The only term you can apply to a team that has 22 provincial titles under its belt is "dynasty". That certainly describes the Bruno Axemen broomball team following their nail-biting win in the gold medal match of this year's provincials held on the weekend in Humboldt. After wading through the four-team pool in round robin, Bruno found itself squaring off against the Odessa Renegades in the final. 

Those on hand witnessed the drama of a classic come-from-behind rally. Axemen centre Dawson Bender explains that they trailed for much of the game. Bruno tied the game in the second only to see Odessa retake the lead into the third. With everything on the line, Bender explains how the groundwork was laid for the victory, "We tied it up with 10.4 seconds left on the clock. That showed a lot of team commitment. Everyone gave it their all to the bitter end." Bender played no small part in the win having scored the second-period tying goal and setting up the buzzer-beating tie, scored by his father. Asked what was going through his mind at the tying goal, Bender recalls, "It was just unbelievable, the look on my dad's face. It was just heart-dropping that it went in. I didn't think we had a chance, but we fought all the way to the end."

Heading into the final, Bender was confident, but he knew that the team would be in for a challenge. Having tied the Renegades 1-1 in the round robin, the Axeman knew what lay ahead. Bender reflects, "I knew it was going to be a hard game. They have a young fast team and they brought it all. We had to give it our all back."

The Axemen were playing for a missing teammate, Riley Ebner, who passed away the previous year. Not only was Ebner missed as a teammate, but he was also a family member to many of the Axemen. Bender speaks of Riley fondly, "He's my cousin and there's a lot of family on the team. He was always there, he loved the sport. It touches a lot of people because he was always there and he was just a great man. We just tried to give it our all for him."

For Bender, the love of his cousin, his sport, and his team make this 22nd victory even sweeter.