THE LIONS KEEP PUSHING FOR THE POSTSEASON!
COACH TONY GLAVIN'S THOUGHTS ABOUT THE LAST 2 GAMES, AND THEIR ROAD TRIP PUSH FOR THE PLAYOFFS
July 5, 2017 - Article co-authored by Lions intern, Lauren Lemp
Over the weekend, the Lions fell two games against Thunder Bay Chill after a vigorous fight. The Lions remain strong while now second in the Heartland Division. With 3 games left in the season the Lions keep working for 1st position.
When asked about the last 2 games against Thunder Bay, Coach Tony Glavin shared “Disappointment is the best word to describe both games. Although it was a 1-0 game on Saturday, we were still in the game however we didn’t play as well as we had over the course of the season. Then in the second game obviously losing 2 nil, losing a goal early in the first ten minutes took a little bit out of us and we had a tough time coming back into the game. We have to give credit to Thunder Bay, they played well and were a tough challenge for us. So from our standpoint it was disappointment, you know because I thought we had a good shot of fighting for 1st place. Now we’ve got to look to win our last 3 games on the road to potentially have a chance to even be in 1st place, and to even make the playoffs. There will be challenges on the road from Des Moines, Thunder Bay again, and Winnipeg. So we have to pick ourselves up and be positive going into the last 3 games.”
When asked about the upcoming games, Coach Tony Glavin remains positive. "As competitors you have to put the loss behind you. This will show just how much players really want to go to the playoffs. Each year is challenging, but for us now it's about winning the next 3 games. We'll focus on that and there is no reason we can't do that. You always have to take it game by game. The key is to put it all behind you and just play the game because it's all part of being a competitor".
When asked if the Lions still control their own destiny in terms of making the postseason, Coach Tony said “You always control your own destiny. We’ve done well in the season, we’ve gotten to the point where we’ve won 7 games and we’ve put ourselves in that position by what we’ve done. Again, if we can just play the same way that we’ve shown earlier in the season, then we will pick up points from the last 3 games.
In order to finish in 1st place we need to rely on Thunder Bay to drop points, but we can still make the playoffs. There are many things that we’ve done well this season, things just can’t fall apart over two games. The guys need to keep their heads up and keep fighting.”
The next three games will all be played away. Saturday, July 8th against the Des Moines Menace will start it off. Followed by another face off with Thunder Bay Chill on July 12th. They will close off the regular season on July 14th against WSA Winnipeg.
The game on July 8th in Des Moines will be streamed live!
You can watch it here: http://www.uslpdl.com/game/show/16863344?subseason=376352&referrer=3155143
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