Ladner Pioneers Win Third Straight Presidents Cup

The Ladner Pioneers won their third straight Presidents Cup on Saturday, with a 9-2 victory over the Edmonton Miners. The game was played in front of a large crowd at the Ladner Leisure Center. 

Tyler Pace led the scoring for the Pioneers with 3 goals and 4 assists, while Mitch Jones had a goal and 3 assists. Christian Del Bianco made 44 saves and allowed just the two goals, as the Pioneers avenged their round robin loss to the Miners. 

The win completed the three peat for the Pioneers, matching the feat accomplished by the Miners from 2016-2018. 

Pace led the tournament in scoring with 10 goals and 26 assists in just 8 games, while Jones finished a close second with 43 points in one less game. Dean Fairall led the Miners in scoring throughout the tournament with 8 goals and 19 assists in six contests. 

The game was a rematch of last year’s final, and finishes a dominant season by the Pioneers. They lost one game during the Presidents Cup, but was otherwise undefeated for the entire season.

Jones got the scoring going more than five minutes into the game, and the Pioneers pushed their lead to 4-0 off a goal from Ryan Benesch and two tallies from Pace to end the first period. Edmonton pushed back with goals of Charlie McFadden and Brett MacIntyre, but it was all Pioneers from there. 

The full stream is available below. 

Christian Del Bianco was named tournament MVP. Joining Del Bianco on the all-tournament team were forwards Tyler Pace, Chris Boushy, and Chris Cloutier, and defenders Brett Craig and Matt Acchione. 

The win finishes off a very successful August for British Columbia lacrosse. Both the Coquitlam Adanacs and Ladner Pioneers won the Minto and Presidents Cups respectively, and both did so on their home floors. 

The Mann Cup is the last Canadian Championship to crown their winner. That series between the Victoria Shamrocks and Six Nations Chiefs begins Thursday.