Teens help Ontario team win lacrosse tournament

FERGUS – Blake Willard and Riley Woods, two 15-year-old Fergus youths, were selected to attend this year’s Adrln (Adrenaline) Platinum Cup tournament with Ontario’s Evolve Elite Lacrosse team.

“We won our first game by a lot and we kind of just kept building game to game,” Woods said.

The team went undefeated at the tournament, one of the United States’ most prestigious.

Parents of the boys estimate around 240 teams attended.

“It’s an invitational. So the elite evolve, because of their status and being a double A team, they get invited into those specialty tournaments,” explained Willard’s father, Chris Willard.

“The ambiance of the tournament was phenomenal. Like, you go to this field, and there’s 10 fields and facilities. It was pretty amazing to see.”

Playing lacrosse in the Fergus region, Chris explained that tournaments like the Platinum Cup are hard to come by.

U.S. travels

The Evolve team travelled to Delaware in June to compete against some of the top AA teams south of the border.

The team played six games in 24 hours, and Evolve Elite Lacrosse emerged victorious in every match, claiming the tournament’s top honour.

“I think we came in pretty confident. We have a good team,” Woods said, explaining how he and his teammates felt going into the Platinum Cup.

He explained that when he was younger, he played hockey – and he began playing lacrosse at about the age of three.

“I’m going to the States for high school next year for lacrosse,” Woods said.

He added he will likely try to attend post-secondary on a lacrosse scholarship as well.

Willard also played hockey and heard his teammates talking about lacrosse.

He asked his father if he could try it. He stuck with it and has been playing since age six.