The Rocky View Rage remains one of the top contenders in the Jr. B Tier 2 south division of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) thanks to a 13-8 win over the Calgary Bandits yesterday (June 15).

The Rage were down 5-4 after one until goalie Caleb Bell shut out the Bandits in the second and Deegan Reutlinger scored three unanswered goals to put them in control of the game.

deeganDeegan Reutlinger scored four consecutive goals to help the Rage rebound from a one goal deficit after the first period. 

Reutlinger scored on a penalty shot two minutes into the third for his fourth of the night. The Rage added five other goals in the third to cap the win, including an empty-netter by goalie Bell with a minute remaining in play.

bellRage goalie Caleb Bell and some teammates watch his shot go into the empty net with just over a minute remaining in play.

Kaleb Burnsed, Kaden Anhorn, and Grady Crawford scored two apiece and singles went to Carson Barrows and Jayden Klumpp. Brayton Powers didn't score but he had four assists.

Head coach Reese Sellwood says winning the home-and-home series against the Bandits was huge.

"It cemented us into the top three in this league for sure, we're thinking top two," says Sellwood. "Going 2-0 in the series against them is pretty big because we thought they would be one of be our tougher competitors this year."

The Rage have only two games remaining in their front-heavy regular season. They'll be left waiting a little over two weeks for the other teams to complete their regular seasons before playoffs get underway in mid-July.

Sellwood says the team will practice while they wait and hope to arrange some exhibition play to keep their players sharp.

"Just hang out, wait to find out how everyone else finishes, and see what we're doing. We're hoping we finish first or second. Getting a bye from the first round would be pretty nice."

The Rage plays their final home game this Friday, June 21 against the Calgary Wranglers. With just two losses, the Wranglers are a top team and beat the Rage in their first meeting, 14-8.

Game time is 8 p.m. in Totem Two.

The Rage are in Taber on June 23 to take on the Chaos in their final game of the regular season.

rage benchExcitement on the Rage bench when they opened up their lead in the third.