

“All in all, we had fun,” Stacey said.

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