Bearspaw teen Nicolas Drennan is enjoying a monumental victory after helping the Junior Calgary Roughnecks midget squad win the Junior National Lacrosse League (NLL) Tournament.
In the Roughnecks’ first year in the tournament, Drennan was one of 19 players selected to represent southern Alberta in the three-day event, hosted by the Junior Toronto Rock Aug. 25-27 in Oakville, Ont.
“It was super fun and a great experience,” Drennan said. “(This tournament) has helped progress my career a lot.”
Drennan, who played as a transition throughout the tournament, said making this team was extremely important. He said he looks back fondly on his time with the team in Ontario.
According to Drennan, the team didn’t know what to expect heading into its opening game Aug. 25, but a win over the Junior Vancouver Stealth gave the Roughnecks a sense of confidence throughout the remainder of the tournament.
“At first I thought we were going to get destroyed when we got there,” he said. “Once we played our first game, everything started flowing…and then I was like, we could actually win this.”
The Roughnecks then went on to win its next two games before taking on the Jr. Rochester Knighthawks in its final round robin game Aug. 26. The team dropped its first game with the Knighthawks, but were ready for a rematch with the Rochester club the next morning.
The 16-year-old said the loss to the Knighthawks motivated him and his squad, and helped them overcome their opponents in the semi-final matchup.
“It was good that we lost, actually,” Drennan said. “The team had never lost before, so it was good to get it in the round robin instead of where it mattered.”
The win catapulted the Roughnecks into the finals, where it took on the host team, Toronto. According to Drennan the Rock’s junior program has been a force during the first four years of the Junior NLL Tournament – winning the previous three championships and going undefeated until the finals this year.
The team pulled off the upset, knocking off the Rock 7-5 to capture its first title in its first year competing at the tournament.
“We went in thinking we didn’t have anything to lose; they were going to come in nervous and we came in flying,” Drennan said. “That game was one of the most fun games I have ever played.”
With the Junior NLL Tournament behind him, Drennan turns his attention to the 2018 Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League Junior A Draft. He said he hopes to hear his name called by one of the league’s four teams and have the next path in his career revealed.
Drennan said he hopes to pursue an opportunity to play field lacrosse in the United States and sees his being drafted to the Junior A ranks as a step in that direction.
