It shouldn鈥檛 be hard for eight members of the Okanagan Wild to be jacked up for their next game June 24.

That day marks the first and only game the Penticton products will play at Memorial Arena, when they take on the New Westminster Salmonbellies (seven wins, six losses) in B.C. Intermediate Lacrosse League play at 4 p.m.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a great opportunity for them to play the game that they love and have passion for and have friends and family in the stands, who might not be able to attend games that aren鈥檛 in Penticton,鈥� said Wild coach Dan Chetner, who has coached in the Penticton Minor Lacrosse Association. 鈥淒efinitely when you鈥檙e in your home community there is a little extra interest. Definitely a little extra focus on the home game.鈥�

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Penticton minor lacrosse products playing for the Wild are Brendan Craig, Beau Chetner, Connor Ramage, Freddy Harbinson, Kale Lawrence, Liam McLaren, Ben Olsen and Nash Moog.

Also looking forward to the matchup is Penticton鈥檚 Cairo Rogers, who will play against his friends. He took advantage of an offer to join New Westminster, who has players he knows from when he played for Team B.C. Rogers said he is feeling nervous.

鈥淚 think it will be fun and it will be good to play against those guys,鈥� said Rogers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just another game. I鈥檓 excited more than anything.鈥�

Rogers said there has been chatter about the Wild among he and his friends.

鈥淲e have been talking about it for a while,鈥� said Rogers, who has a goal and five points in 10 games. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a good game. It鈥檚 going to be interesting. I don鈥檛 think there is really any bad blood. It鈥檚 our first game this year against each other.鈥�

Rogers has enjoyed playing in the B.C. ILL, which he said is a fast paced league.

鈥淓veryone is looking to go to the next level. It鈥檚 a good league,鈥� said Rogers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 super competitive.鈥�

Heading into the weekend the Wild are two points out of a playoff spot with four wins and 11 losses. Last weekend the Wild settled for a split against Burnaby. The Wild thumped the Lakers 18-8 in the first game. Olsen led with five goals and nine points, while Chetner, Craig, McLaren and Moog each netted two goals and Lawrence had one. In the second game, the Lakers returned the favour in a 19-3 win. Chetner described it as night and day.

鈥淚t was like a completely different group of individuals,鈥� he said. 鈥淣obody showed up. There was no intensity. They didn鈥檛 win any battles.鈥�

sports@pentictonwesternnews.com
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