Pioneers Come Up Short At Presidents Cup

When any team has the chance to reach not just the finals within their league moving on to play at the National Championship it’s a completely different story with no storybook ending.

The Presidents Cup is the National Senior B level box lacrosse championship for the Canadian Lacrosse Association with championship awards of Gold, Silver and Bronze to the respective winning teams.

The Pioneers first attempt at winning the championship was in 1990 when they finished fourth, dropping the game against the Owen Sound North Stars by a 11-5 margin with the series played in Fergus Ontario. 

Locally the Ladner Pioneers have been graced with winning five Presidents Cup Championships with the first dating back to 1998 when they defeated the Newton Golden Eagles when the series was played in Tuscarora, NY.

Their second championship was in 2004 with a 6-3 win that saw the event played in Langley when they went on to defeat the Kahnawake Mohawks (ILA) with the Langley Knights finishing third that saw Rob Cook named as the MVP.

In 2006 they finished third that saw the Wellington Aces (OLA) take top spot defeating the Sherwood Park Outlaws 9-5

The Pioneers managed a third place finish pulling out a 12-6 win over the Tri-City Bandits as the host team for the championship.

The championship was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID 19 Pandemic which put everything on hold for two full seasons for all sporting events in  Canada as well as other sports.

The 2022 season saw the Pioneers pull out an impressive 8-6 championship win when they defeated the Akwesasne Bucks (CAN-AM) finishing second with the championship played in Edmonton.

The 2022 season saw a “new look” Pioneers team hit the floor that saw them regain top seed winning the championship over Akwesasne Bucks (CAN-AM) while Six Nations finished third with the series played in Edmonton.

Striving for dominance as the “top dog” in Senior B Lacrosse in Canada saw them again build a championship team in 2023 that saw them defeat the Edmonton Miners (RMLL) while the Oakville Rock finished third with the series played in Oakville on their home floor.

Three-peats are hard to come by for any organization but the Pioneers bid to host the championship a success they worked long tireless hours to put on a successful championship with the Pioneers being the host team.

The series was played in Ladner, home for the Pioneers in a series that saw them fill the Leisure Centre for each game – day and night.

The final championship was played on a Saturday night in front of a packed building with the “fire marshal” probably looking the other way.

The week long championship event was organized by John Burr and with his group of volunteers the event ran like clock work going off without a hitch.

Their opponent was the Edmonton Miners who gave them a good run but in the end came up just short of taking the trophy back to Edmonton, to the delight of the home town fans.

The 2025 season saw a “re-build” that saw them finish with a record of 13 wins, 2 losses grabbing 146 goals while allowing 78  that saw them advance to the league final against the Shamrocks.

The best of three saw them sweep the visitors in a three game series advancing to the Presidents Cup Championship venturing back east in hopes of bringing the championship back to Ladner, which failed to happen.

The trip east saw them come up short playing five games that saw them win two, dropping three coming up short in the  goal department scoring 39 and giving up 44 with 66 PIM’s with a winning % of 0.400.

They continue to entertain the local fans on home floor but putting a championship team is something that not all teams can manage.

The three championship seasons (2022, 2023 and 2024)  saw Alex Buque (2022), Austin Shanks (2023) and Christian Del Biance (2024) named MVPs.

The Pioneers leading scorers for the Presidents Cup in the following years.

• Kyle Goundry 1997 (10 goals/9 assists)
• Jeff Pringle 2007 (12 goals/7 assists)
• Tyler Pace 2024 (10 goals/26 assists)