Speedy Race quickly improving
Julian Race is aptly named.
The 19-year-old member of the St. Catharines WMKL Athletics is one of the speediest members of the team, an advantage he uses as a transition player to great effect.
“I like to run and use my speed,” the former Thorold Secondary School student said. “I pride myself on getting the ball up and over to our O guys and down the floor.”
With only eight seconds to get the ball past centre or risk a transition violation, Race needs to think on his feet.
“We have to get it over quickly and with teams pressing it’s definitely important to not only make good decisions, but just getting the ball to the O guys with more time on the clock,” he said. “The more time they have it, the more time they have to score and the less time it’s in our end.
“It’s either beating a guy one-on-one and getting over half or almost beating a guy and getting it to our O guys real quick.”
A’s defensive coach Rob Taylor feels Race has stepped us his game in his sophomore season at the Junior A level.
“He’s really playing well,” Taylor said. “He’s hard on the cross check, he’s a fast transition player. He’s stepped into a leadership role this year and is one of the anchors of the D.
“He’s got the wheels. We don’t necessarily look for him to score a lot of goals but when it comes to the transition, he’s one of the guys we look at to get the ball out of our end.”
At 5-foot-8, 178 pounds, Race isn’t going to push anyone around in the trenches, but that is where his speed and lacrosse instincts come in.
“Instead of just beating them with brute force, because that’s not always going to work, I just try and used my mouth and talk as much as possible to my teammates,” he said. “I use my quickness and knowledge of the game to get around guys.
“I’m not trying to hit them, but forcing them to a position where I want them to go. I’m putting them in a spot where I know where they are. Not trying to knock them over, but trying to make them change their angle.”
Race, who has five goals and seven points in 16 games this season, has always enjoyed the defensive aspect of the game.
“Always liked contact so when I was in minor I leaned more to the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “I loved going on breakaways and fast play. My mind kind of shifts toward defence rather than offence.”
Race recently completed his first year at Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y., where he in majoring in economics.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “I learned a lot. It was interesting and I got to play with and against a lot of great players.”
The Athletics dropped an 8-5 decision to the Mimico Mountaineers Monday night Canada Games Park to fall to 7-9 on the season.
CJ Kirst and Lucas Dudemaine each had two goals for the winners while Finn Thomson, Justin Lee, Alex Roussel and Isiah Moran-Weekes added singles.
Keaton Zavitz had two goals for St. Catharines while Christian Lefeuvre, Tye Steenhuis and Noah Snyder also scored.
The A’s have four games remaining in the regular season before playoffs.
“These last games are important to win and get a higher spot in the standings but also for our confidence. We need to get a few games and keep it rolling moving into playoffs,” Race said.
The A’s host Toronto Wednesday at 8 p.m.
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