The Richmond Roadrunners defeated their rival when it mattered the most to capture the U16 provincial field lacrosse championship in Victoria.

The Roadrunners opened the event against an Abbotsford Valley team it had lost to twice in the regular season. They produced a 12-8 win, then proved it was no fluke with a 10-8 triumph in the gold medal game as well.

The nail-biting rematch saw Richmond twice battle back to tie the game, then take over in the third period with three goals to open up a 7-4 lead. A valiant Valley comeback bid would fall short.

The Roadrunners' path to gold also included round-robin wins over Northern B.C. (13-3) and Oceanside (12-2), as well as a cross-over semi-final victory against New Westminster (11-7).

Team captain and drawman Parker Sahota enjoyed an outstanding tournament, collecting game MVP honours in the final, as well as an earlier round-robin game. In one contest, he was perfect on his draws.

The Richmond attack was led Ryan Roman, Cody Nass and Andy Taylor who combined to score over half of their team's goals. Goaltender Hayden Bowering continued where he left off in the regular season with a strong tournament and a number of timely big saves.

Game MVP's also went to co-captains Wade Galbraith and Tyler Nett, and the youngest player on the team Cody Nass who led his team in scoring.

The big stick defence -- made up Johnathan Bailey, Kris Briggs, Robbie Ogloff, Sheldon Schwan and Galbraith -- were outstanding and truly developed some excellent skills this season allowing them to take control of games and get to loose balls.

Also instrumental in the Roadunners success were Justin Rai, Jordan Gilles, Shaun Hanley, Riley Lo, Alex Morghese, Matt Sahota, Gabe Minuk and Matt Bailey.

The Roadrunners were coached by former local standout Chris Manwaring who went on to win a pair of Minto Cups with the Burnaby Junior Lakers and starred at the collegiate level with Wingate University where he was team captain and earn all-conference honours.

Currently, he plays for the Burnaby Senior Lakers and the Ladner Pioneers field team which won the national championship in 2008. Manwaring is also hoping to play for England at the the upcoming World Field Lacrosse Championships.

He was assisted by Paul Sahota, Scott Jensen and Jason Bouchard.