The Rutland Raiders will face the Vernon Tigers in the opening round of the TOJLL playoffs. Kelowna Warriors and South Okanagan Flames placed first and second and will have a BYE in the opening round while an all Kamloops series (Rattlers/Venom) also highlights the first round

Best of three series, third game only if necessary. Raiders playoff home games to be played at Kelowna Memorial Arena. For more info please visit www.tojll.com

Come out and cheer on your Raiders during the 2009 playoffs!

The Rutland Raiders suffered their third loss in a row on Tuesday night with a 9-3 defeat at the hands of the Kamloops Venom. The loss leaves the Raiders in 6th place in the TOJLL standings, holding down the final playoff spot with a 4 point lead over the last place Armstrong Shamrocks. With their final 4 games on the road the Raiders will need to have some big efforts in hopes of sliding up in the standings. Tuesday’s loss left the Raiders with a dismal 1-5 record this season at the Rutland Arena, the worst home record in the franchise’s 10 year history.  Sheldon McDonald, Iain Hart and Jared MacLennan all scored in the Raiders home finale.

The Raiders will hit the road for their final four games of the regular season as the doors to the Rutland Arena close for the summer. The Raiders start this coming Saturday in Vernon as they look to tame the Tigers. Game time is 7:30pm at the Wesbild Centre in Vernon, the Raiders will be looking to veterans Jared MacLennan, Ryan Milling and Luc Blinkhorn for big efforts in securing a Win.

The Rutland Raiders dropped a pair of recent TOJLL games at the Rutland Arena. The Raiders were down 8-6 by the Kelowna Warriors, and also lost 12-4 to the South Okanagan Flames. Both Kelowna and South Okanagan share first place in the TOJLL with 14 points each.

Next action for the Raiders is their final home game of the season, on Tuesday night as they face the Kamloops Venom. Action gets underway at 7:30pm at the Rutland Arena.

Don’t forget this coming Saturday (May 30) is the second annual “Pirate Night” at the Rutland Arena as the Raiders take on cross-town rivals the Kelowna Warriors. Fans are encouraged to dress like a Pirate as game host Terry Hills will have prizes for the best looking pirates! Game time is 7:30pm.

Former Raider Mark MacLennan has been the first Raider Alumni to play in the Western Lacrosse Association.  MacLennan made his WLA debut on Sunday night with the Maple Ridge Burrards as they faced the New Westminister Salmonbellies. More information can be found HERE

Two time TOJLL leading scorer Doug Langlois is off to a hot start with the Nanaimo Timbermen of the BC Junior A Lacrosse League. Langlois has 8 goals in his first 8 games of his rookie season. You can follow Langlois and the T-men  HERE

Former Raiders, Erik and Ryan Sage are also playing this season in the BCJLL. Erik has joined defending league champion Victoria Shamrocks, while Ryan is was recently traded from Poco to join his brother in Victoria.  All Junior A info is located HERE

Finally, do not forget to support local Senior lacrosse as the Kelowna Raiders continue their quest for a 4th straight league title. The Raiders are loaded with former Rutland Raiders, you can check them out HERE

On Saturday night the first place Vernon Tigers came to Rutland to take on the Raiders, and after building up a 5-2 first period lead the Raiders took their foot off the gas pedal and saw the Tigers claw out a 9-7 win. Brendan Urban and Sheldon McDonald were key offensive contributors for the Raiders picking up two goals and two assists each on the night. Dillon MacLennan also scored two goals on the night while Jared MacLennan had a single goal in the losing cause. Luc Blinkhorn picked up two assists in his much anticipated return to a Raiders jersey.

Monday evening the Raider travelled to Summerland to face the rejuvenated South Okanagan Flames, who were fresh off a win over the Kamloops Rattlers. Jordan Urban’s three goal effoert paced the Raiders to a 6-5 win. Alistair Hart, Trevor Odegard and Jared MacLennan also picked up goals in the win. Sam Fincham, Tye Hewko and Alex Diemand all played key defensive roles in shutting down the Flames top snipers.

The Rutland Raiders and the Armstrong Shamrocks split a home and home series this past weekend in TOJLL action. Friday evening saw the Raiders travel to Armstrong and lose to the host Shamrocks by a 12-9 score. Alistair Hart led the Raiders by scoring three goals. Dillon MacLennan continued his stellar start to the 2009 season by chipping in with two goals. Singles came from the sticks of Jared MacLennan, Jordan Urban, Iain Hart, and Trevor Odegard with his first goal in a Raiders jersey. Saturday night the Raiders defeated the Shamrocks 7-4 in the return matchup. Jared MacLennan led the way with three first period goals before being ejected for fighting. Sheldon “Showtime” McDonald scored two goals including a highlight reel breakaway goal bringing the boisterous hometown crowd to their feet. Single goals came from Jordan Urban and Alistair Hart. Raiders have announced that veteran Corey Lester will miss the remainder of the season after tearing both his ACL and MCL on May 2 against the Kamloops Rattlers.

The Raiders now have a two week break as their next action is May 23 against the Vernon Tigers. Gametime is 7:30pm at the Rutland Arena.

Don’t forget to join the Raiders this coming weekend at Rutland Maydays in Centennial Park in Rutland. The Raiders will again be participating in the annual Maydays Parade, which is at 10:00am Saturday.

The Rutland Raiders suffered their second consecutive loss in this young TOJLL season with a 8-5 defeat at the hands of the Kamloops Rattlers.  A three goals performance by Rattlers leading scorer Curtis MacIntosh was enough help the Rattlers defeat the rival Raiders.  Leading the Raiders was Alistair Hart and Ryan Phillips with two goals each. Tye Hewko made his seaosn debut with the Raiders by scoring a beautiful breakaway goal.  Foster Hodgins made 31 stops for the Raiders.

Next action for the Raiders is a home and home series with the Armstrong Shamrocks. The series gets underway Friday night in Armstrong. The return match will be Saturday May 9 at the Rutland Arena. Both games start at 7:30pm.

The South Okanagan Flames opened their 2009 TOJLL season with a big win over the Rutland Raiders by the score of 8-4 Saturday in Kelowna. The Flames jumped out to an early 6-1 lead thanks to  a pair of powerplay goals by both Tyler Prentice and Darcy Ricard, and never looked back. Scoring for the Raiders was Alistair Hart, Iain Hart, Ryan Phillips and Jared MacLennan. The feisty affair saw the teams combine for 76 minutes in penalties, including a rather interesting melee in the third period. After an illegal stick call on a South Ok player, Flames player Brendan Mckinley decided to tangle with Ryan Phillips which didnt end up being a wise choice. Following this a small scrum ensued which saw 4 players, uncluding both goaltenders being ejected from the game. The win puts the Flames at 1-0 on the young season, and the Raiders move to 1-1. The Raiders lost second year player Ryan Gregory to a serious knee injury in the second period.

Next action for your Rutland Raiders is Saturday May 2 as they host the Kamloops Rattlers. This game will be held at the Rutland Arena. Game time is 7:30pm, the Raiders look forward to seeing all their fans as they return to Rutland.

The Rutland Raiders opened the 2009 TOJLL season with a 9-6 win over their cross-town rivals, the Kelowna Warriors. The win was the first game of the year for both teams as they get an early look at one another. The teams will not meet again until May 30 in Rutland.

Leading the way offensively for the Raiders was Sheldon “Showtime” McDonald and Ryan Phillips who both had two goals on the night. Single goals came from Iain “I-Robot” Hart, Alistair Hart, Ryan Milling, Dillon MacLennan and Corey Lester. Veteran Jordan Urban also led the offense chipping in with 4 assists. Foster Hodgins turned in a stellar performance between the pipes making 40 saves, it was Hodgins first Junior lacrosse game after taking 4 years away from the sport. Raiders Head Coach Travis Wray was happy with the teams performance. “The first game of the year is always a little slow, I thought our guys came focused and ready to play. I liked our discipline and willingness to work hard and win battles” said Wray.

The Raiders next action is coming up this Saturday April 25 as they face the South Okanagan Flames. Game time is 7:30pm at Kelowna Memorial Arena.The Raiders will be looking to veteran Kris “Rogers” Needham and rookie sensation Brendan Urban to have big games. Look for second year player Steven “Cheddar” Noel to make his season debut.

CLICK HERE FOR 2009 TOJLL SEASON PREVIEW FROM ‘KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK’ NEWSPAPER