Roughnecks carry home bittersweet memories
The toughest part of losing a world championship that takes place every four years is there’s a whole lot of time to stew.
“It was disappointing, obviously,” began Curtis Dickson, an integral part of Canada’s squad that won a silver medal at the recent 2018 FIL world lacrosse championships. “Unfortunately, they got the final goal. It was a back-andforth game the entire way, we had the lead late and let it slip.”
Dickson was one of four Calgary Roughnecks on the team which this past weekend lost the final 9-8 to the U.S. on a last-second goal. The others were Wesley Berg, Tyson Bell and Zach Currier. It was Berg’s second time wearing the maple leaf, while it was a debut for Bell and Currier. Former Rigger Geoff Snider was also on the squad.
“It was a great experience, to be able to put on the Canadian jersey was really special,” said Currier, the dynamic 23-year-old transition player out of Peterborough. “There are a lot of special guys in that group and I’m very fortunate to be a part of it. It was really valuable for me, just seeing how some of the best players prepare and how they wore the jersey with pride.”
“Tyson and Zach, those are two guys who are going to be there for at least a couple more tournaments, probably,” suggested Dickson, who was making his third appearance on a Team Canada (two field, one box). “They were fantastic. Zach is pretty accomplished in the field game, going to Princeton. But Tyson’s the guy who no one really knew what he was capable of. He was playing defensive-midfield for us and he was one of our best players in the whole tournament.”
The 46-team tournament was held in Netanya, Israel.
“It was pretty incredible,” said Dickson, who was named to the all-world team. “Obviously anytime you have a chance to represent your country, it’s fantastic. and getting to go to Israel, somewhere you usually don’t go on a vacation, to experience that was pretty cool. It was first class all the way. Kudos to the people running the tournament. Obviously, it didn’t finish quite the way we wanted it to; it’ll take a little while to get over, but we’re pretty proud of our group.”
“Israel isn’t the first place you think of when you think of lacrosse,” agreed Currier. “But it’s a really nice place, our hotel was right by the beach, just a beautiful place. Without lacrosse I don’t think I’d ever be there.”