A proud Prince Alber Predators coaching staff watches on as team captain Braden Shewchuk brings the PGLL Championship trophy to his teammates. (panNOW Staff/Nick Nielsen)

By Nick Nielsen

Predators win 14-12

Predators defend their PGLL championship title for third straight year

Jul 26, 2025 | 11:55 PM

May 13, 2023 is the last time the Prince Albert Predators lost a game of lacrosse in the PGLL, and July 9 of the same year they won their third championship in franchise history.

On July 26, 2025, the Predators earned the title of three time defending champions. And they did it in dramatic fashion with the lead changing hands 10 times in the game.

After earning a 1-0 series lead on the road with a hard fought come from behind win in game one with the Moose Jaw Mustangs, the Predators had to battle for every inch in game two at home. After tying the game early in the third period, they went to work on a 5-on-3 penalty kill before scoring the go ahead goal in a dramatic 14-12 win.

Head Coach Lucas Wells spoke about that pivotal 5-on-3 penalty kill in the third period, where the game was tied at 12-12, and what he told his team to calm help them after two undisciplined penalties to kill it off and score the game winner on the very next possession.

“Trust what we’ve gone through in practice, and they did, and it worked phenomenally. I think Moose Jaw turned the ball over twice on their own with sticks in the lanes. They couldn’t find a pass through, a couple missed shots, sticks in lanes, it was huge I think we had four guys on that 5-on-3 penalty kill for a full two minutes, and that was, I think, the biggest turning point in the entire game.”

Grey Cup!!!

Everything you wanted and more

Nov 21, 2025

12 Best Tips to Spend Less at Christmas

Nov 18, 2025

Cybercrime response

Prince Albert Police Service 'limited in scope' to properly investigate fraud crimes

Nov 17, 2025

Moose Jaw Captain Braxton Mac Angus and Predators Captain Braden Shewchuck line up for the ceremonial faceoff. (paNOW Staff/Nick Nielsen)

Game Recap

The two teams felt each other out early in the first half of the opening period, but Moose Jaw got out to a 2-0 lead with 8:27 left after scoring twice in 47 seconds. The Predators powerplay then went to work and Brayden Reiger scored on on the powerplay at 10:53, and four minutes later he scored again to tie the game.

Moose Jaw quickly answered, but Reiger scored to complete a first period hat trick with 0.5 seconds left on the clock, keeping the game tied at 3-3 going into the second.

“I think offensively, we struggled a lot in the first period, defensively, we were not great. I didn’t think we transitioned the ball well at all. I think that our offence was gripping their sticks a little bit too tight. I had to tell one player, man, you don’t go to put the ball through the net, just pick a side and shoot.”

Predators goaltender Oliver Volek denies a diving shot from Mustangs Carter Hudyma. (paNOW Staff/Nick Nielsen)

The Predators had the momentum early in the second with Sam Cooper scoring 29 seconds in, and Reiger scored for his fourth of the game on the powerplay again just 1:51 into the frame to put the Predators up 5-3. Moose Jaw then went on a tear, scoring twice in 24 seconds to tie it, and then dominate the first half of the second period to score two more for a 7-5 lead just over five minutes in.

After giving up four straight goals and taking a penalty from their frustration, Head Coach Wells called a timeout to calm his team down ahead of a big penalty kill.

The Predators killed the penalty and Chase Lehner quickly scored to pull within one. Then came the oddest goal of the game when Mason Crain picked up the ball in his own zone and sent a hail mary breakaway pass up the court for a streaking Brayden Reiger, but he had a defender on him. The ball bounced off the defender’s head, and Reiger scooped it out of the air for an open look at the net to tie the game at 7-7, 12:24 seconds left in the second period.

Matthew Cudmore then got set up on a breakaway to score the third straight goal for the Predators and give them their second lead of the game 8-7, but then the Mustangs came right back. On the penalty kill, the Mustangs would score first on a breakaway, and again after a passing play lead to a diving Carson Isnana to score a pretty goal to make it 9-8 Moose Jaw.

With 3:48 left in the second period, the Predators powerplay would fail, but Cole Barmby would score shortly after it expired to tie the game at 9-9 heading into the third period.

After the second period, Wells thought his team was still getting away from their game too much, but with a six goal period offensively they knew they could get away from the run-and-gun game they were getting caught in.

“I think that going into the third period was just like, settle down, get the transition game going, work the ball up to the floor methodically, and then the goals will come.”

Matthew Cudmore scores his first of two goals on the night on a breakaway in the second period. (paNOW Staff/Nick Nielsen)

Moose Jaw struck early on the powerplay to regain the lead for the fifth time of the night, but Prince Albert’s Cole Barmby scored his second of the game nine seconds later to tie it again. Moose Jaw took a sixth lead 4:16 into the period, but Barmby finished the hat trick with a powerplay goal to tie it at the 7:44 mark.

Brayden Reiger would score his sixth of the game after another clutch Predators penalty kill to go up 12-11, but their biggest was still to come. Moose Jaw then caught the Predators a little sloppy as three defenders for the Predators pinned the same player to the wall, but none of them saw the ball slip free and the Mustangs were able to tie it at the 11:10 mark.

Now 12-12, the Predators then got two cross checking calls on the same play, and suddenly things looked bleak as they had to survive a full 5-on-3 powerplay. They didn’t back down though, forcing Moose Jaw to fumble to ball into their own end twice, along with some big saves from 15-year-old Oliver Volek to keep the game tied.

The penalty ended and the Predators got the ball on the stick of Chase Lehner on a 2-on-1 with Sam Cooper. Lehner made a great pass towards the left of the crease to Cooper, and Cooper was faked low before throwing the ball back over his shoulder instead, firing wide side to score the go ahead goal to put Prince Albert up 13-12, the fourth time they’d taken the lead at 14:22.

“I don’t think Sam knows how to score a regular goal. I think all his goals this year have been highlight real goal. It’s just insane the things he does with his body and his stick. So when I saw him going down there, I knew if he was going to take a normal shot, he was either missing the net or hitting the post. So he pulled out something spectacular and I couldn’t be more happy for him.”

Sam Cooper was knocked to the ground but still managed to put the ball behind his back and over his shoulder while falling to score the game winning goal. (paNOW Staff/Nick Nielsen)

At the 18:28 mark, Matthew Cudmore ripped one more home on a partial break, and despite a late push that saw Moose Jaw pull their goaltender, the Predators would hold on to win 14-12 to secure their third straight PGLL Championship.

As a fan outside of the game, you couldn’t have asked for a better way to close out winning the banner. The game was fast, rough, had multiple lead changes, big saves, great goals, and plenty of heated tensions through.

The bench clears as the final seconds tick off the clock and the Predators complete their third straight title win. (paNOW Staff/Nick Nielsen)

(paNOW Staff/Nick Nielsen)