OHSWEKEN— It’s pretty clear that St. Catharine’s Lady Shockwaves player Joni Squire has a strong passion for playing lacrosse.
Shortly after emerging as the eventual hero by scoring that winning goal in a 3-2 win on Saturday, February 15th at home against their rivals the Lady Six Nations Snipers, a smiling Squire expressed what playing women’s Arena Lacrosse is all about.
“That was our best game. We’re coming together as a team and we had a lot of fun. That’s what it’s all about.” When asked about whether there is a fun rivalry against the Lady Snipers, which consist of many close friends, Squire stated, “It’s more intense. We know their level and we step up our game. Sometimes there is trash talking but we’re all joking around and having fun.”
Overall it was a perfect day for the Lady Shockwaves who playing at the I.L.A. started things off by pulling out a 4-1 win against the Lady Oshawa Outlaws before that afternoon finishing off what was an undefeated day with their win against Six Nations.
“This (playing lacrosse) is not about winning or losing,” Squire said. “It’s about going out there and having fun. Playing for your friends and family.”
Though friends off the floor, these two squads didn’t hold back in terms of intensity and physical play as both teams were scoreless until with a little over five minutes left in the second Lady Snipers’ offensive star Mekwan Tulpin scored her first of two for the 1-0 lead after two periods of play.
“It was great being out there throwing the ball around,” Lady Shockwave’s Alisha Smith, who missed all of last year said. “We didn’t want to take them (Snipers) to lightly.”
A little over two minutes into the third Lady Shockwave grabbed the momentum as Kimberly Gibson got them onto the board before Kristen Bomberry scored late to put them in the driver’s seat at 2-1 heading into the fourth.
“I think we controlled the ball well and set the pace,” Smith said. In terms of whether it’s extra competitive or more about fun when playing the Lady Snipers, Smith paused before saying, “It’s competitive for sure. It’s a little bit of both.”
The Snipers would come back to tie things up in the fourth as Tulpin banged home her second before with under four minutes remaining Squire came through with the game winner.
