West Australian 2015 Senior Lacrosse Finals - A New Era Begins
Sunday October 25, 2015
by Lacrosse WA
State League 2015 Premiers - Wanneroo
East Fremantle women break their A Grade drought
The 2015 Finals Series saw Wanneroo Lacrosse Club show the West Australian clubs, that when it comes to Senior Lacrosse, their time is now! Winning all three Senior Men’s Grand Finals and A Reserve for the Women, it was a successful day for a club that has been building its membership from the bottom up over a number of years with a young group of talented players ready to continue their success for years to come.
The Junior Finals were played the weekend before with East Fremantle’s 13’s and 15’s winning their respective Grand Finals for the second year in a row. This young group of 13’s have remained undefeated for the past two seasons. Wembley’s 17’s team had a convincing win over Wanneroo, 21-13, with the LWA Association 17’s Fairest and Best player, Brayden Panting, leading the charge with fellow U19 Australian Squad members Matt Wood, Keegan Davies and Sam “Kozzy” Koczwara adding numerous goals to the scoreboard. Subiaco Lacrosse Club’s C Grade Team won for the third year in a row defeating East Fremantle 15-4. Subiaco’s Karri Somerville scored an impressive 6 goals, fresh from competing at the U19 Women’s World Cup in Edinburgh, Scotland.
East Fremantle dominated the Women’s Senior Finals winning the newly reinstated B Grade and the blue ribbon A Grade game. First year player Georgia Ray scored 5 of East Fremantle’s goals in the B Grade final defeating Subiaco 14-9. The A Reserve game was an absolute nail-biter with Wanneroo defeating last year’s premiers Bayswater 14-13. Wanneroo’s Junior player, Bailie-Rose Keenan, showed she can step up to the seniors when required, having a huge impact on the game and Bayswater’s Stacey Brown's 9 goal haul substantiated why she was voted LWA’s Fairest and Best player for A Reserve.
East Fremantle’s A Grade Head Coach, Jeff Kennedy, lead his charges to an amazing win against long-time rivals Wembley, defeating them 10-8 in the dying minutes of the game. With less than two minutes to go and two goals down, East Fremantle’s Tegan Brown shot a goal from the halfway line and in the last 10 seconds, Jessica Kennedy followed with another in the back of the cage and the game was tied. With East Fremantle scoring an additional two goals in overtime, their win was sealed. As well as scoring an impressive 6 goals, Tegan was also honoured with the Kuljak medal – Best player in the A Grade Final.
With all the Senior Men’s Grand Finals between Wembley and Wanneroo, Wanneroo displayed their dominance winning all three games. Winning both Division 3 and Division 2 by two goals, Wanneroo’s State League team had years of pressure on their back. After finishing Minor Premiers last year and failing to make the Grand Final, Wanneroo’s State League team beat this year’s Minor Premiers Wembley in the semi’s to go straight to the Grand Final. With Wanneroo involved in 3 golden goal games in the home and away rounds and all semi’s and pre-lims decided by only one goal, Wanneroo had a point to prove. Coming out strong, Head Coach Nathan Rainey’s Wembley side had a 4-0 lead at the first qtr. Wanneroo retaliated scoring 3 goals in the next quarter leaving Wembley goal-less. Wanneroo got their first lead of the game in the third quarter and the game was tied 9-9. With less than two minutes to go and Wanneroo leading 10-9, Wembley’s Lachlan Bunbury won the face off and went down and scored off a shot from the back of his stick, Wanneroo called a stick check and with the stick being illegal the game tying goal was disallowed. Both teams had chances to score in the remaining time with Wanneroo holding strong in defence to win the State League Grand Final for the second time in history. Newly instated sandgroper, Callum Robinson, continued his successful year in WA winning the Kuljak medal for the Fairest and Best player in the State League Grand Final.
Wanneroo's State League Head Coach Konrad Frankee said “The Wanneroo Lacrosse Club has waited 11 years to win its second Western Australian State League Championship, the game was a tough and tight affair between two evenly matched teams throughout the 2015 season. The club would like to thank not only the present members but also the past members for all the hard work to make this happen. The club is heading into an exciting period with many juniors coming through the senior ranks.”