Ryan Serville hopes to score National Championship

PICKERING -- Turns out that the premonition Ryan Serville had came true.

Prior to the start of the lacrosse season, the Pickering resident had a feeling that a return to the Clarington Green Gaels Jr. B club could result in an Ontario championship, and ultimately, a trip to Edmonton for the Founders Cup and a shot at national supremacy. With a 13-7 victory over Elora, the Green Gaels secured the provincial Jr. B title in a three game sweep, and today, they begin their quest for a Canadian championship.

"It's always a great feeling when you win the Ontario championship," says Serville. "It was even a better feeling because last year we lost to Halton Hills, so this one was more of a redemption. It was a really good feeling because we worked hard all year and it paid off."

Last season, coming off a 17-3 regular season, the Green Gaels were bounced from the playoffs in the East Conference semifinals, dropping a five-game series to Halton Hills. This season, after posting a 19-1 record, the Green Gaels were down two games to one to Halton Hills in the East Conference finals, but rallied to win the final two games, and advance to the league finals against the West Conference champions from Elora.

Serville, an 18-year-old graduate of St. Mary Catholic Secondary School, was just as stellar in the playoffs as he was during the regular season. Coming off a 2008 campaign in which he registered 85 points and was named Rookie of the Year, he led the league in scoring with 41-56-97 totals in 19 games. In 13 playoff games, he posted 23-41-64 numbers.

"There really are no individuals," he says of the reason behind the success of the team, crediting coaches Jason Crosbie and Paul Stewart with implementing a potent offensive system. "Our team really is unselfish. It really worked out for all of us. Most of our offence had great years and you can tell by the stats."

Serville and his teammates enter the Founders Cup as the overwhelming favourites. Since the Founders Cup became emblematic of the top Jr. B lacrosse team in the country in 1972, teams representing Ontario have won the title 35 times, with victories by a couple of Alberta teams, the 1999 Edmonton Miners and 1980 Enoch Tomahawks preventing a clean sweep.

The Green Gaels open against Edmonton, with round robin games continuing through the rest of the week. Semifinals go Friday, with the bronze and gold medal games on Saturday.

When he returns, there will be little time for Serville to rest. No sooner will he land back at home and he will be off to Florida, beginning a four-year field lacrosse scholarship at Jacksonville University. It will be the first time the Division I school has fielded a lacrosse program and it was one of the features that enticed Serville to go.

"There aren't many people who can say they played for a first-year team," says Serville, who played field with the Oshawa Blue Knights and won the U19 Brogden Cup this summer with Team Ontario. "Hopefully in the next four years we can become very competitive. It's going to be a good feeling knowing you're on a team that started it up.

"I'll be able to say I was on the very first Jacksonville University team."