Halifax lacrosse star eager to play at home in front of friends and family

Alex Pace always dreamed of playing professional lacrosse but the Halifax native never thought he'd be able to play here at home.

"I could never have really imagined playing professional in lacrosse in Halifax growing up," said Pace. "So it's even more than a dream come true."

The 24-year-old left Nova Scotia after graduating high school, to play Junior 'A' lacrosse in Ontario with the St. Catherines Athletics and to compete against some of the best players in the country.

At that time, there wasn't a professional lacrosse franchise in Halifax, but that has since changed, as the former Rochester Knighthawks and owner Curt Styres decided to move the lacrosse franchise to Halifax in 2019, rebranding as the Thunderbirds.

Pace is entering his third season in the National Lacrosse League with the Philadelphia Wings and finally has the opportunity to play at home, in front of friends and family.

"I've had to make a lot of sacrifices to get to this point but, it's cool to see it all pay off now," said Pace, following a pregame shoot around at the Scotiabank Centre.

Pace managed to get 100 tickets for the game.

"All my family is going to be here," said Pace. "All my friends and a lot of guys that maybe haven't even seen me play lacrosse before will be there."

On the other side of the ball, the Halifax Thunderbirds are looking to bounce back after another season interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and they have some unfinished business to take care of.

"We haven't played a full season here in Halifax," said Thunderbirds head coach Mike Accursi. "The first year, we got shut down by COVID-19, and last season, we got shut down by COVID-19 again for a portion of the season as well."

Halifax started last season with an impressive 8-1 record and then COVID-19 struck the team hard and they went on a losing skid, dropping six of their next seven games.

"A lot of our guys got it so we don't know if it was COVID-19 or what was going wrong but we were just butting heads," said Colton Armstrong, a defender with the Thunderbirds. "We weren't playing as a team and we weren't playing sixty minutes."

Provincial public health restrictions also forced Halifax to relocate to Hamilton, Ontario, to play some of their home games last season, which disrupted the team from competing in their home rink and in front of their home fans.

The Thunderbirds are eager to get this season going on their home turf. Armstrong says the home crowd makes a difference and adds a home-field advantage.

"This fan base here is unbelievable. It gives us another person on the floor," said Armstrong. "So when teams come here, it's hard for them to play here."

The Halifax Thunderbirds open the 2022-23 regular season at home Friday, when they host the Philadelphia Wings at 7 p.m.